Jeyes Museums

As if hosting our wedding reception in their garden wasn’t enough, the Jeyes building also houses several small and very quirky and interesting “museums” featuring items donated and sourced by local people. It includes a “Kinky Boots” section, with boots and photographs from the original shoe factory which was immortalised in the film Kinky Boots. Well worth a visit either beforehand, or during the reception. Jeyes - Museums and Exhibitions

Abington Park Museum

A gorgeous building set in a small park. Exhibits revolve around life in Northamptonshire over the years. Abington Park Museum

Northampton Museum

Is only a few metres away from the Guildhall where we are having our wedding ceremony. It used to be solely a Shoe Museum because of Northamptonshire having been a key centre of the English shoe-making industry, but exhibits a much broader range now. Northampton Museum

Delapre Abbey

Is a house, park and gardens not far from the centre of Northampton. Lovely for a walk round the park. Decent café but very slow service – so better to take sandwiches with you. Delapré Abbey and Park

Castle Ashby

Is an ancestral house with beautiful grounds. Only the grounds are open for visitors and the price for visiting was grossly inflated about a year ago – presumably to try and recoup losses during Covid. Castle Ashby Gardens

Waddesdon Manor

If you have your own transport, this fantastical ancestral house with huge gardens is well worth a visit. It was built by a member of the Rothschild family who was dedicated to conservation, visited by Queen Victoria, and featured in the films “The Mummy – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and “Sherlock Holmes – Game of Shadows”. It was also used in an episode in the first series of Downton Abbey, and the interior of the house is regularly used to replicate Buckingham Palace in The Crown. Waddesdon Manor

Rushden Lakes

Rushden Lakes is a major shopping and leisure complex in Northamptonshire. It first opened in 2017 with further retail and leisure units added later including a Cineworld cinema which opened in 2019. It is situated just off the A45 on the northern outskirts of Rushden. There are around 40 shops predominantly focussing on fashion. The largest retailers are Primark, Frasers and Marks and Spencer. There are over a dozen cafes and restaurants including Bill's, Five Guys, Nando's, Pizza Express and Wagamama. Not forgetting the Leisure activity opportunities which include: Canoe2 (Kayak hire), Paradise Island Adventure Golf (Crazy golf), Rock-up (Indoor Climbing Walls), Flip Out (Indoor Trampolining Park) and Countryside walks around the lakes.

Northamptonshire has several attractive large country parks if you fancy a walk in the countryside. These are two of the best:

Irchester Country Park

This former ironstone quarry has a wonderful children's play area as well as a network of long and short trails through 83 hectares of mixed woodland. The park is home to the Quarryman's Rest Cafe, Jungle Parc UK and the Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway museum. Jungle Parc high ropes adventure course. Enjoy lots of amazing activities as you glide through the trees on rope bridges, zip lines and cargo nets. For more information or to book a place, visit the Jungle Parc website or email.

Sywell Country Park

Sywell Country Park exists on the site of a former drinking water reservoir near the village of Sywell in East Northamptonshire.

The reservoir was built at the turn of the 20th century to supply water to the Higham Ferrers and Rushden areas. It operated between 1906 and 1979 and is now a country park run by Northamptonshire County Council. It has an area of 280,000 square metres. The land for the reservoir was purchased from the Stockdale family estate at adjoining Mears Ashby.

The site includes a small tea room. There is also a project which aims to use both oral and written records to interpret the route of the water supply throughout the site.