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Banbury, Oxon - St Mary Church

This is the church where George Hartwell married Elizabeth Edwards on 11th July 1865.

The present Church is a late Georgian building erected in the last decade of the 18th Century and consecrated in September 1797. Its predecessor was a splendid mediaeval church which had fallen into disrepair and had become dangerous. Part of the old church collapsed one Sunday morning in February 1790 with the tower adding itself to the rubble the following day. Financial constraints delayed the completion of the new church and the 'pepper pot' tower was not completed until 1822. As designed by the architect, Samuel Pepys Cockerill, the building was a perfect square with sides 90 feet long. It is thought to have been modelled on Sir Christopher Wren's St. Stephen's Church, Walbrook, which, like this building, has a dome supported by twelve classical columns.

Banbury town

A nursery rhyme, 'Ride a Cock Horse', has made Banbury one of the best-known towns in England. It has been suggested that the 'Fine Lady' of the nursery rhyme may have been Lady Godiva or Elizabeth I. More likely it was a local girl who rode in a May Day procession. The original cross was pulled down at the end of the 16th century. The present cross was erected in 1859 to celebrate the wedding of the then Princess Royal to Prince Frederick of Prussia. Banbury is also well known for its Banbury Cakes.

Banbury is believed to have been the site of a 5th century Saxon stockade. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. By the 13th century it had grown to become an important wool trading centre bringing wealth to the local population. In 1628 the town was ravaged by fire which destroyed many buildings, though some have survived to the present day. The opening of the Oxford Canal in 1790 connecting Banbury with the Midlands bought new industries and growth which continued with the arrival of the railways.

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