155-508: Neithrop is an inner housing estate and part of the greater Neithrop ward of Banbury , in the Cherwell district, in the county of Oxfordshire , England. It is one of the oldest areas in Banbury, having first been first recorded as a hamlet in the 13th century. Neithrop, Woodgreen and Bretch Hill are three interconnecting housing estates. In 1247 the hundred of Banbury was valued at £5
310-548: A cattle market , Western Europe's largest. Situated on Merton Street in Grimsbury , for many decades, cattle and other farm animals were driven there on the hoof from as far as Scotland to be sold to feed the growing population of London and other towns. Since its closure in June 1998, a new housing development has been built on its site which includes Dashwood Primary School. The estate, which lies between Banbury and Hanwell ,
465-425: A "romantic, conservative critique" of the "degeneration of English moral and aesthetic values". By the 1840s some of the enthusiasm for Kempthorne's designs had waned. With limited space in built-up areas, and concerns over the ventilation of buildings, some unions moved away from panopticon designs. Between 1840 and 1870 about 150 workhouses with separate blocks designed for specific functions were built. Typically
620-494: A Saxon chieftain said to have built a stockade there in the 6th century (or possibly a byname from Old English : bana meaning felon , murderer ), and burgh / burh meaning settlement . In Anglo Saxon it was called Banesburh (dative Banesbyrig ). The name appears as Banesberie in the Domesday Book of 1086. Another known spelling was Banesebury in medieval times. During excavations for
775-490: A White Horse of the nursery rhyme. It stands on the corner of West Bar and South Bar, just yards from the present Banbury Cross. Banbury has a museum in the town centre near Spiceball Park, replacing the old museum near Banbury Cross. It is accessible over a bridge from the Castle Quay Shopping Centre or via Spiceball Park Road. Admission to the museum is free. The town's tourist information centre
930-458: A bird house, tennis courts, a large field and a children's play area. The park is often used in the summer to hold small festivals. The park is also one of the town's biggest in terms of the area covered and one of the few major ones not to be built on a steep hill like Calthorpe Park is. The Woodgreen estate lies in the intermediate area between the Neithrop and Bretch Hill housing estates and
1085-514: A bridle path to the west and south of the town), its primary use being transport of salt; and Banbury Lane, which began near Northampton and is closely followed by the modern 22-mile-long (35 km) road. It continued through what is now Banbury's High Street and towards the Fosse Way at Stow-on-the-Wold . Banbury's medieval prosperity was based on wool . Banbury Castle was built from 1135 by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln , and survived into
1240-687: A bucket in the middle of the floor for sanitation. The bedding on offer could be very basic: the Poor Law authorities in Richmond in London in the mid-1840s provided only straw and rags, although beds were available for the sick. In return for their night's accommodation vagrants might be expected to undertake a certain amount of work before leaving the next day; for instance at Guisborough men were required to break stones for three hours and women to pick oakum, two hours before breakfast and one after. Until
1395-587: A children's play area and a skateboard park. Across the road from the main park there is the sports centre, which includes a swimming pool, courts, café and gym facilities. The sports centre began to be re-developed in late 2009, for a new centre and café, which was completed by mid 2010. Workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse ( Welsh : tloty lit. "poor-house") was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses . The earliest known use of
1550-455: A further land amalgamation had been carried out with only 17 tenants retaining an average holding 3.5 yardlands. The Bishop of Lincoln 's vast Banbury estate, except for Neithrop and Calthorpe, was sold to the Duke of Somerset in 1547, but by 1550 he granted it (except for Hardwick) to John Dudley , Earl of Warwick , then the Duke of Northumberland shortly afterwards, who in 1551 granted it to
1705-538: A good deal of direct and indirect employment. The Poor Act 1575 went on to establish the principle that if the able-bodied poor needed support, they had to work for it. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601 made parishes legally responsible for the care of those within their boundaries who, through age or infirmity, were unable to work. The Act essentially classified the poor into one of three groups. It proposed that
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#17327755958241860-602: A handful to several hundred other inmates; for instance, between 1782 and 1794 Liverpool 's workhouse accommodated 900–1200 indigent men, women and children. The larger workhouses such as the Gressenhall House of Industry generally served a number of communities, in Gressenhall 's case 50 parishes. Writing in 1854, Poor Law commissioner George Nicholls viewed many of them as little more than factories: These workhouses were established, and mainly conducted, with
2015-425: A less intimidating face. One surviving example is the gateway at Ripon, designed somewhat in the style of a medieval almshouse. A major feature of this new generation of buildings is the long corridors with separate wards leading off for men, women and children. By 1870 the architectural fashion had moved away from the corridor design in favour of a pavilion style based on the military hospitals built during and after
2170-463: A local tax on the property of the wealthiest in the parish. The workhouse system evolved in the 17th century, allowing parishes to reduce the cost to ratepayers of providing poor relief. The first authoritative figure for numbers of workhouses comes in the next century from The Abstract of Returns made by the Overseers of the Poor , which was drawn up following a government survey in 1776. It put
2325-599: A local inn, the Reindeer Inn as it was then known (today's Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn). The town was pro-Parliamentarian, but the castle was manned by a Royalist garrison who supported King Charles I . In 1645 during the Civil War, Parliamentary troops were billeted in nearby Hanwell for nine weeks and villagers petitioned the Warwickshire Committee of Accounts to pay for feeding them. The castle
2480-669: A local police road block in 1967. The Willy Freund Centre closed in 2004 due to a funding crisis and increasing teenage rowdiness. It was reopened in September 2010, after a six-month period of heavy renovation work. Prior to 2004 and since reopening it is the local youth centre. Bretch Hill is served by four schools: There were some concerns over anti-social behaviour and heavier than average litter levels in Princess Diana Park and Hillview Park and that fly-tipping in Banbury also affects some streets and footpaths such as on
2635-435: A note admitting them directly to the workhouse. Alternatively they might be offered any necessary money or goods to tide them over until the next meeting of the guardians, who would decide on the appropriate level of support and whether or not the applicants should be assigned to the workhouse. Workhouses were designed with only a single entrance guarded by a porter, through which inmates and visitors alike had to pass. Near to
2790-587: A parent discharged him- or herself then the children were also discharged, to prevent them from being abandoned. The comic actor Charlie Chaplin , who spent some time with his mother in Lambeth workhouse, records in his autobiography that when he and his half-brother returned to the workhouse after having been sent to a school in Hanwell , he was met at the gate by his mother Hannah, dressed in her own clothes. Desperate to see them again she had discharged herself and
2945-594: A parish's poor rate. The growth was also bolstered by the Relief of the Poor Act 1782 , proposed by Thomas Gilbert . Gilbert's Act was intended to allow parishes to share the cost of poor relief by joining together to form unions, known as Gilbert Unions, to build and maintain even larger workhouses to accommodate the elderly and infirm. The able-bodied poor were instead either given outdoor relief or found employment locally. Relatively few Gilbert Unions were set up, but
3100-711: A private park in 1890 and opened in 1910, along with the adjacent bowling green . The land south of The New Foscote Hospital in Calthorpe and Easington Farm were mostly open farmland until the early 1960s as shown by the Ordnance Survey maps of 1964, 1955 and 1947. It had only a few farmsteads, the odd house, an allotment field (now under the Sainsbury's store), the Municipal Borough of Banbury council's small reservoir just south of Easington Farm and
3255-483: A punishment book, which was examined regularly by the workhouse guardians, locally elected representatives of the participating parishes with overall responsibility for the running of the workhouse. Although the commissioners were responsible for the regulatory framework within which the Poor Law Unions operated, each union was run by a locally elected board of guardians, comprising representatives from each of
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#17327755958243410-424: A role similar to that trialled by Buckinghamshire magistrate Matthew Marryott . Between 1714 and 1722 he experimented with using the workhouse as a test of poverty rather than a source of profit, leading to the establishment of a large number of workhouses for that purpose. Nevertheless, local people became concerned about the competition to their businesses from cheap workhouse labour. As late as 1888, for instance,
3565-498: A similar dilemma. It was provided free in the workhouse but had to be paid for by the "merely poor"; free primary education for all children was not provided in the UK until 1918. Instead of being "less eligible", conditions for those living in the workhouse were in certain respects "more eligible" than for those living in poverty outside. Hush-a-bye baby, on the tree top, When you grow old, your wages will stop, When you have spent
3720-419: A small fee to the ladies for each child delivered, but most of the cost was met by charities or the Poor Law Unions. As far as possible, elderly inmates were expected to undertake the same kind of work as the younger men and women, although concessions were made to their relative frailty. Or they might be required to chop firewood, clean the wards, or carry out other domestic tasks. In 1882 Lady Brabazon, later
3875-419: A striped cotton shirt, jacket and trousers, and a cloth cap, and for women a blue-and-white striped dress worn underneath a smock. Shoes were also provided. In some establishments certain categories of inmate were marked out by their clothing; for example, at Bristol Incorporation workhouse, prostitutes were required to wear a yellow dress and pregnant single women a red dress; such practices were deprecated by
4030-450: A view to deriving profit from the labour of the inmates, and not as being the safest means of affording relief by at the same time testing the reality of their destitution. The workhouse was in truth at that time a kind of manufactory, carried on at the risk and cost of the poor-rate, employing the worst description of the people, and helping to pauperise the best. By 1832 the amount spent on poor relief nationally had risen to £7 million
4185-597: A water spring lay to the south of it. The Ruscote estate, which now has a notable South Asian community, was expanded in the 1950s because of the growth of the town due to the London overspill and further grew in the mid-1960s. British Railways closed Merton Street railway station and the Buckingham to Banbury line to passenger traffic at the end of 1960. Merton Street goods depot continued to handle livestock traffic for Banbury's cattle market until 1966, when this too
4340-513: A weekly rotation, the various meals selected on a daily basis, from a list of foodstuffs. For instance, a breakfast of bread and gruel was followed by dinner, which might consist of cooked meats, pickled pork or bacon with vegetables, potatoes, yeast dumpling , soup and suet , or rice pudding . Supper was normally bread, cheese and broth , and sometimes butter or potatoes. The larger workhouses had separate dining rooms for males and females; workhouses without separate dining rooms would stagger
4495-429: A year and in 1441 "certainty money" due from the northern part of the hundred was 89s. 8d. It was made up of payments from Shutford , Claydon , Swalcliffe , Great Bourton and Little Bourton , Prescote , Hardwick , Calthorpe and Neithrop, Wickham , Wardington , Williamscot , Swalcliffe Lea , and the former "prebend" of Banbury. By 1568 these, except the rent from Wardington and amounted to 69s. 4d. in 1652, when
4650-468: A year, more than 10 shillings (£0.50) per head of population, up from £2 million in 1784. The large number of those seeking assistance was pushing the system to "the verge of collapse". The economic downturn following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century resulted in increasing numbers of unemployed. Coupled with developments in agriculture that meant less labour
4805-525: Is 52 feet 6 inches (16 m) high, and topped by a gilt cross. Towns with crosses in England before the reformation were places of Christian pilgrimage. The English nursery rhyme " Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross ", in its several forms, may refer to one of the crosses destroyed by Puritans in 1600. In April 2005, Princess Anne unveiled a large bronze statue depicting the Fine Lady upon
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4960-472: Is also home to the large Princess Diana Park. The now derelict Bretch Farm, near Claypits Close, opened in about 1900, was expanded slightly in 1910, lost a large part of its land to the Bretch hill development (the watertower and communications transmissions mast ) in the 1960s, closed in 1990 and has been derelict ever since. Trinity Close and Powys Grove were originally created as separate entities between
5115-617: Is closed from September to March due to the bad seasonal weather. The Admiral Holland pub and the neighbouring houses were built circa 1960–1961. The pub was named after Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland , who was in command of the British naval forces during the Battle of Denmark Strait in May 1941 against the German battleship Bismarck . He died aboard HMS Hood when attacking Bismarck in
5270-419: Is home to the world's largest coffee-processing facility ( Jacobs Douwe Egberts ), built in 1964. The town is famed for Banbury cakes , a spiced sweet pastry. Banbury is located 64 miles (103 km) north-west of London , 37 miles (60 km) south-east of Birmingham , 27 miles (43 km) south-east of Coventry and 22 miles (35 km) north-west of Oxford . The name Banbury may derive from "Banna",
5425-538: Is in the Cherwell Valley with many hills in and around the town. Apart from the town centre, much of Banbury is on a slope and each entry into the town is downhill. Estates such as Bretch Hill and Hardwick are built on top of a hill and much of the town can be seen from both. Other notable hills include the suburban, Crouch Hill and the more central Pinn Hill, and Strawberry Hill on the outskirts of Easington. Mine Hill and Rye Hill lie, along with many others, to
5580-406: Is kept of births and deaths, but when smallpox , measles or malignant fevers make their appearance in the house, the mortality is very great. Of 131 inmates in the house, 60 are children. Instead of a workhouse, some sparsely populated parishes placed homeless paupers into rented accommodation, and provided others with relief in their own homes. Those entering a workhouse might join anywhere from
5735-607: Is located in the museum entrance in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre. Tooley's Boatyard was built in 1778 and is a historic site with a nearly 250-year-old blacksmiths' shop and narrow boat dry dock. Spiceball Park is the largest park in Banbury. It is east of the Oxford Canal , mainly west of the River Cherwell , north of Castle Quay and south of Hennef Way. It includes three large fields,
5890-480: Is now used as an entrance to a shopping centre. The Northern Aluminium Co. Ltd. or Alcan Industries Ltd. pig and rolled aluminium factory was opened in 1931 on land acquired in 1929 on the east of the Southam road, in the then hamlet of Hardwick. The various Alcan facilities on the 53-acre site closed between 2006 and 2007. The factory was demolished between 2008 and 2009. The laboratory was also closed in 2004 and
6045-404: Is now used as offices for numerous companies. Another major employer is Jacobs Douwe Egberts , which produces instant coffee . The facility moved to Banbury from Birmingham in 1965. In the central area were built many large shops, a bus station, and a large car park north of Castle Street. In 1969 proposals for the redevelopment of the central area were in hand, leading to the creation of
6200-457: Is priced for sale and is a tabloid. The Banbury Cake was formerly a free newspaper: its print edition ceased publication in 2017 and its website subsequently also closed. Regional TV news is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian . Television signals received from the Oxford TV transmitter, although some parts of the town get a better TV signal from the local relay transmitter which
6355-591: Is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central . Local radio stations are BBC Radio Oxford , Heart South , and Capital Mid-Counties . Banbury Music Radio was a local Internet radio station . At one time Banbury had many crosses (the High Cross, the Bread Cross and the White Cross), but these were destroyed by Puritans in 1600. Banbury remained without a cross for more than 250 years until
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6510-624: Is situated in Woodgreen, next to both the Neithrop Library and the Woodgreen Leisure Centre. The low rise flats called Kennedy House were named after US President John F. Kennedy when they were built in the mid-1960s. The Woodgreen swimming pool was opened in early 1939 and renovated in the late 1970s. It was closed in the early 2000s, heavily renovated in 2009 and reopened in 2010. The much frequented outdoor pool
6665-548: The National Assistance Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6 . c. 29) that the last vestiges of the Poor Law finally disappeared, and with them the workhouses. The Statute of Cambridge 1388 was an attempt to address the labour shortage caused by the Black Death , a devastating pandemic that killed about one-third of England's population. The new law fixed wages and restricted the movement of labourers, as it
6820-653: The Bishop of Lincoln 's demesne lands, and a fourth which was leased to Robert son of Waukelin by the Bishop. Among Banbury's four Medieval mills was probably a forerunner of Banbury Mill, first referred to by this name in 1695. In the year 1279, Laurence of Hardwick was also paying 3 marks (equivalent to 40 shillings) in annual rent to the Bishop for a mill in the then Hardwick hamlet. The forerunners of Butchers Row were probably long standing butchers' stalls which were known to be in situ by 1438. The old Victorian Corn Exchange
6975-580: The Civil War , when it was besieged. Due to its proximity to Oxford , the King's capital, Banbury was at one stage a Royalist town, but the inhabitants were known to be strongly Puritan . Banbury played an important part in the English Civil War as a base of operations for Oliver Cromwell , who is reputed to have planned the Battle of Edge Hill in the back room (which can still be visited) of
7130-534: The Countess of Meath , set up a project to provide alternative occupation for non-able-bodied inmates, known as the Brabazon scheme . Volunteers provided training in crafts such as knitting, embroidery and lace making, all costs initially being borne by Lady Brabazon herself. Although slow to take off, when workhouses discovered that the goods being produced were saleable and could make the enterprise self-financing,
7285-548: The Crimean War , providing light and well-ventilated accommodation. Opened in 1878, the Manchester Union's infirmary comprised seven parallel three-storey pavilions separated by 80-foot-wide (24 m) "airing yards"; each pavilion had space for 31 beds, a day room, a nurse's kitchen and toilets. By the start of the 20th century new workhouses were often fitted out to an "impressive standard". Opened in 1903,
7440-472: The Denmark Strait . The pub was demolished in 2017. The Yellow Park was one of the smallest parks in Banbury. It is situated next to a youth centre on Hilton Road in the Neithrop ward. The park gets its name from the fact that the slide, monkey bars and climbing frame are all yellow. It also has swings inside the play area. There is also a small field in the park measuring approximately 2000 m. It
7595-580: The Local Government Act 1972 it became part of the traditionally Conservative-ruled Cherwell District Council , an unparished area with Charter Trustees . A civil parish with a town council was set up in 2000. The post of the mayor of Banbury was created in 1607. The first mayor was Thomas Webb. A number of roads are named after former mayors of the town, including Mascord Road, Mold Crescent and Fairfax Close. Another former mayor, Angela Billingham , went into national politics. Banbury
7750-641: The Poets' Corner estate and The Link. Cheney Coaches also ran a service that ran parallel to most of the Stagecoach routes between 1996 and 2004. Traffic congestion is problematic around The Shires crossroads and by Banbury Cross . It is also sometimes a problem in Orchard Way and outside the Admiral Holland pub. The Neithrop ward is traditionally a Labour ward but for the first time, during
7905-546: The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 , also known as the New Poor Law, which discouraged the allocation of outdoor relief to the able-bodied; "all cases were to be 'offered the house', and nothing else". Individual parishes were grouped into Poor Law Unions , each of which was to have a union workhouse. More than 500 of these were built during the next 50 years, two-thirds of them by 1840. In certain parts of
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#17327755958248060-481: The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 , a great deal of anti-Catholic feeling remained. Even in areas with large Catholic populations, such as Liverpool , the appointment of a Catholic chaplain was unthinkable. Some guardians went so far as to refuse Catholic priests entry to the workhouse. Discipline was strictly enforced in the workhouse; for minor offences such as swearing or feigning sickness
8215-517: The Ruscote ward of Banbury, is a large food and coffee producing factory. It was built in 1964 and has gone through a number of ownership changes since. It is still sometimes known by its previous names of Bird's , Kraft and General Foods or GF. Banbury was once home to Western Europe's largest cattle market, on Merton Street in Grimsbury. The market was a key feature of Victorian life in
8370-533: The West Midlands . As such it has close cultural links with neighbouring Midlands towns such as Stratford-upon-Avon , Leamington Spa , and Warwick . In 1998 and 2007, Banbury was subject to heavy flooding due to its location by the River Cherwell. Heavy clay and Ironstone deposits surround Banbury. The Domesday Book in 1086 listed three mills, with a total fiscal value of 45 shillings , on
