Pictures of Badby

About Badby

Badby is an attractive village spread around a hillside. It shows a confection of pretty cottages, some of which are thickly thatched with creeper climbing up to pretty dormer windows, it also has the most wonderful Chestnut trees, some over 250 years old!

The village was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086, it is believed to be the site of a monastic abbey owned by Evesham Abbey, the ruins of which can still be seen. A steep walk from the green takes you to the 14th-century church dedicated to St.Mary the Virgin. The climb is well worth it, for the church reveals a wealth of historic treasures including Victorian stained glass and early 18th-century carved alter rails. In the hillside churchyard there are tombs and graves from past centuries.

Other buildings in the village include the attractive thatched Windmill Inn Hotel of 17th-century date, and the atmospheric Maltsers Arms which dates from 1772.

Fawsley Park, which was the home of the Knightley family for over 400 years, lies two miles south of Badby. The Hall is now converted to provide luxury hotel accommodation but the parkland, where Charles I hunted deer, still has the magnificent series of lakes and landscaping that was the work of Capability Brown.

Arbury Hill is one and a half miles south-west, here you can see the earthworks of a Roman camp. Badby Wood is an ancient woodland covering 180 acres. It is a picturesque place in every season, particularly autumn when it is a rainbow of glorious greens, gold's, orange and reds. In the spring, visitors to the woods stroll amongst a carpet of fragile looking, beautiful bluebells.

This is well known walking and cycling country, both the Knightley Way and the Nene Way lead from the village.

Places to visit nearby include; Althorp, home of the late Dianna, Princess of Wales, and Sulgrave Manor.