When choosing Kettering for a trip, you can weigh up its art, local history and green spaces. The Alfred East Art Gallery and the Manor House Museum offer different collection focuses; Wicksteed Park and a section of the Ise Valley Greenway that runs through Kettering represent other facets. What you choose to combine depends on whether you are mainly looking for art, history or time outdoors.
Art collections and industrial history
The Alfred East Art Gallery holds works by many important British artists, as well as extensive collections by Sir Alfred East and Thomas Cooper Gotch. Its current collection comprises just over 900 works in oil painting, watercolour, etching, prints, photography and sculpture. The different media offer a broad insight into artistic forms; which works are currently on display may change.
The Manor House Museum takes a different approach. It displays objects and artworks on a permanent and temporary basis from archaeology, natural history, prehistoric fossils, and the boot and shoe industry. Together with the gallery, the museum offers another perspective on the town’s themes: alongside art, natural history and local industry are also in focus.
Church art and architectural history
The Church of St Peter and St Paul has a mural of Saint Roch and preserves fragments of medieval stained glass in the window of the south aisle chapel. Both details invite visitors to look at different forms of historic art: a mural and surviving parts of a glazed window.
The architectural history also spans several periods. The Royal Hotel and ranges to rear dates from the late 18th century, was extensively remodelled in 1878 and extended in 1896–1899; further alterations followed in the 20th century. The building is listed as Grade II. Kettering Library also has the county’s second-largest collection of local and family history resources. Those interested in local and family history will find another topic here to complement Kettering’s cultural focus.
A look beyond the town leads to the potter known as the “Kettering long-boss potter”, who worked in the region. His distinctive pottery has also been found beyond Kettering, including at Newton near Geddington, Barton Seagrave and Garton in Cambridgeshire. These findspots show that this regional craft is associated with more than Kettering itself.
Wicksteed Park and its landscape
Wicksteed Park is one of Britain’s oldest urban parks and offers rides. Charles Wicksteed founded it in 1921. The park also includes lowland grassland meadows, floodplains, wetland margins, open water and small patches of woodland. It lies in the Ise Valley and serves as a green wildlife corridor; the park’s history, rides and landscape therefore offer different points of interest for a visit.
Entry to the park grounds is free. The rides and the park grounds are different aspects of the park; the free-entry information applies to the grounds. Check the official website before your visit for any operational changes.
Greenways and a quiet spot in the centre
The North Northamptonshire Greenway is a traffic-free route for pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists. A key section of the Ise Valley Greenway runs through Kettering. A major branch is intended to connect communities from Corby via Kettering to Wellingborough; work on it forms the first phase. As route details may change as the project progresses, check the latest route information when planning a specific journey.
The Manor House Gardens in central Kettering offer a different kind of visit. Among trees and squirrels, they provide a peaceful spot and also serve as an outdoor venue for Cornerstone events. The traffic-free route and the garden thus offer different options: a route designed for several modes of travel and a quiet green space in the centre.
Discover more destinations: Quinton, Stoke Albany, Rothwell, Castle Ashby, Harringworth, Flore, Kilsby, Northampton.
For the broader travel overview: Northamptonshire.
