Huge Corby estate could be called 'Ardenbury' as developers consider new name

The 4,500- home West Corby scheme is being developed by landowners Great Oakley Estates, Rockingham Castle alongside builders Taylor Wimpey, and Barratt.

This newspaper can reveal that the name ‘Ardenbury’ is being considered for the site.

Great Oakley Estate quietly stated that the name had been chosen on their website last summer, but there was no public announcement.

A London-based design agency boasts on its website that it was asked to come up with the new moniker by the De Cappell Brooke families – owners of Great Oakley – and the owners of Rockingham Castle. Its designers say they consulted eight stakeholders including landowners, architects, local councillors and house builders.

They also spoke to a Bristol-based professor emeritus of onomastics – an expert in the origin of names.

The firm also say they researched local history including Anglo-Saxon, Norman and Scottish influences before using ‘quantitive research’ to discover that ‘those already living in the area had a positive affinity with the final name’ and said that this allowed them to’confidently move forward with our chosen name with the blessing of local Corby residents and the project stakeholders’.

But after our reporter approached the developers, we were told that the name had not yet been set, and that it was only one of several being considered.

The word ‘arden’ has its roots in Old English and means great forest or valley. There is a Forest of Arden in nearby Warwickshire. The word ‘bury’ is the Old English version of ‘borough’, which means stronghold.

West Corby is based on land close to Rockingham Castle, and was once woodland, part of the ancient Rockingham Forest.

Developers in Corby have previously run into hot water when choosing monikers for the town’s new estates. Back in the early 00s, the firm behind Priors Hall began marketing the area as part of ‘North Londonshire’ in partnership with Government quango North Northamptonshire Development Corporation. A slick £1.3m advertising campaign, voiced by Stephen Fry, ran across London to try to persuade people living in the capital to move to the county.

Flags with the wording ‘North Londonshire’ went up around Priors Hall, which was then a building site.

It went down like a cup of cold sick with people in Corby, who were angered that there wasn’t a single mention of the town in the firm’s marketing, despite the development being built on a reclaimed ironstone quarry that had been worked by local people for the benefit of the town’s proud steelmaking industry.

Building on the first phase of West Corby’s 349 homes is due to begin in 2026, seven years after planning permission was granted. A second phase of 1,500 homes will also see a primary school, health centre, employment units, a community centre and sports pitches built.