Banbury Street Names – OnlPub 3
Many of the older streets in Banbury have names that are quaint, obscure in origin, are evocative of the past, and raise question. Many roads have changed their names over the centuries. These older names are recorded in several document some of which are available online (see Refs. below), even if those documents are not always to hand. But there are many newer roads in the town, named of necessity, that are not on any published compilation, and where the names may never have been explained in print, and where their origins might get lost.
In 2021, Sir Tony Baldry contacted Banbury Historical Society with the idea of preparing a booklet of Banbury Street Names. A small group met with him to discuss recording some of the more recent street names in Banbury. A booklet of Banbury Street Names may eventually be produced, but in the meantime what better way is there of making the information available than putting the list on the BHS website, where additional information can always be added?
The following table has been compiled using the printed and online sources cited below, together with recent oral communications. Any additions or corrections would be welcome and should be directed to the editor of the website (website@banburyhistoricalsociety.org).
REFERENCES
* Beesley – Beesley, A. (1841) A History of Banbury
* Harvey – Harvey, P.D.A.(1969), Historic Towns Atlas, Vol. 1, which refers to early mss. sources in The Queen’s College (1225) and the Bodleian (1445); available online at: https://www.historictownstrust.uk/towns/banbury.
* BHO – Victoria County History Vol. 10, available online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol10
Banbury Street and Road Names
Street Name |
Earliest recorded date, origin/meaning, subsequent name |
Printed Source |
| Amos Court | Jack Amos: Mayor 1964 | |
| Back Lane | Previously Castle Orchard Lane, subsequently Castle Street West | Beesley, BHO |
| Barkhill Street | 1441; variously Birchley Street/ Brickley Street/ Breechlesse Street. | Beesley, BHO |
| Beast Market | 1549 | Beesley, |
| Beatrice Drive | Beatrice Gillett, Mayor 1926 | |
| Beesley Road | Alfred Beesley, author of A History of Banbury | |
| Blackwell Drive (Bodicote) | Fred Blackwell, Councillor for 45 years and Honorary Alderman (?-2017) | |
| Boxhedge Lane | 17th century | BHO |
| Braithwaite Close | ? Richard Braithwaite (1588-1673) poet and Civil War royalist; ? WC Braithwaite (1862-1922) Quaker historian, lived Banbury; ? RB Braithwaite (1900-1990) philosopher, son of WCB | |
| Breadcross Street | 1616; variously Bolting Street/Sheep Street. | Beesley, p 160 |
| Bread Cross | 1549 | Harvey, p 3 |
| Bridge Street | 1441; variously Bridge-end Street/Bridge North/Bridge South/Bridge Street North, Bridge Street South | Beesley, p 213 |
| Broad Lane | 1441; variously Broad Street | Harvey, p 3 |
| Bull Bar Street | 1351; Previously West Bar/Shokersford Bar/Sugarford Bar/Sugar Bar. 1653, renamed after the Bull Inn. | Beesley, p 207 BHO |
| Butchers Row | 1441 | BHO |
| Cattle Market | First mentioned 1319 | Harvey, p 3 |
| Cheney Road, Grimsbury | One of the Cheney printers/John Cheney, Mayor 1936 | |
| Church Lane | 1431 Previously Pybyllane/Paternoster Lane | BHO |
| Church Passage | previously Tink-a-tank | Beesley, p 276 |
| Colebar Street, leading to Cole Bar | 1441; Probably destroyed in fire of 1628, presently Broad Street | Beesley, p 208 |
| Cope Road | Baronets of Hanwell and MPs for Banbury | |
| Cornhill | 1441 | Beesley, p 275; BHO |
| Cornmarket Street | 1606 | Beesley, p 252 |
| Cromwell Road | Oliver Cromwell’s connection with the town | |
| Crosspodell Hill | 15th C | Harvey, Medieval Street names map |
| Dashwood Road/Terrace | Dashwood family owned Calthorpe manor | |
| Deacon Way | ? John Arthur Deacon, Mayor 1942 | |
| Denchfield Road | ? William Denchfield Mayor 1891, farmers in Easington | |
| Edmunds Road | Brewers; William Edmunds mayor 1886-8 and 1889 | |
| Ermont Way | Commune in northern suburbs of Paris. Twinned with Banbury in 1982 | |
| Fairfax Close | Arthur Fairfax mayor of Banbury 1897, 1905. | |
