Abington Park

Abington Park is Northampton's oldest and most popular park. It contains many fine features including Abington Park Museum, sports facilities, a cafe, flower displays, lakes, and a garden for the blind. Beneath the surface lies the archaeological remains of the old medieval village. Find out more below.

Abington Park is Northampton's most popular park. Opened in 1897 as the first public park in the town, it is seen by the town as one of its most important assets.

The park contains many fine features such as the Abington museum in the former manor, sports facilities, Victorian bandstand, café, flower displays, lakes, and a garden for the blind.

Beneath the surface lies the archaeological remains of the old medieval village and field system of the agricultural heritage of the site.

Whilst not currently protected as a scheduled monument, the Deserted Medieval Village (DMV) is of importance to the town and the county as an historic site.

The park also contains many fine trees which have been planted by successive mayors since 1912 to mark their year in office, demonstrating the importance of the park to civic life, and has been the most popular site for commemorative tree planting.

It has been identified that many of the original parkland trees are now in decline due to age and disease.

The history of the park, enclosing as it does the parish church of Abington, is largely a history of the parish and the owners of the manor and parkland and the involvement that those families have had on both the town, the county and national events.

The earliest knowledge of the park is from the time of William the Conqueror. A survey ordered by the king, completed in 1086, gives the owner or 'holder under the king' as Richard Esquire who was a Norman and who probably held it because he furnished arms and men for the invasion of England.

One of the main features within the park is the aviary, which attracts many visitors and delights the children. Containing a good collection of birds, this traditional park feature needs careful management to ensure that the birds are kept in the best condition.