An abandoned cottage will be brought back to life by Northampton College students as part of an exciting regeneration project at Delapré Abbey.
The historic site in Northampton, which dates back 900 years, has embarked on a multi-million pound project to transform its stables into a dynamic, mixed-use development featuring dedicated spaces for retail, events and wellbeing activities.
As part of the project, called A Stable Future, the Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust has enlisted the help of Construction apprentices and students from Northampton College to regenerate an abandoned 19th century cottage known as Gardener’s Cottage Number 2.
Mark Bradshaw, curriculum manager for Construction, said: “Delapré Abbey is an important historic site, locally and nationally, and it’s fantastic that our students have been given the opportunity to work on one of its 19th century buildings.
“The vast majority of Construction apprentices in this country work on new housing developments and never get the opportunity to work on older buildings.
“As a result of this project, our students and apprentices will learn so many heritage construction skills which are hugely in demand.”
The students and apprentices will restore doors and sash windows and carry out brickwork, repointing, rewiring, plumbing and decorating as well as hard landscaping in the garden. When work on the cottage is complete, it will be used as offices for psychology and therapy services.
The students will also have opportunities to work on other buildings in the stables development where they will be able to develop their green construction skills.
Delapré Abbey Head of Commercial Projects and Operations Amanda Nicols said: “We have a long-lasting partnership with Northampton College and we’re delighted to hand over the cottage to its Construction team to develop over the next 12 months.
“It will be a live construction site for the students where they can focus on heritage construction skills and play a part in addressing the UK’s heritage construction skills gap.
“The beauty of this partnership is it will create a legacy for the community and provide the students with skills they can take forward into their future careers.
“We know that many of the students and staff at Northampton College enjoy visiting Delapré Abbey with their families and we hope seeing what they have achieved here will give them a sense of pride for years to come.”
The project is the latest in a series of initiatives Northampton College students have been involved in at Delapré Abbey. Its Performing Arts students have taken part in events at the historic venue and most recently students restored the area around Sir Frank Dobson’s much-loved ‘Woman With A Fish’ statue in Delapré Abbey’s walled garden.
Northampton College Principal Jason Lancaster said: “We’re very fortunate to have an ongoing partnership with Delapré Abbey and it’s incredibly generous of the Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust to offer this building to our students to work on. It will give our students opportunities to support our local community and to expand their skills.
“Lots of people are concerned about the construction skills gap in this country. When it comes to heritage construction skills, Delapré Abbey is helping us to develop a workforce that can help to tackle this gap and we can’t thank them enough for their invaluable support.”
To find out more about Delapré Abbey, visit https://delapreabbey.org/
