Delapre stands on the edge of Northampton on ground that has been religious, military and domestic in turn. It began as a Cluniac priory around 1145, one of only two such houses for women anywhere in England, home at any one time to somewhere between a dozen and twenty nuns, until the priory was dissolved in 1538 along with the rest of England's monasteries. The building that visitors see today grew out of that older core as it passed from family to family across the centuries, before being requisitioned by the War Office during the Second World War and eventually handed to the local council, who left it largely empty for decades until Heritage Lottery funding in the 2010s paid for a full restoration.
The abbey's oldest ghost story predates all of that domestic history. In 1460 the fields around Delapre hosted the Battle of Northampton, a bloody engagement in the Wars of the Roses in which the Yorkist army defeated the Lancastrians and captured King Henry VI, who was reportedly held at the abbey afterwards. Visitors and staff report hearing the clash of swords, marching boots and the shouts of battle late at night, and Henry himself is said to make the occasional plaintive appearance, presumably recalling his captivity.
Of the abbey's other resident spirits, the most consistently reported is the Blue Lady, seen gliding along the corridor between what is now the library and the old chapel. Her colour is usually explained as a memory of the blue habits worn by Delapre's Cluniac nuns, though no specific nun's name or story is attached to her. A black dog is also reported patrolling the grounds and tearoom, fitting the old folkloric pattern of a phantom black dog as a portent of death for whoever encounters it. Auditory phenomena from the centuries when the abbey was a private family home add further texture: rustling skirts, sudden shouts and footsteps in empty rooms, all reported with a generally oppressive atmosphere that visitors and staff describe as unlike ordinary quiet.
Delapre's reputation has also made it a target for television paranormal investigation. In September 2014 the long-running series Most Haunted filmed an episode at the abbey featuring members of the Northampton and England rugby squads, including Ben Foden, Dylan Hartley and Chris Ashton, who were put through the standard format of vigils, seance and Ouija board session in the abbey's cellars and attic. The episode produced knocking, banging, a thrown stone and a slammed door, none of it conclusive, but it cemented Delapre's status as one of Northamptonshire's most talked-about haunted houses.
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