'Enchanted' Wellingborough mum builds shrine to Harry Potter in new Stanton Cross home

A Wellingborough mum and her partner moved into a new home in Wellingborough’s Stanton Cross to enable her to display her 400 items of Harry Potter memorabilia in one room.

The 46-year-old has been collecting Harry Potter trinkets for more than 20 years, including cloaks, wands, hats, books, games, DVDs, posters, statues, toys and figurines.

Shelley Bell, owner of the impressive collection, said: “We had been thinking about moving for a while and I decided the time was right because I had had enough of having to store my Harry Potter memorabilia in boxes around the house.

“It had taken me years of collecting and about £10,000 to amass the items and I wanted to be able to enjoy them by looking at them every day.

“To be able to get the best out of the collection I knew I had to create a shrine to Harry Potter and for that I needed a whole room dedicated to him.”

The couple wanted to stay close to family and friends in Wellingborough, were aware of the new homes at Hawthorn Place in the town and booked a visit.

Craig, Shelley’s husband, said: “As soon as we walked in, we knew it was the house we wanted.

“It had four bedrooms which meant that Shelley could have one of them as her Harry Potter room.

"There was so much extra space because of the three floors that we could not believe it. We were totally blown away.”

Craig, Shelley and their 19-year-old daughter Kirsten moved into their new home in August 2022, swapping their old three-bedroom home in Wellingborough for one of the Bellway-built homes in Stanton Cross’ Hawthorn Place, all because they wanted more space.

While the room that is currently decorated in Harry Potter memorabilia is a sight to behold, Shelley has her sights set on an even bigger space as the growing collection will soon need more room.

She said: “There is a ready-made alternative right here because once Kirsten leaves home, I can move my memorabilia into her bedroom as it is so much bigger than the room it is in at the moment. That’s the magic of living in your very own dream home.”

Harry Potter is a series of books written by author J.K. Rowling, which spawned a series of films that transported readers and viewers to the Scottish Highlands as Harry, Hermione and Ron fight off an impending evil.

The story sees the main character go from the cupboard under the stairs of his oppressive aunt and uncle, to becoming wizard-kind’s last hope as ‘the boy who lived’ confronts all manner of magical foe.

With seven books, eight films and a West End stage production, Harry Potter has become one of the most beloved fictional works of the century.

Shelley fell in love with all things Harry Potter and the wizarding world when her children began to enjoy the antics of the young hero.

She said: “It all started with me buying toys for the children when they were young but as more books and films came out, I just became more and more enchanted with his fictional life.

“I just love him and the whole concept of this fantasy world.

"It’s pure escapism I know, but I love it.”

The first Harry Potter book may have released in 1997, but its strong fanbase and endless storytelling potential has kept it afloat after all these years.

The franchise hit the headlines once again in February after the release of the hotly-anticipated computer game Hogwarts Legacy, which has players assume the role of a new student enrolling in the school for witchcraft and wizardry.

Meanwhile, her husband Craig has taken the other spare bedroom and converted it into his gaming room, complete with PlayStation, XBOX and F1 memorabilia.

Craig said: “I used to have my gaming sessions downstairs in the living room but I realised it was a bit anti-social so I thought I would turn one of the spare bedrooms into my room.

“It works really well because I can shut the door and not feel guilty because I know I am not imposing my gaming on anyone else.

“What it also means is that we have the downstairs – the kitchen and the living room – as special places for our quality time together as a family. We can all catch up over a meal or chill out together in front of the TV in the sitting room.”

Stanton Cross is a major mixed-use development that promises to deliver a range of new homes, employment areas and shopping facilities. It’s a monumental undertaking that could see new residents move to the town, and has been the cause of quite the commotion as Wellingborough looks to the future.

Shelley and Craig’s new home at the Stanton Cross housing development to the east of Wellingborough is one of many available, and there is currently a choice of two, three and four-bedroom houses available to reserve at Hawthorn Place.

Prices start at £245,000.

Hawthorn Rise is close to Wendelburie Rise, which has been subjected to a large, rather unsavoury sewage pipe snaking through the streets (not unlike the basilisk in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) over the past few months as Anglian Water works to fix the issue and get the development looking its very best.

It may not be 4 Privet Drive, nor have a transfiguration courtyard outside or a herbology classroom in the greenhouse, but Shelley and Craig’s new Stanton Cross home has the spirit of Harry Potter in spades.