The place-name 'Brackley' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Brachelai. It appears as Brackelea in 1173 and as Brackeley in 1230 in the Pipe Rolls. The name means 'Bracca's glade or clearing'.[3] Brackley was held in 1086 by Earl Alberic, after which it passed to the Earl of Leicester, and to the families of De Quincy and Roland.[4][5]
In the 11th and 12th centuries Brackley was in the Hundred of Odboldistow and in the Manor of Halse. Richard I (The Lionheart) named five official sites for jousting tournaments so that such events could not be used as local wars, and Brackley was one of these. The tournament site is believed to be to the south of the castle where the A422 now passes.
The town was the site of an important meeting between the barons and representatives of the King in 1215, the year of Magna Carta. Magna Carta required King John to proclaim rights, respect laws and accept that the King's wishes were subject to law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether freemen, serfs, slaves or prisoners—most notably allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. King John and the barons were to have signed Magna Carta at Brackley Castle, but they eventually did so at Runnymede.[citation needed]
Market day was on Sundays until 1218, when it was changed to Wednesdays.[6] It is now on Friday mornings.
The Tudor antiquaryJohn Leland visited Brackley, where he learned 'a Lord of the Towne' named Neville had (at an uncertain point in the past) had the parish vicar murdered. This he had done by having the man buried alive. The writer Daniel Codd observed that in the grounds of St Peter's Church, a human-shaped stone effigy is sometimes pointed out as being connected with the event.[7]
In 1597 the town was incorporated by Elizabeth I. It had a mayor, six aldermen and 26 burgesses.
Brackley used to be known for wool and lace-making.
It had 20 houses in the 18th century.[5] In August 1882 the Brackley Lawn Tennis Club organised the Brackley LTC Tournament, as part of the Brackley Show.[9][10]
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.[11] A workhouse for 250 people was built in 1836, southwest of the town on Banbury Road. It was demolished in the 1930s.
Notable buildings
Castle
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.[citation needed] It was destroyed between 1173[12] (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.[13] The site was later granted to the Hospital of SS. James and John.
Parish church
St. Peter's Church in 2023
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.[14] Both the four-bayarcade of the south aisle[15] and the west tower with its niches containing seated statues[14] were added in the 13th century. Next the chancel was rebuilt, probably late in the 13th century.[15] 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.[15]
Medieval hospitals
In about 1150 Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester founded the Hospital of St. James and St. John.[16] Its master was a priest, assisted by a number of religious brothers. Its duties included providing accommodation and care for poor travellers.[16] 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.[16] The hospital was closed in 1423 for maladministration but re-established in 1425.[16] In 1449 a master was appointed who seems to have continued the practice of non-residence while holding parish livings elsewhere.[16] 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.[16]
The Hospital of St. Leonard was a smaller institution, founded to care for lepers.[17] It was 1⁄2 mile (800 m) from SS. James and John, apparently on the northern edge of Brackley.[17] 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.[17] No buildings of St. Leonard's hospital have survived.
Secular buildings
The junction with Buckingham Road and High Street, Brackley in 2004
The almshouses were founded in 1633 by Sir Thomas Crewe of Steane.[12] They have one storey plus attic dormers.[12] They were originally six houses but by 1973 they had been converted into four apartments.[12]
Brackley Manor House was also a 17th-century Jacobean building that also originally had one storey plus attic dormers.[12] 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.[12] It is now Winchester House School,[18] a coeducational preparatory school for children aged from 3–13. It used to be a Woodard School.[12]
Brackley Town Hall is Georgian, built in 1706 by the 4th Earl of Bridgewater.[12] The ground floor was originally open but has since been enclosed.[12] 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.[12]
The town park belongs to the National Trust and hosts the Folk in the Park[19] festival.
Approximate route of the London-Birmingham section of HS2 based on the official description.[21] 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 8 miles (13 km) away. A bus service links Brackley town centre to Banbury station.[22] Brackley had two railway stations but these were closed in the 1960s.
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.
The Brackley Morris Men are one of only seven 'traditional Cotswold' sides remaining in England, and the only one to survive in Northamptonshire.[31] Their history dates back to the 1600s when a solid silver communion plate was given to the parish. The plate which is still in the possession of St Peter's Church is dated 1623, and is inscribed with the names of seven men, whom local folklore believes to have been the Morris dancers.[32] In 1725 the men were paid half a guinea to dance at the Whitsun Ale at Aynho House.[33] In 1766 their 'Squire' was arrested in Oxford for his insolence and committed to Bridewell as a vagrant.[34] In 1866 an article in the Oxford Chronicle reported on their performance in Banbury, describing their 'many coloured ribbons and other gaudy finery', and the 'witless buffoonery' of their 'fool'.[35] The side still performs today.[36]
Sports and leisure
Brackley cricket Club run 2 Saturday Teams and a Midweek Team as well as a Kwik Cricket and Junior Teams. They play in the Cherwell Cricket League and play at Brackley Cricket Club Ground.
Brackley Town Football Club,[37] known as the Saints, play in National League North. Its finest season was in 2013–14 when it reached the FA Cup Second Round having beaten League One side Gillingham 1–0 in a First round replay following a 1–1 draw. Brackley Town's ground is St James Park. They won the FA Trophy in 2018, this being the first time in the club's history.
Brackley Sports Football Club first team plays in the North Bucks and District League Premier Division and its reserve team plays in the North Bucks and District League Intermediate Division. It also has a ladies' team that plays in the Northants Women's League.[39]
Brackley Athletic Football Club[40] is a junior football club affiliated with the Northamptonshire Football Association. It plays in three leagues: the under 7s – 10s are in the Milton Keynes & District Junior Sevens League, the under 11s – 16s are in the Milton Keynes & Border Counties League and the girls' team is in the Oxford Girls' Football League.
Brackley has a tennis club,[41] a leisure centre and swimming pool,[42] a martial arts academy and a badminton club.[43]
South of the town is St. James lake, a balancing lake of almost 3 acres (1 ha) created in 1977.[44] Fishing in the lake is managed by a local angling club.[44] The lake is in a 5 acres (2 ha) wildlife park that is open to the public.[44]
^Codd, Daniel (2009). Mysterious Northamptonshire. Mysterious Counties. Breedon Books Publishing. pp. 16–17. ISBN978-1-85983-681-1.
^Colclough, "Donne, John (1572–1631)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, October 2007 oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 18 May 2010
^"Brackley Show: Tho following are particulars the semi-finals of the lawn tennis tournament held yesterday: — Ladies' and Gentlemen's Doubles: Mr. E.V.E. Bryan. and Miss A. Barlow beat Mr. R.P. Phipps and Miss A. Meredith and Rev. J. W. Boyd and Miss M. Blencowe beat Mr. W. Blencowe, and Miss. Bullen". Northampton Mercury. Northampton, Northamptonshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 5 August 1882. p. 7.
^Routledge's Sporting Annual (1883) Lawn Tennis Tournaments of 1882. George Routledge and Sons. London. England. p.116.
.svg)
