DELAPRE From medieval nunnery to modern public park, Delapre has a rich and varied history. Lying within a stone’s throw of ’s busy town centre, the varied paths and trails detailed in this leaflet will lead you via parkland and woods, village streets and ancient buildings, back in time to a medieval world of royalty, religion and war. Delapre Lake

DELAPRE Lying on the southern boundary of Northampton,

Delapre & Delapre, with its 550 acres of parkland and gardens, has a * long and eventful history. From its beginnings as a Cluniac nunnery, Delapre was destined to become the temporary resting place of an English Queen, a War of the Roses battlefield, an 18th century country house and park, a 20th century home for records ... until finally it became an attractive public park and home to Delapre Golf Complex. Delapre Park is approximately one mile, and Hardingstone HARDINGSTONE less than three miles from Northampton town centre. Lying on the outskirts of Northampton, Hardingstone’s For information about public transport to Delapre and ironstone and brick buildings are typical of many Hardingstone, please contact Traveline on 0870 608 2608. Northamptonshire villages. Many of the brick terraced Car parking is available at Delapre Abbey (approach via the houses in the High Street were built by the Bouverie driveway from London Road) and south of Delapre Lake Queen Eleanor’s Cross family (owners of Delapre Abbey from 1764 to 1946). (via the Delapre Golf Complex turnoff from the A45). Also in the High Street is the parish church of St. Edmund If you wish to report any problems with any of the routes 10 . Its oldest part is probably the early 13th century tower shown in this leaflet, please contact Rights of Way, although the church is mentioned in documents dating Northamptonshire County Council, Riverside House, from 1107 AD. It was restored in the 1860s and the Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX. Tel: 01604 chancel contains several 19th century Bouverie family 654465. plaques. This information can be made available in other languages and formats upon For information about request, such as large print, Braille, places to visit in audio cassette and floppy disk. Northampton and the Delapre Abbey and Park surrounding area, please contact Northampton Visitor Centre in the Guildhall, Northampton. Tel: 01604 838800.

VISIT NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Hardingstone High Street www.rightsofwaynorthamptonshire.org.uk This leaflet was published by Northamptonshire County Council with assistance from the Countryside Agency, Northampton Borough Council and Peter Storm. Copyright © NCC 2003.

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is set in 260 acres

lapre

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sin

ering

Delapre Golf Complex

ene Valley,

Charter Wood

ation of 800 oak trees was created to the east of

Northampton Society of Model Engineers

Delapre Lake

October. Tel: 01234 708501 for more information.

held on the first Sunday of each month f

steam, petrol and battery powered model locomotives are

miniature railway lines. Public running days featuring

The north-west corner of Delapre Park contains two

information.

throughout the day. Tel: 01604 764036 for more

basis and the restaurant and bar are open to the public

ability. The Complex is operated on a pay-as-you-play

of parkland with facilities to suit all levels of golfing

Opened in 1976, Delapre Golf Comple

Great Crested Grebe.

Canada Geese and the

wildfowl such as

over-wint

providing a refuge for

the N

the network of lake

wildlife role as one of

has an important

skiing and fishing. It

Lake is used for water

gravel workings, the

Created from old

and fine views of the town and Abbey.

and conifers create a mixed woodland with good walks

time as the Abbey gardens. Oak, beech, sweet chestnut

Lying to the south is Delapre Woods, planted at the same

Charter granted to Northampton by Richard I in 1189.

commemorations of the 800th anniversary of the Borough

the Abbey and its gardens in 1989,

A plant

discovered in the late 19th century).

the Abbey church or churchyard (the site of which was

River Nene trying to flee and their bodies were buried in

Many Lancastrian soldiers were killed or drowned in the

the treachery of Lord Grey, King Henry was captured.

9

2

he

s

ber 1290, Queen Eleanor of

Delapre Garden

This may be subject to change in the

Queen Eleanor’s Cross

Delapre Gardens

Battle of Northampton

he 18th century, along with the rest of the

t

them was the Lancastrian King Henry VI and

magnificent stone monument - one of twelve

could be set aside for the location of a

halting at the top of the hill so that a place

The procession then continued south to London,

Northampton Castle.

Abbey while the King lodged at nearby

Delapre, where the Queen’s body remained at t

in London. One of the stops along the way was

conveyed in a solemn procession to Westminster

Lincolnshire. Following her death, her body was

Castile, wife of Edward I, died at Harby in

On the 28th Novem

*

husiastic gardener and today the enclosed gardens

*

took place during the afternoon and was swift. Thanks to

the ‘headless cross’ (Queen Eleanor’s Cross), the battle

Canterbury and the Bishop of London from the safety of

his army encampment. Watched by the Archbishop of

Waiting for

Warwick approached the southern side of Northampton.

On the 10th July 1460 a Yorkist army led by the Earl of

Eleanor and her final journey.

crosses commissioned by Edward to commemorate Queen

future.

(Monday to Friday).

are open to the public when the gardeners are on site

rose garden, herbaceous borders, and statues. The gardens

include a game larder, Victorian glasshouses, topiary, a

ent

The last Bouverie to live at Delapre was also an

estate and its parkland, in the style of Capability Brown.

remodelled in

garden was constructed by the Tate family. This was

To the east of the Abbey buildings, a formal Elizabethan

1

*

they

orporation (now Northampton

Delapre Abbey

. Mary-de-le-Pre (St. Mary in the

Delapre Abbey

1145 AD. It was a small establishment

DELAPRE

Bouverie families.

extensive alterations carried out by the Tate and

date mostly to the 17th and 18th centuries - the result of

concealed in the Abbey’s walls, the buildings visible today

Although clues to its religious beginnings may still be

since then the Abbey buildings have stood empty.

Record Office until its move to Wooton Hall in 1991 -

Borough Council). The Abbey housed Northamptonshire

sold to the Northampton C

whose hands it remained until 1946 when Delapre was

In 1764 the estate was bought by the Bouverie family, in

country house and estate.

transformed the former nunnery into a comfortable

the Tate family. Over the next two centuries

in in 1539, Delapre and its lands were bought by

Soon after Henry VIII closed the monasteries and abbeys

nunnery’.

Northampton was fought ‘...in... the meadows beside the

then nearly 200 years later when the battle of

body rested there on its journey to London in 1290 and

in national events - first when Queen Eleanor of Castile’s

On two occasions however, the Abbey played a small role

and there are few records of the Abbey’s everyday life.

Northampton in

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