The Lakes
Duncote Hall, Towcester, NN12 8AQ · West Northamptonshire · East Midlands
What the record says
Rated Good overall, but the rating is 3 years old, and 7 of this operator's 25 rated homes are below Good.
- Age of rating
- 3 years old — published 9 Mar 2023, and no newer rating had been published by 1 Sep 2026. A re-inspection could move it in either direction.
- This operator's rated services
- Of Minster Care Management Limited's 25 rated homes, 7 are below Good — not this one. See the operator.
Verbatim CQC ratings, each dated · data as at 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
- Care type
- Care home without nursing
- Beds
- 47
- Registered with CQC
- 13 Dec 2016
- Run by
- Minster Care Management Limited
- Part of
- Minster Care Group · 66 services
- Phone
- 01327352277
Contact details as recorded by CQC — we don’t hold fees, vacancies or waiting lists, so those are worth asking about directly.
Who this service supports
The groups this service is registered with CQC to support. Registration says who a service may care for — it is not a quality judgement, and it is not a recommendation.
Select a group to see other services registered for it in West Northamptonshire.
Care home without nursing
Looking for services registered for a particular need? Find care that fits in West Northamptonshire.
Data as published by CQC to 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
The five key questions
| Key question | Rating | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Safe | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 9 Mar 2023 |
| Effective | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 18 Feb 2020 |
| Caring | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 18 Feb 2020 |
| Responsive | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 9 Mar 2023 |
| Well-led | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 9 Mar 2023 |
Ratings verbatim as published by CQC. Key questions can carry different dates when CQC re-inspects only part of a service.
Data as published by CQC to 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
Same operator — 26 other locations
Other active services registered to Minster Care Management Limited. The verdict above reads across this operator's whole rated portfolio.
| Name | Overall rating (published) | Local authority |
|---|---|---|
| Abbeywell Court | Good, published 4 Nov 2024 | Staffordshire |
| Amberley House Care Home | Requires improvement, published 8 Jun 2026 | Cornwall |
| Broadgate Care Home | Good, published 20 Nov 2025 | Nottinghamshire |
| Chestnut Lodge | Good, published 9 Mar 2023rating 3+ yrs old | Ealing |
| Diamond House | Requires improvement, published 11 May 2023rating 3+ yrs old | Leicester |
| Duncote Hall Nursing Home | Requires improvement, published 12 Aug 2021rating 3+ yrs old | West Northamptonshire |
| Elm House Residential Care Home | Not yet rated | Cheshire East |
| Elm Lodge | Good, published 9 Apr 2024 | Ealing |
| Falcon House Care Home | Requires improvement, published 25 Mar 2026 | Nottinghamshire |
| Freeland House Nursing Home | Good, published 31 May 2024 | Oxfordshire |
| Grays Court | Good, published 27 Jun 2023rating 3+ yrs old | Thurrock |
| Hillcrest House | Requires improvement, published 15 Oct 2022rating 3+ yrs old | Cornwall |
…and 14 more. See the full group view.
Data as published by CQC to 1 Sep 2026 · source: CQC
CQC publishes registrations and ratings. It holds nothing at all about fees, current vacancies, staffing levels, or the building itself — there is no field anywhere for door widths, hoists, wet rooms or ground-floor rooms. So no site, including this one, can tell you those. They are worth asking directly — the number is above.
- What are the fees, and what do they not include?
- Do you have a vacancy now, and would you hold a room?
- How many staff are on at night, and how are transfers staffed?
- What change in someone’s needs would mean they had to move, and can I see that in the contract?
More on what to look for and ask on a visit —including what an occupational therapist would check for particular needs — at choosing a care home.
- Take the visit checklistWhat to look for and the questions to ask when you visit — the things a rating cannot tell you.
- Coming out of hospitalIf this follows a hospital stay: the discharge decision, reablement, and what to ask the ward.
- Ask the council for a needs assessmentFree, whatever the savings, and the formal route to arranged care and funding.
- Understand who paysThe means test, what happens to the home, and NHS Continuing Healthcare.
- How to read this ratingWhat the words mean, the five key questions, and why the date matters.
Need this on paper? The single-site diligence pack on The Lakes adds full rating history, inspection failure themes quoted verbatim, the operator's whole-portfolio record and Companies House linkage — hand-reviewed, every figure dated. £149 · delivered within 48 hours.
See a sample and order →Similar services nearby
Nearest first — a place to look around, not a ranking. Other care homes registered for care without nursing within 10 miles, registered for at least one of the same groups this service supports. Distance is straight line between registered addresses. Not an assessment of anyone’s needs.
- Blakesleyabout 3.2 miles · Towcester · 6 bedsOutstanding, published 31 Oct 2023inherited from a previous registration
- Holly House Residential Homeabout 4.7 miles · Northampton · 28 bedsGood, published 29 May 2025
- Farm Cottageabout 5.4 miles · Towcester · 5 bedsRequires improvement, published 23 Sep 2022rating 3+ yrs oldinherited from a previous registration
- Stone Cottageabout 5.4 miles · Towcester · 5 bedsGood, published 29 Sep 2023inherited from a previous registration
- Sector
- Social Care Org
- On CQC’s site
- cqc.org.uk/location/1-2711046309
Every rating on this page is shown verbatim as CQC published it, each with its own publication date. Data as at 1 Sep 2026 — as published by CQC, bulk files of 01 Sep 2026 · source: CQC · data & methods.