Welcome to Banbury

Banbury is located by the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, in the county of Oxfordshire, approximately 62 miles north-west of London and 23 miles north of Oxford.

The town has a population of around 42,200. Administratively it is within the local government district of Cherwell which covers an area of approximately 588 sq kms. 

The town, made famous in a nursery rhyme about its cross, is surrounded by typical Cotswold countryside at the heart of England. It is a busy commercial and industrial centre which has managed to retain some of its historic charm, although few pre-17th-century buildings still survive. The town is also renowned for the Banbury cake.

Until recently the town's known history dated from 5th century Saxon times, although a 3rd century Roman villa had been established at nearby Wykham Park, but in 2002 evidence of an Iron Age settlement c200 AD was excavated extending the town's antiquity. It was certainly the Saxons, however, who developed the town to the west of the River Cherwell and also Grimsbury on the opposite bank which became part of Banbury. Later, Banbury Castle was built by the bishops of Lincoln in 1135 but was destroyed following the Civil War.

Historically the town's economy was based upon its position as a market town and today it remains an important commercial and retail centre for the surrounding rural area. Banbury's main industries include manufacturing of car parts, electrical goods, aluminium, food processing, and printing.