Kettering: Art, history and green spaces

When looking for a hotel in Kettering, it can help to first decide what you want to focus on during your stay: are you particularly interested in art and local history, or would you also like to include parks and a car-free route? Kettering offers a range of ways to explore these interests.

Art, collections and local history

The Alfred East Art Gallery holds works by numerous notable British artists, as well as extensive collections by Sir Alfred East and Thomas Cooper Gotch. Its current collection comprises just over 900 works: oil paintings, watercolours, etchings, prints, photographs and sculptures. The selection of works on display may change. The gallery therefore brings together a broad range of artistic media and the collections of the two artists named above.

At the Manor House Museum, objects and works of art on permanent and temporary display cover a range of subjects: archaeology, natural history, prehistoric fossils, and the boot and shoe industry. Compared with the Gallery’s art collection, the subject matter here spans everything from natural history and the distant past to an important industry. This can help you pinpoint your cultural interests for your stay.

Kettering Library also has a connection to local and family history: it holds the county’s second-largest collection of local and family history resources. If you are interested in family history, this offers a different approach from looking at artworks or archaeological and natural history objects.

Pottery and historic buildings

The potter known as the “Kettering long-boss potter” worked in the area. His unique pottery has also been found outside Kettering, including in Newton near Geddington, Barton Seagrave and Garton in Cambridgeshire. These finds show that the pottery is associated not only with Kettering itself, but has also been discovered in other places.

The history of the Royal Hotel and ranges to rear dates back to the late 18th century. The hotel was extensively remodelled in 1878 and extended between 1896 and 1899; further alterations followed in the 20th century. The building is Grade II listed. This sequence offers a distinct historical perspective alongside the collections and the history of pottery.

The Church of St Peter and St Paul contains a mural of St Roch and fragments of medieval stained glass in the window of the south aisle chapel. The precise identification of the stained glass as belonging to a particular window adds another specific detail to the church alongside the mural.

Wicksteed Park: rides and landscape

Wicksteed Park in Kettering is one of Britain’s oldest urban parks and offers rides. It was founded in 1921 by Charles Wicksteed. Admission to the park grounds is free. This refers to entry to the park grounds; for current information about possible operational changes, it is worth checking the park’s official website before your visit.

The grounds include lowland grassland meadows, floodplains, wetland margins, open water and small patches of woodland. The park lies in the Ise Valley and serves as a green wildlife corridor. Its description therefore encompasses both rides and a range of landscapes and habitats. If green spaces are important to you when planning your stay, this offers a different perspective on Kettering from the collections in its museums.

Gardens and routes

Manor House Gardens are in the centre of Kettering. Surrounded by trees and squirrels, they offer a peaceful place and also serve as an outdoor venue for Cornerstone events.

The North Northamptonshire Greenway is a car-free route for pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists; an important section of the Ise Valley Greenway runs through Kettering. Route details may change as further sections are completed, so it is worth checking the current route before planning. A planned major branch of the Ise Valley Greenway is separate from this: it is intended to connect communities from Corby through Kettering to Wellingborough. Work on it forms the first phase. This preserves the distinction between the section that runs through Kettering and the planned connection.

Whether you want to focus on art collections, architectural history, green spaces or a route depends on what interests you during your stay. Use these different themes to guide your choice of destination, then find hotels in Kettering that suit your travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Helmdon, Brigstock, Braunston, Maidwell, Quinton, Roade, Collyweston, Sywell

For the main travel overview: Northamptonshire.