Banbury Tourist Information
and Travel Guide

Banbury Tourist Information Guide

Banbury is a market town in northern Oxfordshire, England, located on the River Cherwell. It is 64 miles (103 km) northwest of London, 38 miles (61 km) southeast of Birmingham, 27 miles (43 km) south of Coventry and 21 miles (34 km) north northwest of the county town of Oxford. The urban area, including surrounding parishes, has a population of circa 45000.

The town of Banbury is on the edge of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds and has been a busy market town for centuries and is now also an important industrial centre which has grown considerably in size over the last half of the 20th century.

Despite much redevelopment it still has a few old alleys and quiet corners to enjoy. Two of Banbury's famous inns remain. The Reindeer in Parsons Street and the large 17th century Whateley Hall Hotel in the Horsefair which used to be called the Three Tuns. Many famous people have stayed here including Johnathan Swift, who is reputed to have taken the name Gulliver from a tombstone in the nearby churchyard.

The famous Banbury Cross (picture above) is situated at a cross-roads on the broad Horsefair, is a mid-19th century replacement, erected to commemorate a royal wedding in 1858. The original medieval cross was destroyed by the Puritans in the early 17th century. The well-known nursery rhyme refers to the cross - ' Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross to see a finer lady on a white horse'. It is thought this rhyme referred to a visit by Queen Elizabeth I (see Strange Things).

Banbury Cakes, a special fruit and pastry cake, are still produced. At one time they were being sent as far afield as Australia, India and America.

The name Banbury may be derived from 'Banna', a local Saxon dignitary who is said to have built his stockade here in the 500's. By the time of William the Conqueror 'Banesberie' was mentioned in the Domesday book. In the 13th century it had grown to become an important wool trading centre bringing wealth to the local population. In 1628 the town was ravaged by fire which destroyed many buildings, though some have survived to the present day. The opening of the Oxford Canal in 1790 connecting Banbury with the Midlands bought new industries and growth which continued with the arrival of the railways.

Today Banbury is an expanding market and industrial town experiencing growth as a direct benefit of its proximity to the completed M40 motorway linking London to Birmingham via Oxford.

The original medieval Norman church (the largest in the County), was blown up with gunpowder on the grounds that it was unsafe in 1790. The church was replaced by an elegant building in 1820 designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell, the architect of Sezincote House (at Bourton-on-the-Hill), with Indian features including a dome. It was built of local ironstone which has proved vulnerable to weathering.

Banbury Tourist Information
and Travel Guide England UK