Althorp, Northampton, England

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

Gardens and landscape park with buildings and features of the 16th century through to the late 20th century associated with a country house.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Althorp lies about 6 kilometres north-west of Northampton, on the A428 to Rugby. The house stands in the centre of its park, on low ground which rises to its north-west and south-east. The park is bounded to the north-east by the A428 and to the east by a footpath which spurs off it to Harlestone. A deliberately straightened minor road from Harlestone to Great Brington forms the south-west boundary of the park, while to the north-west the park edge touches on the minor road leading north-east from Great Brington to the A428. The area here registered is about 250 hectares.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

L Knyff and J Kip, Britannia Illustrata (1714)

Country Life, 49 (11 June 1921), pp 714-21; (25 June 1921), pp 792-7; (2 July 1921), pp 14-20; 127 (19 May 1960), pp 1122-5; 170 (30 July 1981), pp 375-8

M E Finch, Five Northamptonshire Families (1956), p 61

Northamptonshire Past & Present 5, (1973), p 219

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 214-15

J Anthony, The Gardens of Britain 6, (1979), pp 17-22

J Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979), p 67

H Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 (1980), p 561

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments England (RCHME) Inventories: Northamptonshire 3, (1981), pp 1-3

D Jacques, Georgian Gardens (1983), pp 112-13, 140-1

S Markham, John Loveday of Caversham (1984), p 345

T Mowl and B Earnshaw, Trumpet at a Distant Gate (1985), pp 28-9

Garden History 19, (1991), pp 146-54

J Heward and R Taylor, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, (RCHME 1996), pp 52-7

D Hall, Althorp Park 1998: Ridge and Furrow (unpublished study for English Heritage)

Maps

Brington Tithe map based on 1778 estate map (T 176), (Northants Record Office)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1886; 2nd edition published 1901

Archival items

The Althorp estate records are in the Northamptonshire Record Office (eg Spencer 741-894) and the British Library (early Spencer papers 1A, 1329-1757)
 

Description written: August 1998

Edited: January 2000