Bed and breakfast availability
Oundle b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Oundle and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Oundle, Northamptonshire, is an old country town, dating back at least to 972 when its markets and tolls were confirmed by King Edgar. Although its narrow main street carries heavy traffic, very little has changed in recent years.

The buildings, of stone and Collyweston tiles, are of three centuries, some tall and dignified with steeply pitched roofs, others gabled with oriels. There are fascinating alleyways and narrow yards; old almshouses in North Street, Church Lane and West Street; many ancient inns, the most notable being Talbot Inn, a gabled 17^th-century building with a fine oak staircase; and numerous tiny old cottages with minute windows. The Town Hall is Victorian, as is the large Police Station.

The famous Oundle Public School and Laxton Grammar School were founded by the same man, William Laxton, a grocer who was born here in the 16^th century and eventually became Lord Mayor of London. The two schools were separated in the last century, but Oundle is still owned by the Grocers' Company. Many of its buildings date from the 30 years during which Frederick Sanderson, who became headmaster in 1892, transformed it into the type of school it is today.

There are several churches in the town, with two of some note. Jesus Church was built in 1879 by Arthur Blomfield, who was also responsible for the improvements in the school. It is in the form of a cross, in Gothic style, with lancet windows in the nave, transept and chancel. It has an unusual central lantern, a turret which starts as a square and finishes as an octagon, with a dome-shaped ceiling. The other interesting church is St Peter's, large and opulent with a magnificent steeple and large surfaces of the tower panelled vertically towards the spire. The l5^th-century south porch is richly decorated with battlements, pinnacles and gargoyles. The pulpit, painted with stars, dates from before the Reformation. There are two fonts, one of the 18^th century and one dated 1909, several Perpendicular screens and a great many memorials and brasses.

Around the town flows the River Nene, making it a great sailing centre, and the views from the river are delightful, as is the countryside which greets you as you leave the town.

Cotterstock Hall is 1½ miles North of Oundle and open to the public. It is a l7^th-century grey stone manor house, built in an E-shape with good stone chimneypieces and Dutch gables. In the attic room Dryden wrote his Fables. It stands in a large garden with an avenue of elms leading down to the River Nene. Five miles to the North lies the pretty village of Apethorpe, built in the local stone, with a Perpendicular church.

Nearby towns: Corby, Kettering, Peterborough, Stamford

Nearby villages: Achurch, Aldwincle, Armston, Barnwell, Benefield, Blatherwycke, Bulwick, Clopton, Cotterstock, Elton, Fotheringhay, Glapthorn, Lowick, Luddington, Luddington in the Br, Oundle, Polebrook, Stoke Doyle, Sudborough, Tansor, Thorpe Waterville, Thurning, Wadenhoe, Warmington, Water Newton, Winwick, Woodnewton

Have you decided to visit Oundle or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Oundle bed and breakfast (a Oundle B&B or Oundle b and b)
• a Oundle guesthouse
• a Oundle hotel (or motel)
• a Oundle self-catering establishment, or
• other Oundle accommodation