brackley, northamptonshire heritage trial

DiD you Know?The Magna Carta was originally going to be signed at Brackley?

1. St James’ Lake A delightful small lake, with an island at one end, set in a beautiful park of around five acres. The park is open to the public to enjoy the wildlife and scenery; wildfowl on the lake include moorhens, Canadian geese, coots, grebes and kingfishers. There are picnic benches and the lake is also a popular centre for angling – www.brackleyanglingclub.co.uk

2. Town Hall and Piazza The Town Hall was built by the first Duke of Bridgwater in 1706 to provide a covered area for the market. The ground floor arches were originally open. Today the Town Hall houses the offices of Brackley Town Council and with its two function rooms available for hire it also plays host to a wide variety of events including craft fairs and concerts.

Set amidst beautiful green countryside in the south western corner of Northamptonshire, the historic market town of Brackley dates back to Saxon times and now has a population of 14,000. It’s a rewarding town to visit, with a spacious market square of well-preserved Georgian and Victorian houses today housing inviting cafes and shops.

Brackley enjoyed prosperity firstly as a market place for wool when sheep farming was the main occupation in the local area, and then later as a stage coaching centre, with several old coaching inns in the town still bearing witness to this today. In the Civil War, Brackley was on the side of the Roundheads and in its strategic location midway between Northampton and Oxford the town was often used as a stopping place for troops.

Brackley Heritage Trail

5. Magdalen College SchoolMost of the buildings are Victorian, although there is still some evidence of the original Hospital of St John and St James which was founded on this site in 1150. Later bought by Magdalen College Oxford, the hospital became a school in 1548 and it still serves as Brackley’s secondary school.

7. Winchester House School Today a private mixed boarding and day school, this is an enlargement of the town’s manor house. Only the front door and one window remain of the original 17th century manor. The enlargement, still Jacobean in style, was carried out by Lord Ellesmere in 1875-8.

6. The Chapel of St John and St James Now the chapel for Magdalen College School, St John and St James was built in around 1200 as the Hospital chapel and was substantially restored in 1869-1870 for the school’s use.

4. The Old Hall Bookshop This fine 18th century house is set back fromthe Market Place and today is a thrivingindependent bookshop with a large stock ofantiquarian and second hand books as well as new books and maps.

3. The Crown Hotel This is one of many buildings in Brackley bearing testimony to the town’s former role as an important coaching centre. The Crown’s history allegedly goes back to the reign of King John (1199-1216), with the King’s representatives meeting here for early discussions in the run-up to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.

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1. St James’ Lake A delightful small lake, with an island at one end, set in a beautiful park of around five acres. The park is open to the public to enjoy the wildlife and scenery; wildfowl on the lake include moorhens, Canadian geese, coots, grebes and kingfishers. There are picnic benches and the lake is also a popular centre for angling – www.brackleyanglingclub.co.uk

2. Town Hall and Piazza The Town Hall was built by the first Duke of Bridgwater in 1706 to provide a covered area for the market. The ground floor arches were originally open. Today the Town Hall houses the offices of Brackley Town Council and with its two function rooms available for hire it also plays host to a wide variety of events including craft fairs and concerts.

Set amidst beautiful green countryside in the south western corner of Northamptonshire, the historic market town of Brackley dates back to Saxon times and now has a population of 14,000. It’s a rewarding town to visit, with a spacious market square of well-preserved Georgian and Victorian houses today housing inviting cafes and shops.

Brackley enjoyed prosperity firstly as a market place for wool when sheep farming was the main occupation in the local area, and then later as a stage coaching centre, with several old coaching inns in the town still bearing witness to this today. In the Civil War, Brackley was on the side of the Roundheads and in its strategic location midway between Northampton and Oxford the town was often used as a stopping place for troops.

Brackley Heritage TrailMap supplied by Global Mapping www.globalmapping.uk.com

MA

NOR

ROA

D

BANBURY ROAD

MAN

OR R

OAD

HILL ST

HA

LSE ROAD

HIGH

STR

EET

MARK

ET P

LACE

BRID

GE ST

OX

FORD

RD

HINTON ROAD

PEBBLE LN

CHURCHVIEW

BUCKINGHAM ROAD

1

23

45

6

7

8

9 10

CHURCH RD

CHURCH RD

1. St James’ Lake A delightful small lake, with an island at one end, set in a beautiful park of around five acres. The park is open to the public to enjoy the wildlife and scenery; wildfowl on the lake include moorhens, Canadian geese, coots, grebes and kingfishers. There are picnic benches and the lake is also a popular centre for angling – www.brackleyanglingclub.co.uk

2. Town Hall and Piazza The Town Hall was built by the first Duke of Bridgwater in 1706 to provide a covered area for the market. The ground floor arches were originally open. Today the Town Hall houses the offices of Brackley Town Council and with its two function rooms available for hire it also plays host to a wide variety of events including craft fairs and concerts.

Set amidst beautiful green countryside in the south western corner of Northamptonshire, the historic market town of Brackley dates back to Saxon times and now has a population of 14,000. It’s a rewarding town to visit, with a spacious market square of well-preserved Georgian and Victorian houses today housing inviting cafes and shops.

Brackley enjoyed prosperity firstly as a market place for wool when sheep farming was the main occupation in the local area, and then later as a stage coaching centre, with several old coaching inns in the town still bearing witness to this today. In the Civil War, Brackley was on the side of the Roundheads and in its strategic location midway between Northampton and Oxford the town was often used as a stopping place for troops.

Brackley Heritage TrailMap supplied by Global Mapping www.globalmapping.uk.com

8. The Almshouses The almshouses were built by Sir Thomas Crewe of Steane in 1633, and converted to flats in 1970. Lord Crewe was a puritan who supported Parliament in the Civil War. The almshouses restored to Brackley the provision of accommodation for the poor which had existed before the closure of the Hospital of St John and St James.

9. Golden Spring WellNear St Peter’s Church there were two ancient springs, called Golden Spring Well and St Rumbold’s Well (now disappeared). Watery Lane got its name because water ran from the springs down the roadway. According to legend, St Rumbold was a child prodigy born in Kings Sutton in about AD 650, and who lived only three days, but spoke at length of Christianity at his birth and then foretold his death, expressing the wish that his body should rest in Brackley for two years before being buried in Buckingham. The site of the well (on the right as you walk up Pebble Lane) is said to have been his resting place in Brackley.

10. St Peter’s ChurchAlthough there was probably a church inBrackley from Saxon times, few records nowexist before the 15th century. From the originalNorman church there remains the southdoorway and the large piers at the nave’s eastend. The south and north aisle windows areearly 14th century.

Photo’s supplied by Peter Rawlinson www.space-brackley.co.ukand Tracy Smith www.mapstop.co.uk

AND DON’T MISS!

A Brackley Antique Cellar over 160 independent dealers in the largest purpose-built antiques centre in the Midlands.

B Courtyard Mewsa charming recreation of a Victorian shopping street with a variety of specialist shops.

For further information on Northamptonshire and its heritage please visit www.letyourselfgrow.com/heritage