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Banbury

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The modern Castle Quay Shopping Centre in Banbury is built alongside the Oxford Canal
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The modern Castle Quay Shopping Centre in Banbury is built alongside the Oxford Canal

Banbury is a market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England. It had a population of 42,802 at the 2001 census, but due to rapid expansion that figure is now in excess of 50,000. Banbury is part of the Cherwell district.

Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area which is predominantly rural. Banbury has a shopping centre called Castle Quay and is one of the largest in the region. Banbury's main industries include car components, electrical goods, aluminium, food processing, and printing. Banbury is home to the world's largest coffee producing facility (Kraft Foods in Banbury) producing enough coffee to provide for the entire United Kingdom three times over. The Kraft foods factory was first built in 1964. The town is famed for Banbury Cakes — similar to Eccles cakes but oval in shape. Since July 2000 it has hosted a unique gathering of traditional mock animals from around the U.K. and beyond, at the annual Banbury Hobby Horse Festival.

The surrounding area is known informally by some as Banburyshire [link] and covers the north half of Cherwell district and neighbouring areas. As Banbury lies on the border of Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties 'Banburyshire' includes parts of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. Banbury is considered the commercial centre of the northern half of Oxfordshire.

Contents

History

Banbury Town Hall. (December 2005)
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Banbury Town Hall. (December 2005)

There was a Roman villa at nearby Wykham Park, and Banbury developed in the Anglo-Saxon period under strong Danish influence. The town of "Banesberie" appears in the Domesday book. Banbury's mediæval prosperity was based on wool.

Banbury Castle was built from 1135 by the bishops of Lincoln, and survived into the Civil War, when it was besieged. Due to its proximity to Oxford, the King's capital, Banbury was a Royalist town, but the inhabitants were known to be strongly Puritan. The castle was demolished after the war.

Banbury played an important part in the English Civil War as a base of operations for Oliver Cromwell, who planned the battle of Edge Hill in the back room (which can still be visited), of a local inn, The Reindeer, still a noted hostelry to this day.

Communications have always played a major role in the town's prosperity and prevented it from being just a quiet rural market town, it was a notable stagecoach stop and both the Red Lion and White Lion were coaching inns of note. Wealthy travellers would leave well supplied with Banbury Cakes.

The construction of the Oxford Canal in 1790 greatly aided the town's growth. Later the railways also helped its expansion: in 1850 the first rails reached Banbury, one line from the Great Western Railway and one from the London & North Western Railway, giving Banbury two stations side by side: the Great Western station, always the town's main station, later became known as Banbury Bridge Street, while the London & North Western became Banbury Merton Street. Merton Street closed in 1959 to allow all traffic to be concentrated on the main station. The railway lines to Brackley and Woodford Halse (both in Northamptonshire), closed in 1961 and 1966 respectively, but the main station, now simply called Banbury, still flourishes as a popular commuter and tourist station, served by trains running between London Paddington and Birmingham via Reading, Oxford and Leamington Spa, and from London Marylebone via High Wycombe and Bicester. The former mineral line from Banbury to the nearby iron-stone quarry beside Wroxton village opened in about 1900 and closed in 1967 after the iron-stone ran out. The small open-cast mine was heavily used during World War II.

Until its closure in June 1998, Banbury was home to the largest livestock market in Europe.

The town saw rapid expansion during the 1960s as housing was built for the overspill from London. Banbury's continued growth was accelerated by the completion of the M40 motorway which has given faster access by road transport to London.

Banbury was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. It retained a borough council until 1974, when under the Local Government Act 1972 it became part of the Cherwell district, an unparished area with Charter Trustees. A civil parish with a town council was set up in 2000. [link]

M 40

Thanks to the building of the M 40 motorway, Banbury is now a large, prosperous town with a good industry. It is now one of the major commuter towns to both London and Birmingham. The M 40 also provides local residents great access to both the Midlands and the south east.

Expansion timeline of Banbury

Polish immigration

Banbury has one of the UK's lowest unemployment rates (less than 1%), with a resultant high demand for labour. With the acceptance of Poland into the European Union in 2004, a number of Banbury-based employment agencies began advertising for staff in major Polish newspapers. Two years later, a survey[link] concluded that Poles now make up 10% of Banbury's population. The influx of the largely Catholic Polish workers has had a revitalising effect on Banbury's Catholic Churches, to the extent that at least one now offers a Mass said partially in Polish.

Banbury Cross

At one time Banbury had many crosses, but these were destroyed by puritans on July 26 1600. Banbury remained without a cross for another 250 years until the current Banbury Cross was erected in 1859 to commemorate the marriage of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter to Prince Frederick of Prussia. The current Banbury Cross is a stone, spire-shaped monument decorated in gothic form. Statues of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V were added in 1911. The cross is fifty-two feet six inches high, and topped by a gilt cross.

The English nursery rhyme "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross" refers to a cross destroyed by puritans in 1602. There are many theories about the identity of the "fine lady" referred to in the rhyme. It has been suggested that she was:

In April 2005 Princess Anne unveiled a [large bronze statue] depicting the Fine Lady upon a White Horse of the nursery rhyme. It stands on the corner of West Bar and South Bar, just yards from the present Banbury Cross.

Cattle Market

Banbury used to be home to Europe's largest cattle market[link] which was situated on Merton Street in Grimsbury but since it closed (in June 1998) a new housing development has been built on its site that may soon include a school.

Schools and colleges

(Colleges) (Secondary schools) (Primary schools)

Geography

Banbury's latitude and longitude are [52°03′36″N, 1°20′25″W] (at Banbury Cross, which is usually considered the centre).

Wards, neighbourhoods, and suburbs


Local Sport

Banbury has a thriving sporting culture, and has many teams that compete against competetion throughout the country. Probably the most famous sporting teams in the town are, the Rugby team which play at the Bodicote ground, the Cricket team which play at the club, also in Bodicote behind kingsfield, and of course the Football team, Banbury United which play next to the towns train staion.

Famous residents

Infamous residents

External links

 

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