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Kings County January 2012

Discover Northampton's hidden treasure - Delepre Abbey. Originally a Cluniac Nunnery established in 1145, founded by Simon de Senlis, Earl of Northampton.
 
When Queen Eleanor of Castile died in 1290 near Lincoln; her husband, a grief stricken King Edward I ordered her embalmed and her body to be carried in sombre procession to Westminster Abbey in London. At each place where the procession stopped for the night, Edward had built a memorial cross in her honour.
 
Today only the crosses at Waltham Cross (Hertfordshire), Geddington, and Hardingstone (both in Northamptonshire) remain. The funeral cortege set out from Lincoln on 4 December 1290 arriving at Delepre on 7 December and the Eleanor Cross in Northampton is located at the southern end of London Road.

The locations of the 12 crosses were as follows: Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, Westcheap, and Charing.
 
At the Battle of Northampton in 1460 King Henry VI was captured and taken prisoner and held at the Delepre Abbey until the following day when he was taken to London.
 
The Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII saw the demise of the nunnery with the Abbess finally surrendering the buildings in 1538 following a demand from the Kings commissioner.
 
In October 2011 Northampton Borough Council were given the green light by the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop and restore and conserve Delepre Abbey.
 
There is plenty to see if you visit now: Four Victorian greenhouses, a thatched Georgian Game Larder, 680 acres of parkland and lakes. Situated inside the 18th Century Stable Block, the Abbey Tea Rooms overlook the delightful Victorian Walled Garden and are open all year from 10.00 a.m. to 5. 00 p.m.
 
Peggy King
www.voiceandmore.co.uk

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