| Fiennes Road, Bretch Hill | Fiennes family, local landowners; possibly Hon Eustace Fiennes MP | |
| Fish Shambles | 1549 | Beesley, p 212 |
| Fish Street | 1688; variously New Land; post 1835 part of Scalding Lane | Beesley, p 274 |
| Flexchepinge | 1549 | Beesley, p 212 |
| Friswell Road | Jack Padbury Friswell, DL, Mayor 1960, alderman | |
| George Parish Road | Mayor 1995, TU leader, hospital campaigner | |
| George Street (formerly Scalding Lane/Fish Street) | ? Renamed after George VI (as also Jubilee Terrace and Windsor Street nearby) | |
| Gibbs Road | ? Helen Gibbs, mayor 1986-7 | |
| Gillett Road | Banbury bankers/Sarah Beatrice Gillett, Mayor | |
| Gropecunt Lane | 1333; subsequently (1410) Parsons Lane | BHO |
| Guler Street | 1441; subsequently Sheep Street which later became High Street | BHO, Harvey, Medieval Street names map |
| Hampden Close | Civil War John Hampden | |
| Hennef Way | Town in Germany, twinned with Banbury in 1981 | |
| High Street | 1441; previously Red Lion Street 1606 | Beesley, p 251,BHO |
| Higham Way | Rosemarie Higham Mayor, 2003-4 | |
| Hightown Road | Known as Bath Road before 1880 | |
| Hilton Road | Sidney Hilton Borough surveyor and engineer. 1930s. Planned 1/3 of Banbury. Previously known as Coach Road | |
| Hogmarket | 1603 | Beesley, 251 |
| Horse Market | 1441; variously Horse Fair/Horsemarket Street (central part of N/S road from 1525) | Harvey, p 3 |
| Kimberley Villas, Britannia Road | Terrace named after builders whose yard it once occupied, heavily involved with building Bretch Hill | |
| Lamb’s Crescent | ? Rev Matthew Lamb Mayor 1772 | |
| Lidsey Road | WJR Lidsey, farmer, alderman, mayor 1922. Sold land for Northern Aluminium Company 1930 | |
| Market Place | 1170/1172 | Harvey, p 2, BHO |
| Mascord Road | Alderman WG Mascord (1888-1961) Mayor 1929, 1943, 1945 | |
| Mawle Court | Sidney Joseph Mawle, ironmonger Mayor 1920 | |
| Mewburn Road | William Mewburn, Wesleyan philanthropist and financier, 1817-1900 | |
| Mill Lane | 1441; variously Myllane/Mylne Lane/Mill Street | BHO |
| Miller Road | Alderman Raymond Bernard Miller, company secretary to Hunt Edmunds Brewery; mayor 1946 | |
| Milne Close, off Oxford Road | Elsie Milne, mayor 2000-2001 | |
| Mold Crescent, Bretch Hill | Frederick Mold, Neithrop Chapel superintendent, Mayor 1930 | |
| North Bar | First recorded 1268 | Harvey, p 4 |
| North Bar Street | 1441 | Harvey, p 3, BHO |
| Orchard Way | ? named after WS and EW Orchard, Banbury builders, see Cake & Cockhorse, vol 23 | |
| Padbury Drive | Middle name of Jack Friswell | |
| Parsons Lane | Formerly Gropecunt Lane, recorded 1333 | Hampshire Record Office 43 M. 48/19, 38. |
| Pepull Lane/Pibble Lane | 1534; formerly Paternoster Lane, currently Church Lane. | Beesley, p 201 |
| Reid Close | Ernest Owen Reid, Town Clerk 1940s | |
| St John’s Street | 1441; variously Oxford Bar Street, South Bar Street, High Street, until early 16th century; | Harvey, p 3; BHO |
| Samuelson Court, Britannia Road | Sir Bernhard Samuelson, MP, Bt. Engineer and industrialist 1820-1905 | |
| Scalding Street/Lane | 1441; subsequently George Street | Harvey, p 3 |
| Shokersford Bar | Harvey, medieval map | |
| Sheep Market | 1441 |
Harvey; BHO |
| Sheep St | 1441; subsequently High Street | Harvey, p 3 |
| Softwater Yard | Alley off Butcher’s Row | Harvey, map c 1800 |
| South Bar | First recorded 1268 | Harvey, p 4 |
| Stanbridge Close and House | John Stanbridge, educationalist (1463-1510) | |
| Stroud Close | Local farmer, Manor Farm, Manor Road Grimsbury | |
| Timms Road | Walter Timms, builder d 1978 | |
| Tony Humphries Road | Councillor Tony Humphries (1943-2007) | |
| Tramway | Samuelson’s industrial tramway | |
| Usher Drive | Ethel Usher, entrepreneur, wrestling and boxer promoter, proprietor of the Winter Gardens 1960s, 1970s | |
| Webb close | ? Thomas Webb, mayor 1607? John Webb, mayor 1642, 1659/Henry Richard Webb Mayor 1907, 1912 | |
| West Street | 1441 | Harvey, p 3 |
| Wheatley Close | ? Thomas Whately/Wheatley mayor 1611? William Wheatley, mayor 1667? Richard Wheatley, mayor 1683? Nathaniel Wheatley, Mayor 1688? Richard Wheatley, mayor 1697, 1705? | |