Pipewell is situated in North Northamptonshire, a mile away from Corby. With 63 inhabitants, it is one of the smallest hamlets in Northamptonshire. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 Census and the population was included in the civil parish of Wilbarston. A Community Governance Review concluded in February 2015 resulted in the ward of Pipewell becoming part of the civil parish of Rushton. In the 12th Century Richard I held his Midland Parliaments in Pipewell. Pipewell was the site of a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbey, established in 1143 by William Butevilain as a daughter house of Newminster Abbey. All of the settlement is built around three fields where this used to be, which contains the

Harpers Brook Harper's Brook is a tributary of the River Nene which runs through Northamptonshire. According to sources (ordnance survey sheet 141) it rises to the North of Desborough and meanders through the north of the county of Northamptonshire, passin ...

, a tributary of the River Nene, running through the centre. It was located within the old Rockingham Forest and some of its income came from sale of the timber and undergrowth. The abbey was suppressed as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in November 1538, despite the representations of local gentleman, especially Sir William Parr (later Marquess of Northampton). The site was subsequently granted to Parr. He intended to demolish the house, but before he could do so the property was looted by the locals. Demolition took place soon after and by 1720 no standing masonry was visible. Pipewall Hall, a Grade II mansion, was built in 1675 with some of the stone from the former abbey: the abbey remains are contained in its estate. West of the site, there is a mill pond and dam, together with a series of medieval quarries which have been worked into the twentieth century. Pipewell also holds Northamptonshire's smallest church building, known as the Abbey Church of St Mary which was built in 1881.

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Hamlets in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub