Banbury's fine lady monument was designed by Artcycle and the horse sculpted by Denise Dutton. It was unveiled in 2005.
Many of us will remember a nursery rhyme about Banbury Cross involving a fine lady upon a white horse. To get there we are instructed to ride a cock horse which is usually interpreted as a child's hobby horse. Banbury is located in Oxfordshire and a roundabout at the edge of the town centre contains the Banbury Cross of 1859 and three of these hobby horses with the 2005 fine lady statue placed adjacent to the roundabout.
Banbury's 1859 Cross. Puritans destroyed the town's 3 medieval crosses.
Three cock horses or hobby horses in the roundabout with the cross.
I just had the privilege and pleasure of spending 4 days in Banbury where some of my ancestors lived in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The occasion was a gathering of the Blencowe Families Association, a group of genealogy and family history enthusiasts with variations of this surname in their family trees.
Whately Hall was the gathering place for the Blencowe Families Association.
I was pleased to stay at Whately Hall, the conference hotel, and delighted to get a room in the section built in 1677. My room happened to have a view across the street to St Mary's Church where my great grandmother, who was a Blencowe, was christened in 1870.
View from hotel room: tower of St Mary's Church, consecrated 1797.
I enjoyed exploring on foot the Banbury streets where my Blencowes had lived in various census years. Banbury still has a number of old buildings that would have been familiar to my relatives.
Banbury is rich in history. It was settled by the Saxons in the late 5th century and was mentioned in the Domesday Book commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1085. By the 13th century it was a wool trading centre. Banbury has been a market town for centuries and members of our group checked out the Saturday market.
The 16th century Reindeer Inn.
Banbury had a castle from 1135 to 1648 when it was pulled down following the English Civil War and the stones used to build houses. Castle Quay, a shopping centre, now occupies most of the site. During the Civil War Cromwell spent time in Banbury and the 16th century Reindeer Inn is home to the Globe Room where he is said to have planned one of the battles. Our group had lunch one day in the Globe room and I enjoyed a meal another time in the Thai restaurant next door. The Oxford Canal was built through Banbury in the late 1700s and runs past Castle Quay. Today it is used by pleasure boats.
Visiting Banbury has been one of the highlights of this trip.
Fresh produce at Banbury's Saturday Market and a swan at the Oxford Canal.
