Brackley

Brackley used the poor house at Culworth until 1834, when Parliament passed the Poor Law Amendment Act and as a result Brackley Poor Law Union was founded.[9] A workhouse for 250 people was built in 1836, southwest of the town on Banbury Road. It was demolished in the 1930s.

Brackley Castle was built soon after 1086. Its earthwork remains lie between Hinton Road and Tesco. It comprised a motte mound 10 feet (3.0 m) high and approximately 44 yards (40 m) in diameter with an outer bailey to the east. Archaeological excavation has revealed evidence of a ditch defining the perimeter of the bailey. Two fishponds originally lay outside the ditch but have subsequently been infilled – however south of St. James Lake may have formed a part of this. Brackley Castle may have gone out of use in 1147. It was destroyed between 1173[10] (when the then lord of the manor, the Earl of Leicester, Robert le Blancmain, fell out with Henry II) and 1217 (when the Earl of Winchester, Blancmain's heir, was on the losing side against Henry III during the First Barons' War.[11] The site was later granted to the Hospital of SS. James and John.

The oldest part of the Church of England parish church of Saint Peter at the eastern end of the town centre is an 11th-century Norman south doorway.[12] Both the four-bay arcade of the south aisle[13] and the west tower with its niches containing seated statues[12] were added in the 13th century. Next the chancel was rebuilt, probably late in the 13th century.[13] The north arcade and the windows in both the north and south aisles were probably added early in the 14th century, about the same time as the Decorated Gothic chapel was added to the chancel.[13]

In about 1150 Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester founded the Hospital of St. James and St. John.[14] Its master was a priest, assisted by a number of religious brothers. Its duties included providing accommodation and care for poor travellers.[14] In the 15th century there were complaints that successive masters were absentees, holding other livings at the same time as being in charge of the hospital.[14] The hospital was closed in 1423 for maladministration but re-established in 1425.[14] In 1449 a master was appointed who seems to have continued the practice of non-residence while holding parish livings elsewhere.[14] In 1484 the patron, Viscount Lovell granted control of the hospital to William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, citing its failure to give hospitality and alms.[14]

Waynflete had founded Magdalen College, Oxford in 1458 and Magdalen College School, Oxford in 1480. He made the former hospital part of their property and by 1548 it was Magdalen College School, Brackley. St James' chapel became the school chapel, in which use it remains today. It is the oldest building in Great Britain in continuous use by a school.

The oldest part of the chapel is the west doorway, which is late Norman.[13] Most of its windows are slightly later, being Early English Gothic lancet windows.[10] The trio of stepped lancets above the west doorway are late 13th century.[13] The Gothic Revival architect Charles Buckeridge restored the chapel in 1869–70.[13]

The Hospital of St. Leonard was a smaller institution, founded to care for lepers.[15] It was ½ mile (800 m) from SS. James and John, apparently on the northern edge of Brackley.[15] It was in existence by 1280. After 1417 it shared the same master as SS. James and John and thereafter there is no separate record of St. Leonard's, so the larger hospital may have taken it over.[15] No buildings of St. Leonard's hospital have survived.

The junction with Buckingham Road and High Street, Brackley in 2004

The almshouses were founded in 1633 by Sir Thomas Crewe of Steane.[10] They have one storey plus attic dormers.[10] They were originally six houses but by 1973 they had been converted into four apartments.[10]

Brackley Manor House was also a 17th-century Jacobean building that also originally had one storey plus attic dormers.[10] In 1875–78 the Earl of Ellesmere had it rebuilt on a larger scale, in the same style but retaining only the doorway and one window of the original building.[10] It is now Winchester House School,[16] a coeducational preparatory school for children aged from 3–13. It used to be a Woodard School.[10]

The town hall is Georgian, built in 1706 by the 4th Earl of Bridgewater.[10] The ground floor was originally open but has since been enclosed.[10] Market Place and Bridge Street feature number of other early 18th-century houses and inns, mostly of brick and in several cases combining red and blue bricks in a chequer pattern.[10]

The town park belongs to the National Trust and hosts the Folk in the Park[17] festival.

Brackley is close to the A43 road, which now bypasses the town, linking it to Towcester and Northampton to the north-east and the M40 motorway to the west. The A422 links it to Banbury and Buckingham.

The town has numerous bus services and is connected to major towns and cities including Banbury (499, 500), Bicester, Buckingham, Towcester, Oxford and Northampton (currently 88) In 2003 the X38 Oxford-Northampton express service became the X6 with the introduction of the 88 to serve villages en route to Northampton (such as Towcester, Blisworth and Milton Malsor). In September 2007, Stagecoach Midlands' Oxford-Brackley-Towcester-Northampton services were reduced with the merging of the 88 and X6 as route X88. In September 2011 the 88 service covering the Northampton to Oxford route, was replaced by the 8. The route of which starts at Northampton and now terminates at Bicester. After 2016, the 8 was renumbered once again to 88 with timetable changes. A few months later, the 88 was further reduced only running between Northampton and Silverstone, with one off-peak journey numbered X88 and terminating at Brackley Tesco. In November 2017 the reintroduction of an almost hourly route 88 to Northampton. Also using the same vehicle and driver a brand new hourly service x91 has been introduced going to Milton Keynes. The financial support for both of these come from "Section 106" money from house builders required to improve local amenities. These services replace the X88 buses which had previously run in peak times to Northampton.

Approximate route of the London-Birmingham section based on the official description, also available as KML. It would pass just south and west of Southam and through Brackley.

There are no railways stations in Brackley - the nearest stations are at Kings Sutton, about 6 miles (10 km) west of the town and Banbury, around eight miles away. A bus service links Brackley town centre to Banbury station . Brackley had two railway stations of its own that were closed in the 1960s.

Brackley's first station, known in its latter years as Brackley Town, opened in May 1850 as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway's Buckingham and Brackley Junction line between Verney Junction and Banbury Merton Street via Buckingham. The London and North Western Railway operated the line from the beginning and absorbed the Buckinghamshire Railway Company in 1879. British Railways withdrew passenger trains from the line through Brackley Town station in January 1961 and closed the line to freight in 1966.

Brackley's second station was Brackley Central, opened in March 1899 on the Great Central Main Line, which was the last main line to be built between northern England and London. The GC Main Line included Brackley Viaduct across the Ouse Valley southeast of the town, which was 255 yards (233 m) in length, 62 feet (19 m) high, had 20 brick arches and two girder spans. British Railways withdrew passenger trains from the line through Brackley Central in September 1966. Brackley Viaduct was demolished in sections early in 1978.

Chiltern Railways is said to want to restore services between London Marylebone and Rugby along the former Great Central Main Line.[18] This would have Brackley Central railway station reopen with direct services to London, Aylesbury and Rugby. However, the Department for Transport has chosen part of the former Great Central route north-west of Brackley as part of the new High Speed 2 line between London and Birmingham.[19] A station at Brackley is not currently proposed.[20]