Delapre Abbey Park Walks

Explore the grounds of a neo-classical mansion on this walk in Northampton.
The former monastery was founded in the 12th century when a community of nuns came to this peaceful area to create their nunnery the Abbey of St.... Mary de la Pre. Today the site is a popular tourist attraction with 500 acres of parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens to explore.
The River Nene also runs past the northern side of the park. You could pick up the Nene Way and follow it west to link up with the Grand Union Canal Walk if you felt like extending your outing. There's also the climb and Iron Age hill fort at Hunsbury Hill Country Park about a mile to the west. For more local history try the Northampton Heritage Trail.
Postcode: NN4 8AR
Pubs and More Info
There's a pleasant on site cafe selling a good range of meals and snacks. Indoor and outdoor seating is available.

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Nearby Routes

Northampton Canal Walk Grand Union Canal Walk Stoke Bruerne Nene Way Harlestone Firs Forest Walk Castle Ashby Sywell Country Park Wellingborough Hunsbury Hill Country Park Northampton Heritage Trail Northampton Washlands Walk Woodland Walk Stoke Bruerne

Photos

The Abbey's expansive sloping grounds are a nationally protected Wars of the Roses battlefield, as a one-time site of the advance of the Yorkists during the Battle of Northampton (1460).

Tree lined path

Delapre Stable Block

Delapré Abbey garden. The abbey was surrendered to the crown as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, closing in 1538. After much later use and alteration as a private residence and in World War II service, the house and its cluster of outbuildings which replaced the abbey in phased building works spanning the 16th to 18th centuries served as the Northamptonshire Record Office and the library of the related records society.

In 2009 the abbey was the scene of a local government scandal, when the local authority tried to ban tea drinking in the gardens of the abbey. The local populace of course fought back to assert their right to drink tea unmolested by state interference.

Parkland view.

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