Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0825.jpg

pIREC rORY.

J

OXFORDSHIRE.

side Qre shallow wings with frieze and a balustra ding
relieved by ornamental urns; it is now the property 0'
~l r. Albert A. Thornitt, having been purchased by bim
in 1899.

BANBURY.

29

and two wings, in which are the wards for mal6 and
female patients respectively, arranged on the Pavilion
system. In 1897 & w.ing containing two children's wards
and an isolation ward ''''-8S added, at the cost of Mc. and
Mrs. :llewbu.rn, of Wykham Park. The 'Hospit al now proThe Exchange Hall , in the ~ arket place. is spacious, vides 40 beds j in the tympanum , over the windows of the
and is chiefly used for theatrical and other entertain- wards, are carved the arms of the Horton family and tlle
ments.
IUonograms of the late r.lis. Horten and J. H. Horton esq.
The Church B ouse, in Horse fair, is a building of comblDed. The grounds are laid out as a garden for
the use of tho patients.
stone. and is used Cor meetings, entertainments &c.
There are numerous charitab le institutions within
The Temperance HaU, in Bridge street, erected in
1876 at a cost of £4,500, is of brick with Bath stone the borough, supported by 'Voluntary contributions, l"'iz.,
dressings. and contains a. large hall, constructed to hold the Old Ch~rita ble SOCiety. for the relief of indigent
t~w~smen; the Charitable SOCIety, for visiting and re ..
500 persons, with coffee rooms, lodge rooms and suith.e'~llIg the sick ilistres~ed pear a.t their own habit-aable offices .
tlOno, and two Clothing Clubs. Adjoining St. Mary's
The Post Office is in the Hig h ,treet.
churchyard are 91't. almshou!es for 12 aged and im·
'l'he County Police Station in t he Newland road, built potent poor, who oro nominated by the charity trustees_
in 1862. is used for the magistrates' petty sessions for
The Countess of Arran's cbarity now produces about
the district, which are held here every alternate Thurs- £ 75 yearly for app rentici ng boys born in the borougb,
day; it also includes dwellings tor a superintendent and an~ J. Metcslfe's £5 ~'ea rly for the same purpose; the
one constable.
B"dge Esta te ) ields £500 yearly, for the repair and
Tbe BanbILry Institute, erected in l884, at the cost of the improvement of the brid ges and hig hways, and there
late Right Hon. Sir Beru hard Samuelson bart. P.C. and are other charities providing £.70 yearly, chiefly for
bv him presented to the town, is a structure of red distribution in bread and clothing.
brjck, reli eved with dressings of blue grey stone, in the
St. John' s Priory, South Bar street, was founded in
Tudor st yle, from designs by Mr. W. E. Mills, architect, 1850 for the Catholic orJer of Sisters of Charity of St.
of Banbury j the building is three storeys in height Paul, who visit the sick and maintiain a boarding school,
and has on the ground floor a circulating library and as well as Public Elementary schools . The central
re ference library, containing upwards of ro,ooo volumes, house and noviciat<> ha. been removed to Selly Oak,
aud a reading· room : on th e first floor are billiard, nelr Birmingham. The convent forms a portion of the
recreation and social rooms.
original buUding of the Priory of St. John the Baptist,
whic h existed here as early as 1209, and was founded
Two newspapers are printed and published in Ban- by the Knights Hospitallers o[ St. John of Jerusa.lem.
bury, 'the U Banbury Guardian," established in r838, and
The Cress, at the top of High street, near to th.
the t( Banbury Advertiser," in 1854, both having an
e:xtensive circulation in this and the neighbouring site of U Old Banbury Cross," was erected in 1859 £rom
a design by Mr. J ohn Gibbs, architect, of Oxford: it is
counties.
hexagonal in form and 52 feet in height, and is divided
The chief hotels, which are also commercial inns and
into three stages, the whole being elevated on a ft.ight
posting houses, are the Red Lion and the 'White Lion,
of six steps: the central portion is areaded, the various
both in High s treet, and each maintains a service of flys
compartments bei ng richly carved with foliage and in·
and omnibuses meeting every train j the t( Red Lion," a
closing the emblazoned arms of Banbury, those of the
plain building of two storeys, has large bow windows
()n the ground floor a.nd a covered courtyard; there are late Emperor Frederick Ill. of Germany, K.G. and the
Empress
(Princess Royal of England), in commemora·
also several other good botels and inns.
tion of who:;;e marriage (25 Jan. 1858 ) it was erected,
