Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Banbury (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Broughton Castle, Banbury Town Hall, and Tooley's Boatyard. Also, be sure to include Banbury Cross in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Banbury (England).
Table of Contents
Broughton Castle
Castle in England. Broughton Castle is a medieval fortified manor house in the village of Broughton, which is about two miles south-west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England, on the B4035 road. It is the home of the Fiennes family, Barons Saye and Sele. The castle sits on an artificial island in pastureland and is surrounded by a wide moat. Across the small bridge lies the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, surrounded by its historic cemetery. A Grade I listed building, it opens to the public over the summer.[1]
Banbury Town Hall
Banbury Town Hall is a municipal facility in the High Street in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Banbury Borough Council from its completion in 1854 until 1930, is a Grade II listed building.[2]
Address: Bridge Street, Banbury
Tooley's Boatyard
Boat storage facility in Banbury, England. Tooley's Boatyard is a dockyard on the Oxford Canal in the centre of the town of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England.
The opening of the Oxford Canal from Hawkesbury Junction to Banbury on 30 March 1778 gave the town a cheap and reliable supply of Warwickshire coal. In 1787, the Oxford Canal was extended southwards, finally opening to Oxford on 1 January 1790. The canal's main boat yard in Banbury was the original outlay of today's facility at Tooley's Boatyard, which is an officially listed cultural site.
Prior to the arrival of James Brindley's Oxford Canal in 1779, the canal-side area comprised an undeveloped, low-lying water meadows. The canal was then extended to Oxford by Banbury's engineer, John Barnes in 1790. Both Parker's Wharf and Bridge Wharf were serviced by fly-boats to many distant cross-country destinations and by market boats to Oxford and Coventry. The canal brought much growth and prosperity to Banbury over the years and is still popular with boat users today.
Tooley's is the oldest continuous working dry dock in Britain and was established to build and repair the wooden horse-drawn narrow boats which regularly travelled up and down the newly constructed Oxford Canal network. This is why it was so vital to the development of the Industrial Revolution in Banbury. Over the years road haulage and the railways eroded away the importance of the canals, although they regained their local importance during the Second World War.
Tooley's was lately immortalised in Tom Rolt's popular 1944 book Narrow boat, which was re-released in the 1990s when the boatyard's future was threatened. The yard kept on working up until 1995, and is a scheduled Ancient Monument and run by a private company in trust.
Its fully restored workshops date from the 1930s and include a carpenter's store, a steam-powered belt-driven machine workshop, a paint store and a 200-year-old forge where a blacksmith pursues his trade.
A blue plaque to Mr Rolt was unveiled at Tooley's Boatyard, Banbury on 7 August 2010 as part of the centenary celebrations of his birth.[3]
Banbury Cross
St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the Diocese of Oxford. The church is a Grade I listed building.[4]
Address: Horse Fair, OX16 0AA Banbury
Banbury Museum
Museum in Banbury, England. Banbury Museum & Gallery is a local museum in the town of Banbury, north Oxfordshire, England.
The museum is located in the centre of Banbury by the Oxford Canal. Its displays present the history of the town. They include the English Civil War, Banbury as a market town in Victorian times, the Oxford Canal, and Tooley's Boatyard next to the museum. The boatyard is a scheduled ancient monument that can be visited on a guided tour. The museum's collections include 17th century costumes.
Banbury Museum & Gallery is run by the Banbury Museum Trust. It was previously located near Banbury Cross. The current location is near Spiceball Park. An architectural design competition was launched by Cherwell District Council and RIBA Competitions to design the new Museum building. The Competition was won by ECD Architects of London and the new building opened in 2002. It is accessible over a bridge from the Castle Quay Shopping Centre or via Spiceball Park Road. Admission to the museum is free. The town's tourist information centre is located in the museum entrance in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre.[5]
Address: Castle Quay Spiceball Park Road, OX16 2PQ Banbury
Easington
Easington, Poets Corner and the Timms estate are three interconnecting estates in the town of Banbury, Oxfordshire.[6]
Upton House
Tourist attraction in England. Upton House is a country house in the civil parish of Ratley and Upton, in the English county of Warwickshire, about 7 miles northwest of Banbury, Oxfordshire. It is in the care of the National Trust.[7]
Address: Upton House, Banbury
Neithrop Fields Cutting
Neithrop Fields Cutting is a 1.4-hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Banbury in Oxfordshire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
This site exhibits sections dating to the Early Jurassic around 190 to 180 million years ago. Its Middle Lias sediments show that it was adjacent to the "London landmass", which was then an island. The Upper Lias have a section rich in fossil ammonites. Natural England describes the site as a "key palaeogeographic and stratigraphic locality".
The Banbury Fringe Walk runs through the site.[8]
Ruscote
The Ruscote, Hardwick and Hanwell Fields estates are three interconnecting Banbury estates that were built between the 1930s and 2000s in Oxfordshire, England.[9]
Banbury Mosque
Mosque in Banbury, England. Banbury Mosque is a mosque located in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. In September 2008, the mosque was given permission to expand its size to allow women to pray separately, however the expansion received some criticism from local residents. In July 2009, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, the Imam of the Masjid al-Haram, the holiest mosque of Islam which is located in Mecca, gave a speech in Banbury. The Ash-Shifa School girls' Islamic school is located within the grounds of Banbury Mosque. The mosque was newly rebuilt in 2012 by leading small-medium construction company Civic Construction Limited directed by Mr Wajid Ali.[10]
Neithrop
Neithrop is an inner housing estate and part of the greater 'Neithrop ward' of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It is one of the oldest areas in Banbury, having first been first recorded as a hamlet in the 13th century. Neithrop, Woodgreen and Bretch Hill are three interconnecting housing estates.[11]