Rare sword returns to Northampton's Delapre Abbey

A rare sword has been put on display at a 12th Century abbey after it was bought for £15,000 earlier this year.

It belonged to Gen Everard Bouverie, who owned Delapre Abbey in Northampton from 1858 to 1871.

Gen Bouverie had the sword when he was in the Royal Horse Guards and fought in the Battle of Waterloo.

Eleanor Sier, from the Delapre Abbey Preservation Trust, said it was "really exciting" that the sword came up for sale.

Gen Bouverie was the eldest son of Edward and Catherine Bouverie of Delapre Abbey.

A colonel in the 15th Hussars, he was later appointed as an equerry for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and retired when he inherited the abbey aged 69, the trust said.

The sword, along with many Bouverie heirlooms, was sold off in the early 1900s when the family fell on hard times. It then recently came up for auction when the previous owner died.

An online fundraising campaign raised about half the amount used to purchase the sword and the rest was matched by the trust.

Ms Sier said the trust was "blown away by people's response and the nice words that came back as well about how people really wanted this sword returned to Northamptonshire".

The abbey already owns his medal from the Battle of Waterloo and a cartoon of him when he was in the Royal Horse Guards, which have been displayed alongside the sword.

Graham Evans, from the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society, said it was "uncommon to know exactly who owned it and where it was used".

He said the weapon was Gen Bouverie's "actual fighting sword - it's the sword that he used in combat with his regiment at Waterloo", rather than a decorative item, which made it significant.

Mr Evans said the sword was also "highly decorated", which he said was unusual for a combat weapon.

"If it hadn't come back here [to Delapre], it would've gone into a private collection and we would not have seen it again until that collection was broken up, so it might not have come up again for another 20 or 30 years," he added.

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