Stanwick Lakes is a
country park
A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.
United Kingdom
History
In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised coun ...
on the outskirts of the village of
Stanwick and was opened in 2006. It is managed by the
Rockingham Forest
Rockingham Forest is a former royal hunting forest in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is an area of some lying between the River Welland and River Nene and the towns of Stamford and Kettering. It has a rich and varied landscape, wit ...
Trust on behalf of
East Northamptonshire District Council
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
and comprises 750 acres (304 hectares) of former gravel pits. It is part of the larger
River Nene
The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...
Regional Park.
History
Prior to the construction of a bypass and mass excavation of gravel, a Roman villa was excavated in 1984–1992 and several mosaics were found.
In 2013, one of the mosaics was returned after study and is now on display in the Visitor Centre at Stanwick Lakes.
A medieval village was excavated in 1985-1989 near to the village of
Ringstead. The earthworks and buried archaeological remains of the medieval village of West Cotton, including a mid-late Anglo-Saxon and medieval settlement abandoned before 1450. The settlement overlies the north end of an extensive prehistoric ceremonial complex.
[West Cotton, Raunds: a study of medieval settlement dynamics, AD 450-1450: Excavation of a deserted medieval hamlet in Northamptonshire, 1985-1989, Northamptonshire Archaeology, 2010 Oxbow Books]
Geography
Stanwick Lakes is approximately 15 miles north-east of
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; ...
.
Landmarks
The following buildings and structures are listed by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
as of special architectural or historic interest.
*Raunds bowl barrow (Scheduled Monument) Prehistoric
*Irthlingborough bowl barrow (Scheduled Monument) Prehistoric
*Medieval Settlement of West Cotton (Scheduled Monument)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Stanwick Lakes Nature ReserveRiver Nene Regional Park
Country parks in Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire