Chapel Brampton is a village in central Northamptonshire. Together with nearby Church Brampton, it is known as The Bramptons. It is part of the civil parish of Church with Chapel Brampton. The village is located about 5 miles north of Northampton. The village’s name means 'Broom farm/settlement'.
Chapel Brampton was once a thriving railway village, with its own station on the Northampton and Peterborough Railway. The station closed in 1959, but the railway line has been converted into a footpath and cycleway, The Brampton Valley Way. The station was converted in to a pub, called the Brampton Halt.
The nearby railway line is now part of the preserved Northampton & Lamport Railway which is based at Pitsford and Brampton railway station.
The village is close to Althorp House, the home of the Spencer family, and is notable for its distinctive Spencer Estate cottages. These Victorian sandstone cottages are of a similar design to cottages found in the nearby villages of Church Brampton, Harlestone and The Bringtons.
Chapel Brampton has three pubs — the Spencer Arms is a former coaching inn whilst the Brampton Halt was part of the railway station. A new build on the site of the former Boughton cold store is named The Windhover after an old name for the kestrel. This site is actually within the parish of Boughton.
The village also has two conference centres: Sedgebrook Hall and Brampton Grange. Sedgebrook Grange was designed by architect John Brown and built in 1930 as a wedding gift for a member of the Houison Craufurd family from Craufurdland Castle in Ayrshire.
Merry Tom Lane, leading north-eastwards from the village, is named after The (Red) Earl Spencer’s favourite hunting horse, which was killed while out fox hunting, jumping the narrow River Nene. The horse was buried close to where it fell, complete with saddle, stirrups and bridle. A memorial stone marks the spot and is engraved ‘Here Lies the body of Merry Tom’.
