SNN113427 - Landscape Assessment at Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire

Apethorpe Hall and its attendant village lie in the parish of Apethorpe towards the north-eastern fringes of the county ofNorthamptonshire, centred at TL 024 955. The parish covers nearly 730 hectares of land between 25m and 78m above Ordnance Datum on both sides of the Willow Brook valley, here draining south to the River Nene. it lies in the ancient hunting forest of Rockingham and the valley, which is broad, flat and not particularly well defined, is flanked by low terraces on both sides. That to the north and north-east is the more substantial rising, eventually, to a height of 79m above Ordnance Datum in the area around the village of King's Cliffe. The village and Hall at Apethorpe have developed close to the valley floor on a broad terrace at 35-40m above Ordnance Datum. To the west, the slope rises fairly steeply to a height of 50m above Ordnance Datum at a point where the terrain levels off and it is evident that fonner close boundaries extended westwards from the village to this marked topographical junction. The stream has cut deeply into the surrounding Jurassic deposits, and although the higher parts are still covered with Boulder Clay and Oxford Clay, the soils over most of the parish are derived from Limestones. The parish incorporates the former village of Hale, mentioned in the Domesday Book and deserted as a result of the Black Death (RCHM, Northants. 1, 10). At Domesday, Apethorpe belonged to the Royal Vill of Nassington and was formerly a chapelry of Yarwell originating, possibly, as its daughter-settlement. Apethorpe was made a separate parish late in the 19th century. In the late 15th century Hale and Apethorpe were acquired by Sir Guy Wolston who built a large house at the latter and also probably rebuilt the church. This estate passed to Sir Walter Mildmay c. 1550 and from his family to the Fanes, later Earls of Westmorland. The 1st Earl rebuilt much of Apethorpe Hall and also put up a monument to his father-in-law in the church. A large deer park was created in the 16th and early 17th centuries, incorporating much of the area of Hale, and the parish was enclosed in 1778. The landscape park was formed c. 1800 and the lake was made in 1908. After acquiring the Westmorland estate in 1904, Mr Leonard Brassey made many alterations to the fabric of the village and, under the guidance of Reginald Blomfield, the landscape park was altered.