Grange Park is an affluent large village just outside

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area covering part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, created in 2021. By far the largest settlement in West Northamptonshire is the county town of Northampton. Its other signif ...

History

The village was created from

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

land belonging to Courteenhall Grange Farm in the late 1990s. Approval for the initial development of the village was granted on 8 May 1998, initially for one thousand houses to be built along with amenities such as a primary school, a community centre, and country parks.

2003 planned development of an IKEA store

In 2003, a sand pit which was a former domestic refuse site was the proposed location for a new

IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...

store but after local opposition from members of the public, the store was built in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

instead.

2008 development of 450 new homes

In 2008,

West Northamptonshire Development Corporation The West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) was an urban Development Corporation to secure the regeneration of the Urban Development Areas of Daventry, Towcester and Northampton in Northamptonshire, England. It was established in ...

agreed on a new development of 450 new homes and a hotel in the same sand pit location where an

store was planned in 2003 but the government decided that the 450 new homes would be built closer to the existing homes in the village rather than on the wasteland.

2017 warehouses development

In 2017, three new warehouses were built in the sandpit location that was formerly the planned site for an

and 450 new homes. Two of the warehouses are home to Clipper Logistics and the other one is home to an

Amazon UK Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

distribution centre.

2019 planned development of 330 new homes

In January 2019, Manor Oak Homes published plans for 330 new homes. Most of the community are not opposed to the new development but many believe that there are not enough local services to cope with the new homes as the primary school, doctor's surgery, dental practice and pre-school are already at almost full capacity and with the 330 new homes, there are no new plans for further community buildings.

Demographics

The population of Grange Park was 4,404 as of the 2011 Census. Prior to this, according to the 2001 Census the population was just 327 people, however the village was relatively undeveloped at that time. A

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

is taken every ten years in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the next one will be in the year 2021. In the 2011 Census, 82.8% of the Grange Park population identified themselves as

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

Facilities

Schools

Woodland View Primary School is the only school in Grange Park, it caters for children in

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

from

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

up until

Year 6 Year 6 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the sixth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between ten and eleven however some chil ...

. For

Secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

, most children go to Caroline Chisholm School but there are numerous other

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s in the area that children can go to.

Community

The village has numerous community facilities such as a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

, a sports pavilion and a religious centre. These are home for numerous clubs and

youth groups The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. 0 ...

such as

Scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

and

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

s. There is also a doctors surgery, a

dental practice Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...

and a

daycare Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

for members of the community to use.

Commercial

Grange Park have a Co-op Food supermarket, a Harvester (restaurant), Harvester restaurant, a marstons pub and some Take-out, take away establishments. There are also two hotels in Grange Park which are in a prime location for business persons due to how close the village is to the M1 motorway.

Industrial

There is a small industrial estate in Grange Park which contain numerous warehouses used as distribution centres for logistics companies. There are also three warehouses that are outside of the industrial estate which are operated by Clipper and Amazon. Grange Park is also a prime location as a logistics hub due to how close the M1 motorway and the A45 road, A45 trunk road are.

Politics

Parish council

Grange Park Parish Council has 12 members who are elected every four years.

Unitary Authority

Following 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England#Northamptonshire, local government restructuring the village is governed by

council. Prior to this it was in the South Northamptonshire and had two councillors who were responsible for "Grange Ward". Councillor Andrew Grant and Councillor Adil Sadygov both members of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative party. It was also represented on Northamptonshire County Council by one councillor who was responsible for "Hackleton and Grange Park Ward". The last councillor for this ward was Councillor Michael Clarke, a member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative party.

Transport

Grange Park is close to the Northampton loop of the West Coast Main Line. This carries trains from Northampton railway station, Northampton to Euston railway station, London Euston via Milton Keynes Central railway station, Milton Keynes Central. Peak travel times by rail by West Midlands Trains and Avanti West Coast services in minutes are: from Northampton to Central London 46, to Birmingham 65; from Milton Keynes to Central London 40 and Manchester 120. The estate borders on the M1 motorway to the south-east and A45 road, A45 to the west and north. Typical travel times in minutes by road ''(peak times in italics)'' are: * Central London (via M1) 75 ''(110)'' * Birmingham (via M1/M6) 45 ''(60)'' * Manchester, (via M1/M6/M62) 120 ''(175)'' * Leicester (via M1) 50 ''(65)'' * Oxford (via A43) 50 ''(60)'' * Cambridge (via A45/A14) 85 ''(130)'' * Milton Keynes (via A508) 20 ''(30)'' Airports at Heathrow Airport, Heathrow, Gatwick Airport, Gatwick, and Stansted Airport, London Stansted as well as Birmingham Airport are all within easy reach. Grange Park is also on the Stagecoach bus route X6, Stagecoach Midlands X6 bus route between Milton Keynes and Northampton via Roade. This bus is no longer a stagecoach gold route as of 2020 - 2021

References

External links

South Northants District Council

Grange Park Cricket Club

Sources

(Google Maps)
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire