RAF Desborough

The Borough of Kettering was from 1974 to 2021 a local government district and borough in Northamptonshire, England. It was named after its main town Kettering where the council was based. It bordered onto the district of Harborough in the neighbouring county of Leicestershire, the borough of Corby, the district of East Northamptonshire, the district of Daventry and the borough of Wellingborough.

Wilbarston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire in the Welland valley. It is administered as part of North Northamptonshire and is five miles east of the Leicestershire town of Market Harborough, via the A427. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 767 people, including Pipewell but reducing slightly to 753 at the 2011 Census. A Community Governance Review concluded in February 2015 resulted in the ward of Pipewell becoming part of the civil parish of Rushton. The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Wilbeorht'.It has no secondary schools, but one primary school - Wilbarston C of E Primary School - that dates back to 1845. It was built with the intention of serving seven villages: Wilbarston, Stoke Albany, Dingley, Weston by Welland, Sutton Bassett, Ashley and Brampton Ash. Despite being located in Northamptonshire, the village postal town and postcode are Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16.

Stoke Albany is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England. It is off the A427 road between Market Harborough and Corby, about halfway between the two. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish (including Brampton Ash and Little Bowden) was 390, an increase from 330 at the 2001 Census.The village's name means 'outlying homestead/settlement'. The village was held by William de Albinni in 1155. The western piece of Corby hundred shaped a different hundred named 'Stoke'.St Botolph's Church is a Grade II* listed building.

Stoke and Bowd Lane Woods is a 36.4-hectare (90-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Corby in Northamptonshire. The eastern half of Stoke Wood is managed by the Woodland Trust, a triangular area of 0.7 hectares which stretches south from the middle is the Stoke Wood End Quarter, a nature reserve managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, and the remaining western part of the wood is private property. Bowd Lane Wood is private property.These ancient semi-natural woods were formerly part of the medieval Royal Forest of Rockingham. The main tree species is pedunculate oak, with other species such as ash and birch. Ground flora include herb paris, wood sorrel, yellow archangel, early-purple orchid and greater butterfly-orchid.There is public access to the parts of Stoke Wood managed by the Woodland Trust and the Wildlife Trust by a track from the B669, Desborough Road.

Pipewell Woods is an 85.3-hectare (211-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Corby in Northamptonshire. It is composed of Pipewell Wood itself, Little Haws Wood, Foxhole Wood, Barrowdykes Wood, Monk's Arbour Wood and Rawhaw Wood. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.The woods are an example of wet ash-maple woodland both in its typical form and a nationally rare one. It has diverse flora including the locally rare giant bellflower, herb paris and wood speedwell. Open grassy areas provide additional habitats for birds and insects.A road and a public footpath from Pipewell go through the site.

The Plens is a 5 hectare nature reserve in Desborough in Northamptonshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.Former use as a quarry and a railway line have created steep slopes and varied habitats, with grassland, hawthorn scrub, woodland and herbs. Flowers include wild basil, bladder campion, moschatel and bird's-foot-trefoil. There is a diverse range of invertebrates, particularly butterflies.There is access from Ironwood Avenue.

Pipewell Hall in Northamptonshire, England, is a building of historical significance and is Grade II listed on the English Heritage Register. It was built near the ruins of a Cistercian abbey in 1675. At this time it was owned by the Barons of Powis. The house was constructed from the stones of the abbey. The Hall was the home of many notable people over the next three centuries and is now a wedding venue.

East Carlton is a village and civil parish in the county of Northamptonshire, on the southern ridge overlooking the Welland valley to the north and covers 1,645 acres (666 ha) on a long strip of land. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the town of Corby and is administered as part of North Northamptonshire but was previously in the Corby borough until 2021. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 270, reducing to 259 at the 2011 census. East Carlton is one of the Thankful Villages that suffered no fatalities during World War I. Although in Northamptonshire, the village is in the Leicestershire LE16 postcode area.

Pipewell is a village in the civil parish of Rushton, in the North Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. It is a mile away from Corby. With 63 inhabitants, it is one of the smallest villages in Northamptonshire. A Community Governance Review concluded in February 2015 resulted in the ward of Pipewell being moved from civil parish of Wilbarston to Rushton. In the 12th Century Richard I held his Midland Parliaments in Pipewell. Pipewell was the site of Pipewell Abbey, a Cistercian abbey, established in 1143 by William Butevilain as a daughter house of Newminster Abbey. All of the settlement is built around three fields where this used to be, which contains the Harpers Brook, a tributary of the River Nene, running through the centre. It was located within the old Rockingham Forest and some of its income came from sale of the timber and undergrowth. The abbey was suppressed as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in November 1538, despite the representations of local gentleman, especially Sir William Parr (later Marquess of Northampton). The site was subsequently granted to Parr. He intended to demolish the house, but before he could do so the property was looted by the locals. Demolition took place soon after and by 1720 no standing masonry was visible. Pipewell Hall, a Grade II mansion, was built in 1675 with some of the stone from the former abbey: the abbey remains are contained in its estate. West of the site, there is a mill pond and dam, together with a series of medieval quarries which have been worked into the twentieth century. Pipewell also holds Northamptonshire's smallest church building, known as the Abbey Church of St Mary which was built in 1881.

Desborough railway station was built by the Midland Railway on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin.

Alder Wood and Meadow is a 13.2-hectare (33-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Corby in Northamptonshire.The semi-natural ancient broadleaved woodland is a surviving fragment of the Royal Forest of Rockingham. It is mainly ash, and the ground flora on base rich soil includes tufted hair-grass, dog's mercury and enchanter's nightshade. The meadow is agriculturally unimproved, and it has surviving medieval ridge and furrow.There is access by a footpath from Rushton.

Tailby Meadow is a 4.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Desborough in Northamptonshire. It is owned by Kettering Borough Council and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.Artificial fertilisers have never been used on this hay meadow, and it has not been ploughed for several hundred years. There are fifteen species of grass and diverse wild flowers, including black knapweed, lady's bedstraw and lady's smock, which is a food source for the orange tip butterfly.The site can be accessed from the leisure centre off The Broadlands.