Rockingham Castle, Corby, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Formal gardens and pleasure grounds of 17th-century and later date around a medieval and later castle, set in a landscape park with medieval origins.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Rockingham Castle stands south of Rockingham village, on the west side of the A6003 Corby to Oakham road. The northern outskirts of Corby lie only one kilometre to the south, and this urban scene contrasts vividly with the historic environment of the largely 17th-century estate village of Rockingham and the panoramic rural expanse of the Welland valley which village and Castle overlook. The registered area is bounded to the north-east, and partly to the south-east, by the A6003, the remainder of the long south-east boundary running parallel with the A6003 and one field distant from it. Field boundaries largely form the south-west and north-west boundaries of the registered area, although in both instances short sections of the boundary extend to abut roads which circumscribe the modern estate core: the A427, and the B670 Rockingham to Cottingham road. The registered area is roughly 192 hectares.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

C Watson, Rockingham Castle and the Watsons (1891)

Country Life, 8 (21 July 1900), pp 80-3; (28 July 1900), pp 112-14; 50 (9 July 1921), pp 44-51; (16 July 1921), pp 76-82

Northamptonshire Archaeology 9, (1974), pp 68-79

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Inventories: Northamptonshire 2, (1979), pp 126-30

J Anthony, The Gardens of Britain 6, (1979), pp 137-9

Rockingham Castle: Restoration Management Plan, (Elizabeth Banks Associates 1995)

J Heward and R Taylor, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, (RCHM(E) 1996), pp 290-5
Maps

The Northamptonshire Record Office holds a series of maps including: 1615 (2328), 1806 (3706), 1815 (3704A), 1822 (3704B), 1822 (3705A)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1901

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1886; 2nd edition published 1900
 

Description written: 1998

Edited: January 2000