Wellingborough Heritage Trail

From the Tithe Barn, continue along the walkway linking to Sheep Street. On the right corner you will pass the Hind Hotel, thought to date from the 1640's. Cross over the road using the pedestrian crossing and to the right you will see a beautiful mosaic depicting the town's wells.

A ROYAL SPA TOWN?

The town has always been noted for its great number of wells and springs and many believe that spa waters possess health-giving properties. From 1600 the waters were to prove popular with the early Stuart nobility. Red Well in particular, was believed to aid fertility and Charles I, desperate for an heir, brought his young Queen, Henrietta Maria, to take the waters - four children followed in quick succession! Following the Royal patronage, the King vowed to make Wellingborough into a Royal Spa Town, but the Civil War intervened and Royal Wellingborough Spa was not to be.

The Lady Well may well have been a shrine in earlier pagan times. Roman coins have been found close by (possibly offerings to the nymph of the well), and such pagan shrines were later frequently converted to Christian use.

Five of the wells - Red Well, White Well, Stan Well, Burymoor Well and Rising Sun Well - all feature on the Borough's coat of arms.

To the left, behind the small pagoda building, and spreading upwards to All Hallows Church is the site of the current market.

WELLINGBOROUGH MARKET

In 1201 King John granted the Abbot of Croyland the right to hold a weekly market (every Wednesday) in Wellingborough. Upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the market rights reverted to the Crown. Elizabeth I then divided Wellingborough into 2 Manors and granted Croyland and the market rights to Sir Christopher Hatton.

From medieval times an ox-roast was held on 29th October to celebrate the festival of St Luke. The fair lasted for a number of days and became customary until the beginning of the twentieth Century. This would include sheep, cattle and horse fairs, dancing, theatre, boxing exhibitions, clowns, jugglers and trinket, sweet and seafood stalls.

Many fairs and markets have been held in the town - sheep fairs in Sheep Street, pig fairs at Hog Hill (now Gloucester Place), corn market at Cornhill (part of Market Street) and cheese fair in Cheese Lane.

Until 1905 the Cattle Market was held on the site of the present Market and tethering rings can still be seen along the walls near the Churchyard. The Cattle Market then moved to the site of the current Theatre and Arts Centre, The Castle. The Theatre administration offices are now housed in the former Market Hall.

ALL HALLOWS CHURCH

The Domesday book shows that there was a Saxon church existing in Wellingborough, probably on the site of the current All Hallows Church. However, the earliest parts of the present structure dates from the 1200's, with a Norman south doorway and chamber over the porch. The tower is thirteenth Century, supporting a later spire, and the body of the Church is mainly fourteenth Century. Fourteenth Century misericords and Fifteenth Century carved roofs and screens adorn its interior, enhanced by a collection of modern stained glass unrivalled in English Parish Churches. The carvings in the Chancel represent the Apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

During the Royalist and Puritan conflicts of the seventeenth century, the town's Royalist vicar, Thomas Jones, was twice thrown into Northampton Jail for defying the Puritan soldiers. It is claimed that the rabble accompanying him on one of his journeys forced him to ride part of the journey on the back of the town's savage performing bear! This tale is depicted in stained glass window panels in the north aisle of the Church.

This window also shows Thomas Jones receiving a silver-gilt communion plate from Sir Paul Pindar. Paul Pindar was born in 1565 and educated at Wellingborough Grammar School. Having worked as an apprentice to an Italian merchant in London, he went to Venice where he made his fortune. Later he was sent by James I to Turkey as his Ambassador and he was rewarded in 1623 with the title of Sir Paul Pindar. As a gift to the town, Sir Paul presented the "Pindar Plate" to the vicar, this dating from 1634 and containing 256 ounces of silver.

Other places of worship worth visiting include:

The United Reformed Church on High Street;

All Saints, Earls Barton, with its celebrated Saxon tower and Norman south doorway;

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Knox Road, described by Sir John Betjeman as the "finest modern parish church in England";

The typically medieval All Saints Church in Mears Ashby;

All Saints Church, Great Harrowden, spanning several architectural periods;

The domed Hindu Temple in Highfield Road;

The Muslim mosque on the corner of Winstanley and Strode Roads.

A Copy of The Wellingborough Heritage Trail and Map can be obtained from the Wellingborough Museum, 12 Castle Way, Wellingborough NN8 1XB   Tel: 01933 276838