Maidwell Hall

St Mary the Virgin's Church is an Anglican Church and the parish church of Maidwell, Northamptonshire. It is a Grade II* listed building and stands on the south side of Draughton Road. There is no reference to a church or priest in the entry for the parish in the Domesday Book, which was compiled in 1086. This may indicate the absence of a church building at that stage or, alternatively, only the absence of a resident priest. The church consists of a nave, chancel and west tower. The main structure of the present building was erected in the 12th and 13th centuries. The oldest parts are the north and south doorway dating from the 12th century. The tower dates from the 13th century. The chancel was constructed in 1891 to a design by James Piers St Aubyn. There are monuments to Catherine, Lady Gorges (1634) erected by her husband Edward Gorges, Lord Dundalk and also a tablet to the Haslewood family erected 1695 by Elizabeth, Viscountess Hatton. A detailed description of the building appears on the Historic England websiteA notable Rector was George Folbury (d. 1540) Master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge from 1537. The parish registers survive from 1708 and, apart from those currently in use, are kept at Northamptonshire Record Office. Details of its location and opening times can be found on the Record Office website.Maidwell is part of a united Benefice along with Draughton, Faxton and Lamport. Except for Faxton, each parish retains its own church building.

Maidwell is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish had 325 inhabitants, including Draughton, and this increased to 429 at the 2011 census.The villages name means 'Maidens' spring/stream'.

Lamport railway station on the Northampton and Market Harborough railway opened on 16 February 1859 serving the villages of Lamport, Maidwell, Hanging Houghton as well as Lamport Hall, Northamptonshire, England. It ran half a mile (ca.800 m) west of the village towards Maidwell just north of the road which was crossed by a level crossing. It was part of the London and North Western Railway. The next station north, Kelmarsh is located just north of Kelmarsh Tunnel. The station lost its passenger service on 4 January 1960. The line was re-opened for limited periods after that and not closed completely until 15 August 1981. The heritage Northampton & Lamport Railway hopes that it may eventually re-open the route. The Lamport station building and some railway workers cottages still exist.

Draughton is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is situated approximately one mile east of Maidwell at grid reference SP762767. The villages name means 'dray farm/settlement'.

St Catherine's Church is an Anglican Church and the parish church of Draughton. It is a Grade II* listed building and stands in the village of Draughton. There is no reference to a church or priest in the entry for the parish in the Domesday Book, which was compiled in 1086. This may indicate the absence of a church building at that stage or, alternatively, only the absence of a resident priest. The main structure of the present building was erected in the 12th and 13th centuries. The chancel was remodelled in about 1885. The church consists of a nave, north and south aisles, chancel and west tower. A detailed description appears on the Historic England websiteThe parish registers survive from 1559 and, apart from those currently in use, are kept at Northamptonshire Record Office. Details of its location and opening times can be found on the Record Office website.Draughton is part of a united Benefice along with Faxton, Lamport, and Maidwell. Except for Faxton, each parish retains its own church building.

The Kelmarsh Tunnels are disused railway tunnels in Northamptonshire, England. The Northampton to Market Harborough line opened in 1859 and had tunnels at Kelmarsh and nearby Oxendon. The original tunnel was single-track, and when the line was doubled a second single-track tunnel was built. Due to the small bore, the tunnels were known as "the rat-holes" by train drivers. The former "up" line tunnel at Kelmarsh is open as part of the Brampton Valley Way, a linear park which runs from Boughton level crossing on the outskirts of Northampton to Little Bowden near Market Harborough, on the former railway trackbed. A species of moth Triphosa dubitata has been observed to overwinter inside Kelmarsh Tunnel. The tunnel is easily navigated on foot or by cyclists, and the open bore has been effectively restored but is unlit. The sign on site placed by the council indicates the tunnel length as 480 metres (1,570 ft).The other bore is sometimes accessible from one end but unsafe. the ventilation shafts approximately half of the way through lets in light water and air; also these do not have covers on so are considered unsafe.

The Brampton Valley Way is a 14-mile (23 km) rail trail built on the way of the former Northampton to Market Harborough Railway in Northamptonshire, England. It forms what trail managers, Northamptonshire County Council, describe as a linear park. The railway line was closed in 1981 and the 13-mile (21 km) Northamptonshire section was purchased by Northamptonshire County Council with grant aid from the Countryside Commission in 1987, when work began on developing it as a linear park. The 1-mile (1.6 km) section north of the county boundary is owned by Leicestershire County Council. Management of the complete route is now undertaken by Leicestershire County Council, West Northamptonshire Council, and Sustrans. The Brampton Valley Way, from Boughton Crossing in Northampton to Little Bowden Crossing in Market Harborough, was opened in the spring of 1993 and provides recreational access for cyclists and walkers. Further developments to enhance access continue alongside everyday management of the site. The Way forms an offroad section of the Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 6. There are two former railway tunnels on the route, Kelmarsh (322 yards or 294 metres) and Oxendon (462 yards or 422 metres). The tunnels are unlit and so can be quite an experience to travel through, although alternative routes over the tunnels are provided. A section of the Brampton Valley Way runs adjacent to the Northampton & Lamport Railway. The railway is separated from the linear park by a stout safety fence. As the railway extends, so the fence will be erected first to protect members of the public from the works. The Midshires Way passes through the Brampton Valley Way.

Hanging Houghton is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lamport, in the West Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the A508 road between Brixworth and Lamport. In 1931 the parish had a population of 84.

Kelmarsh is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population (including Haselbech) of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 208. The village is on the A508, close to its junction with the A14 about 5 miles (8 km) south of Market Harborough and 11 miles (18 km) north of Northampton.The village’s name probably means, 'marsh marked out by poles or posts'. The place-name is identical to Chelmarsh, Shropshire; the initial K- reflects Old Norse influence.

Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, England, is an elegant, 18th-century country house about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Market Harborough and 11 miles (18 km) north of Northampton. It is a Grade I listed house and is open to public viewing.The present Palladian hall was built in 1732 for William Hanbury, Esq (1704-1768), a famous antiquarian, by Francis Smith of Warwick, to a James Gibbs design; the hall is still today surrounded by its working estate, and comprises both parkland and gardens. Pevsner described the building as, “a perfect, extremely reticent design… done in an impeccable taste." In building the hall, Hanbury was utilising a fortune which had been bolstered by an advantageous marriage to a niece of Viscount Bateman; he went on to acquire the Shobdon estate in Herefordshire and one of his grandchildren, William Hanbury III, succeeded to a Bateman baronetcy. Richard Christopher Naylor, a Liverpool banker, cotton trader and horse racing enthusiast, purchased the estate in 1864, mainly for its hunting potential. In 1902, George Granville Lancaster bought the estate; his son, Claude, inherited on his majority in 1924, and it later passed to Claude's elder sister Cicely in 1977; she later established the Kelmarsh Trust to safeguard the estate's future after her death in 1996. Ronald Tree and his wife Nancy, née Perkins (later known as Nancy Lancaster) took a 6-year repairing lease on the Hall in 1929. Tree became the Member of Parliament for Harborough in 1933. His wife, who became renowned for her work and taste in interior design, subsequently married the owner of the estate, Colonel Lancaster.

Kelmarsh railway station on the Northampton and Market Harborough railway opened on 16 February 1859 serving the villages of Kelmarsh and Arthingworth, Northamptonshire, England. It ran almost equidistant between the two villages which are just under 2 miles (3.2 km) apart north-east of Kelmarsh and south-west of Arthingworth. It was part of the London and North Western Railway. The next station north, Clipston and Oxendon serving the villages of Great Oxendon and Clipston was situated south of Oxendon tunnel. To the south, Lamport was accessed via Kelmarsh tunnel. The station lost its passenger service on 4 January 1960. The line was re-opened for limited periods after that and not closed completely until 15 August 1981. The Heritage Northampton & Lamport Railway hopes that it may eventually re-open the route.

Royal Air Force Harrington or more simply RAF Harrington is a former Royal Air Force station in England about 5.6 miles (9.0 km) west of Kettering in Northamptonshire south of the village of Harrington off the A14 road. During the early Cold War, it was a Thor missile site, designed to deliver atomic warheads to the Soviet Union. The nuclear missile site is now protected as a Grade II listed building as an example of Cold War architecture.