A weekly market for cattie, sheep and horses is held and Charles I. and George I., Queen Mary, H.M. Queen
on Thursday; fairs are held every alternate Thurs- Victoria, the Earls of Banbury and Guilford, Viscount
day, on the first Thursday after Old Twelfth day (the Saye and Sele, Sir William Cope, Sir William Compton,
horse fair commencing on the preceding Monday). the Bishop of Lincoln and of the Rev. William Whateley
on the first Thursday after Old Michaelmas day, statute M.A. vicar of Banbury 16ro-39 ; above this is an open
(for hiring servants) (holiday fair), and on the second cresting, from within whi ch rises a slender spirelet tel'·
Thursday before Christmas; a horse fair i9 also held minating in a cros. In 1914 the Cross was completed
by the addition cf three fig ures of Queen Victoria, King
on the third Thursday in September_
Edwa rd and King George V. at a cost of £245: on a
Ther~ are branche~ ~ere of the London County and .brass plate is the foll owing inscription :-" The statues
WestmIn ste r B:ank Llmlt~d, established here in r845; were added to the Cross in completion of the original
the London Clty and MIdland Bank Limited Lloyds design in 19 14 to commemora te the coronation, 22 June.
Bank Limited and Gillett and Co. There ar~ several 19II, of H.M. King George Y." The ancient cross of
breweries and tbe extensive agricultural implement the well·known nursery rhyme was destroyed in 1602 .
works of Messrs. Samuelson and Co. Limited. The
Of the ancient Castle of Banbury, erected ahout "25,
man~facture oC shag and plush, made from goats' hair,
rurn~sbes employment here to about 100 persons, the by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, part of the walls 01
maklOg of .roIleT webs, summer horse clothing, rick the north side, with som e vestiges of a stone staircase,
sheets, sacklOg, !ope and tents, is also actively prose- still remain; it was once a fortress of great strength
cuted,. and b~ewlOg and m alting, girth weaving, brick and sustained two severe sieges in 1442 and 1444, during
nnd .tIle makmg and ~oo1stapling, and the building of the war between the houses of York and Lancaster;
carnages are also carned on, and on the river Cherwell It the beginning of the Civil war it was strengthened
are Corn mills; but that for which Banbury is chiefly with new bastions, and held for the Parliament, but
~a~ous, and which has given it a national reputation, on the 27th Oct. 1642, being attacked by the Royal
the town was
IS Its de licious and inimitable ca.kes, first introduced in army, surrendered without a blow;
J608. which are still made in large quantities, and sent twice fired by the Royalists in 1643-4, and in 1644 was
hotly besieged by the Parliamentary forces, when an
to all parts of the kingdom.
attempt was made to storm the castle, which, however,
Adjoining the Oxford road are extensive nurseries, and "as relieved by t he Royalist on 26th Oct. 16«: it
rhubarb is cultivated and prepared in this neighbour- was again besieged in 1646 by Colonel Whalley, and
hood for medicinal purposes.
W!lS finally surrenuered by the governor, Sir William
. The Horton Infirmary in the Oxford · r oad was founded 0.>mpton, May 8, 1646; the town had originally five
bars or gates, three of which existed till the last.
ID June, 1869, by the late Miss Horton, of Middleton
Cheney, and of Highbury, London, and was intended century.
A number of ancient tiro bered houses, with elabo·
by her to be a gift to the town of Banbury; her death
~ July, 1869, temporarily retarded the building opera- rately carved barge boards and pargetting, still retlons, but the work was resumed in February, 1870, main, among which one in the High street may b~
and completed in 1872 by her great-nephew, J. H. especially noted; this house has projecting semicircular
Horton esq. The Infirmary, which stands in its own windows, an overhanging cornice. and triple gables,
grounds, is constructed of red brick with black bands and on the front an old-fashioned sun-dial, with ~he
and Ba~h stone dressings, in the Domestic Gothic style, motto" Aspice et abi," and the date 1600; the gateway
from the designs of Mr. Charles H. Driver, architect, of the" Old George " inn bears the date 1614, and the
of London, and was erected at a total cost of over vicarage porch that of 1649; the Reindeer inn, in Par·
£6.000; it consist. of a centre block with lofty tower, sons street, is entered by a pair of venerable gates
containing the executive portion of the establishment, date~ '570, and other parts of the house have the