8525-502: The hemp from telegraph wires. Others picked oakum using a large metal nail known as a spike, which may be the source of the workhouse's nickname. Bone-crushing, useful in the creation of fertiliser , was a task most inmates could perform, until a government inquiry into conditions in the Andover workhouse in 1845 found that starving paupers were reduced to fighting over the rotting bones they were supposed to be grinding, to suck out
8680-472: The "disorderly" could have their diet restricted for up to 48 hours. For more serious offences such as insubordination or violent behavior the "refractory" could be confined for up to 24 hours, and might also have their diet restricted. Girls were punished in the same way as adults but sometimes in older cases girls were also beaten or slapped, but boys under the age of 14 could be beaten with "a rod or other instrument, such as may have been approved of by
8835-481: The 1940s. Wythicome Drive was built in 1947, but development then slowed and re-focused on Woodgreen. Most of the streets' first inhabitants were from Banbury, London and Oxford . The estate was built in the 1960s because of the growth of the town due to the North London overspill and a slum clearance scheme in both Solihull and Coventry . It was expanded further in the north during the mid-1970s. The estate
8990-623: The 1994 and 1995 F1 World Championships was based on the Wildmere Industrial Estate. The Marussia F1 team had its manufacturing and production facility sited on Thorpe Way Industrial Estate using the building formerly owned by Ascari Cars , a luxury sports car manufacturer. Both Simtek and Marussia F1 had been brought to Banbury by Nick Wirth who owned the Simtek team and was the former Technical Director at Marussia. After Marussia F1 went into administration in 2014, their base
9145-539: The 19th century wore on non-conformist ministers increasingly began to conduct services within the workhouse, but Catholic priests were rarely welcomed. A variety of legislation had been introduced during the 17th century to limit the civil rights of Catholics, beginning with the Popish Recusants Act 1605 in the wake of the failed Gunpowder Plot that year. Though almost all restrictions on Catholics in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were removed by
9300-534: The 2006 local elections for Cherwell District Council, the ward changed to one Labour councillor and one Conservative Party councillor. The traditionally present Green party candidate lost in 2006. The Greens have been present in the ward since the early 1990s. Labour still holds control for the Neithrop ward for the Banbury Town Council and Oxfordshire County Council. The Liberal Democrats , UKIP or British National Party fielded no candidate in
9455-741: The British colonies, in particular to Canada and Australia , where it was hoped the fruits of their labour would contribute to the defence of the empire and enable the colonies to buy more British exports. Known as Home Children , the Philanthropic Farm school alone sent more than 1000 boys to the colonies between 1850 and 1871, many of them taken from workhouses. In 1869 Maria Rye and Annie Macpherson , "two spinster ladies of strong resolve", began taking groups of orphans and children from workhouses to Canada, most of whom were taken in by farming families in Ontario . The Canadian government paid
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#17327755958249610-430: The British population may have been accommodated in workhouses at any given time. The New Poor Law Commissioners were very critical of existing workhouses, and generally insisted that they be replaced. They complained in particular that "in by far the greater number of cases, it is a large almshouse, in which the young are trained in idleness, ignorance, and vice; the able-bodied maintained in sluggish sensual indolence;
9765-598: The Castle shopping centre in 1977 (the centre was later combined into the Castle Quay centre). The 1977 plans to build a multi-storey car park on what is now the open air car park behind Matalan and Poundland were scrapped in 1978 and another one was built to the rear of the Castle Shopping Centre in 1978. The former Hunt Edmunds brewery premises became Crest Hotels headquarters, but closed in
9920-467: The Centre of Banbury Studies was published in the 1870s or 1880s and it asserted that the term originated in the 1830s but no source is given for that assertion. In the 1850s magazine articles used "Banburyshire" or the hyphenated term "Banbury-shire". The Banburyshire Natural History Society was formed in 1881. In the 20th century a number of books used the term "Banburyshire" in their titles, dating from
