Along the Nene valley running north east through the county from Northampton a number of medieval villages and towns were spawned including Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Thrapston etc. These waxed and waned over the centuries and indeed Rushden remained a small medieval enclave, clustered around it’s parish church and hall, until the end of the 19th century. Then, with the arrival of the shoe and boot industries followed by the railway it was transformed. The centre with it’s predominantly Ironstone buildings was surrounded by domestic and industrial developments in red brick. Thus the town presents itself today. In the centre lies the Church of St Marys, a fine perpendicular building, in which you will discover the monuments to the Pemberton family who built Rushden Hall circa 1606. That building now forms the centre of the town park. Outside this inner core, along the Newton Road are the fine civic buildings put up circa 1900 – the Council Building (1904 – 6), the Carnegie Library (1905) and the School 1894 all looking in their style to Italian and German renaissance architecture. For railway enthusiasts there is the Rushden Historical Transport Society which runs the old railway track.