Delapre Park Golf Club

Delapre Park Golf Club takes its name from the historic parkland on the southern edge of Northampton, one of the larger green spaces close to the town centre. The park surrounds Delapre Abbey, a former Cluniac nunnery founded in the twelfth century and later converted into a country house, which still stands within the grounds and is open to visitors as a heritage site. The park lies near the spot where the Battle of Northampton was fought in 1460 during the Wars of the Roses, and one of the original Eleanor Crosses, raised by Edward I to mark the resting places of his wife's funeral procession, stands nearby on the old London road. The River Nene runs along the northern side of the park, and the wider area combines mature woodland, open meadow and formal gardens around the abbey buildings. Northampton itself grew up historically around shoemaking and leatherwork, and the town's museum still holds one of the country's largest collections of footwear. Delapre Park has long served as a recreation space for the town, with walking routes, a nature reserve and sports facilities set within its boundaries alongside the golf course.