Banbury

Banbury, a small town of Oxfordshire, on the Oxford Canal and the Cherwell, 23 miles N. of Oxford, and 78 NW. of London by rail. Its strong castle, built about 1125, was demolished during the Great Rebellion, when Banbury was noted for Puritanical zeal. In 1469 the Yorkists were defeated in the vicinity. The town is still famous for its cakes and ale, as in Ben Jonson's day; and its manufactures webbing and agricultural implements. Among the buildings are the parish church (1797) and the town-hall (1854). Till 1885 Banbury returned a member; and it is now a municipal borough, with 12,768 inhabitants (a third of them in the town proper).