Delapré Abbey dates back to 1145 AD, where a nunnery was founded by Simon II de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton, an Anglo-Norman nobleman who fought for King Stephen during The Anarchy. The nunnery was officially called the Abbey of St Mary de la Pré, meaning St Mary of the Meadows, and Cluniac Nuns from Burgundy, France came over to England to devote themselves to the congregation and to God. The Nuns lived and worshipped here for nearly 400 years, until King Henry VIII ordered for the abbey to be disbanded and ransacked of its riches and possessions during Dissolution of the Monasteries. Despite being women of faith, some nuns were excommunicated from the nunnery due to 'throwing their modesty to the winds’ and ‘abandoned themselves to the hateful lusts of the flesh, and of their own accord given up their innocence.’

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In 1290, King Edward I's wife Eleanor of Castille died, and as her body was carried down to Westminster Abbey, her body laid in rest at the chapel at Delapré. In the following year of her death, Edward ordered for twelve stone crosses to be erected around the East of England in her memory. Only three survive today, and one of which is built on the grounds of Delapré Abbey.

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In 1460, one of the bloodiest battles during the Wars of the Roses took place on grounds that surround Delapré Abbey, the Battle of Northampton. Led by the likes of Warwick the Kingmaker, Earl of March (Edward IV) and King Henry VI on the other side, many Yorkists and hundreds of Lancastrians were killed in battle, leaving Henry VI no choice but to surrender the losing fight. He was captured at his tent by an archer, and was imprisoned at Delapré Abbey for several days, until he was moved from Northampton down to London.

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After King Henry VIII seized the Abbey, The Crown leased the site to a tenant for 7 years, until it was sold in 1550 to the Tate family headed by Bartholomew Tate II, an MP for Coventry. Amidst the English Civil War, Zouche Tate was a strong Parliamentarian, who before the war took session in the House of Commons in both the Short and Long Parliaments, and later stood to give his eyewitness testimony during King Charles I's trial for treason. The Tate family lived at Delapré Abbey for over 200 years, until Mary Tate's husband Charles Hardy who was Governor of New York, sold the house and estate to Edward Bouverie for £22,000.

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The Bouverie family were very high status people, just like the previous owners here, and during the 1800s they built an additional wing to show off their presence in society, included with a Library Study for the men to sit, drink and smoke in, a Drawing Room for the women to relax, pamper and converse in, and a luxurious Dining Room for afternoon tea parties and lavishing evening dinners. But just like with any family, there was turmoil amongst relations as a scandal had come to light. General Everard Bouverie, owner of the house, had no children, but his younger brother Francis who moved to Ireland and married a woman called Elizabeth did have a son, John Augustus Sheil Bouverie, who would be the next heir to the estate. However, it came to light that Elizabeth had an affair nine months before John was born, by which point Francis was long dead. Everard learned of this illegitimacy and contested John's claim, even going to court over the inheritance. The courts were in favour on John, but Everard wouldn't leave this life without taking all the possessions and assets in his will.

 

The last member of the family line, Mary Bouverie, had Delapré rented out to the shoe maker, before returning back to the house to live out her final days there. The War Office took over the property during the beginning of World War 2, and she moved into a room located above the old Stable Block, until the 20th January 1943, when Mary Bouverie died aged 77.

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