Report is probably too grand a name to give to this,it's more a sharing of a visit to one of Northamptons landmarks.
It was part of an open weekend 17th/18th march 2012,so essentially a permission visit.The areas we viewed aren't normally open to visitors.
The Cluniac abbey was built around 1145 by Simon de Senlis,Earl of Northampton.
In 1290,the deceased wife of King Edward I,Queen Eleanor was laid in the chapel as a resting point on their journey to London.In 1291 a cross was built on Delapre hill to commemorate the fact.
1460 was significant in the wars of the roses when the battle of Northampton took place there.Apparently it was the only battle of that war where a defended position was successfully attacked and breached.
(Soft lot these Northamptonians!)
Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1538.
The abbey became the property of the Tate family from 1546 to 1764 when it was sold to Edward Bouverie for £22,000.
The war office took over the building in 1940 but there doesn't seem to be any online info as to what it was used for.
Northampton Corporation bought the property in 1946 for about £56,000 it then became home of Northampton Record Society in 1957.
1992 was the year that the Records Office moved out & the abbey was more or less abandoned till 2001 when the Friends of Delapre Abbey were formed & have looked after it ever since.
I haven't mastered the art of photography yet so all these pics were on auto.
The strip lights definitely need to go!
Coat of arms is the Bouverie family (Earl of Radnor) patria cara carior libertas (My country is dear, liberty dearer)
I'll leave it up to you whether you interpret the dear as meaning beloved or expensive!
This is apparently where the nuns used to leave their candles before entering the chapel.
Ceiling paintings.↕
This was,incongruously,sitting in one of the corridors.
The kitchen hearth.
An underfloor heating vent.
It was part of an open weekend 17th/18th march 2012,so essentially a permission visit.The areas we viewed aren't normally open to visitors.
The Cluniac abbey was built around 1145 by Simon de Senlis,Earl of Northampton.
In 1290,the deceased wife of King Edward I,Queen Eleanor was laid in the chapel as a resting point on their journey to London.In 1291 a cross was built on Delapre hill to commemorate the fact.
1460 was significant in the wars of the roses when the battle of Northampton took place there.Apparently it was the only battle of that war where a defended position was successfully attacked and breached.
(Soft lot these Northamptonians!)
Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1538.
The abbey became the property of the Tate family from 1546 to 1764 when it was sold to Edward Bouverie for £22,000.
The war office took over the building in 1940 but there doesn't seem to be any online info as to what it was used for.
Northampton Corporation bought the property in 1946 for about £56,000 it then became home of Northampton Record Society in 1957.
1992 was the year that the Records Office moved out & the abbey was more or less abandoned till 2001 when the Friends of Delapre Abbey were formed & have looked after it ever since.
I haven't mastered the art of photography yet so all these pics were on auto.
The strip lights definitely need to go!
Coat of arms is the Bouverie family (Earl of Radnor) patria cara carior libertas (My country is dear, liberty dearer)
I'll leave it up to you whether you interpret the dear as meaning beloved or expensive!
This is apparently where the nuns used to leave their candles before entering the chapel.
Ceiling paintings.↕
This was,incongruously,sitting in one of the corridors.
The kitchen hearth.
An underfloor heating vent.