10075-460: The Crown in exchange for other lands. In 1545, Bishop Longland leased Easington to his holy registrar , John Frankyshe of Neithrop for 50 years from the expiry of the incumbent lease in 1561. The advance leasing of the episcopal estate was a phenomenon of the times. This part of Banbury was the scene of rioting in 1589 after the local maypole was destroyed by Puritans . Long before enclosure,
10230-659: The Easington estate at the time. Other working-class type houses were built at the south end of Britannia Road and the area to the east between 1881 and 1930, and also in both Old Grimsbury Road and Gibbs Road in Grimsbury. More up-market houses were built in both the Marlborough Road area and in Bath Road, Kings Road, Park Road, and Queen Street in Neithrop. Neithrop used to be the site of Banbury's mid Victorian workhouse and later contagious diseases hospital,which
10385-544: The Fields , children were trained in spinning flax , picking hair and carding wool, before being placed as apprentices. Workhouses also had links with local industry; in Nottingham , children employed in a cotton mill earned about £60 a year for the workhouse. Some parishes advertised for apprenticeships, and were willing to pay any employer prepared to offer them. Such agreements were preferable to supporting children in
10540-568: The Firewood Cutters Protection Association was complaining that the livelihood of its members was being threatened by the cheap firewood on offer from the workhouses in the East End of London. Many inmates were allocated tasks in the workhouse such as caring for the sick or teaching that were beyond their capabilities, but most were employed on "generally pointless" work, such as breaking stones or removing
10695-516: The Guardians". Children, specifically orphans, who leave the grounds without being discharged or run away from workhouses could be severely disciplined and could be confined with no food or water. The persistently refractory, or anyone bringing "spirituous or fermented liquor" into the workhouse, could be taken before a Justice of the Peace and even gaoled. All punishments handed out were recorded in
10850-439: The Ironstones' paths. A plan existed in the late 2000s to expand the Bretchill estate west, into the local farmland, but this has now been suspended due to the credit crunch and local hostility to the plan, like the southern expansion towards Bodicote . In February 2006 Cherwell District Council voted to proceed with the plans despite the popular opposition and local campaigning against it. About 2,000 houses will be built in
11005-422: The Ironstones' paths. Woodgreen's 45-year-old youth club was closed in April 2010, demolished during July 2010, and its replacement was due to open in early 2011. The redevelopment plan was valued at £ 3,000,000. The small shopping complex, called the Woodgreen Arcade, which includes a Chinese takeaway shop, chemists and a popular convenience shop, is on the opposite side of the road to the Admiral Holland pub. It
11160-580: The Poor Law Commission in a directive issued in 1839 entitled "Ignominious Dress for Unchaste Women in Workhouses", but they continued until at least 1866. Some workhouses had a separate "foul" or "itch" ward, where inmates diagnosed with skin diseases such as scabies could be detained before entering the workhouse proper. Also not to be overlooked were unfortunate destitute sufferers of mental health disorders, who would be ordered to enter
11315-415: The Poor Law system". Although the 1834 Act allowed for women to become workhouse guardians provided they met the property requirement, the first female was not elected until 1875. Working class guardians were not appointed until 1892, when the property requirement was dropped in favour of occupying rented premises worth £5 a year. Every workhouse had a complement of full-time staff, often referred to as
11470-411: The River Cherwell. On the opposite bank they built Grimsbury , which was formerly part of Northamptonshire . Another district, Neithrop , is one of the oldest areas in Banbury, having first been recorded as a hamlet in the 13th century. Both Grimsbury and Neithrop were formally incorporated into the borough of Banbury in 1889. Banbury stands at the junction of two ancient roads: Salt Way (used as
11625-606: The UK's lowest unemployment rates, as of April 2016 it stood at 0.7%. Once Poland joined the European Union in 2004, a number of Banbury-based employment agencies began advertising for staff in major Polish newspapers. In 2006 one estimate placed between 5,000 and 6,000 Poles in the town. With the influx of the largely Roman Catholic Poles, one local church was offering a Mass said partially in Polish and specialist Polish food shops had opened. Jacobs Douwe Egberts , in
11780-425: The able-bodied be offered work in a house of correction (the precursor of the workhouse), where the "persistent idler" was to be punished. It also proposed the construction of housing for the impotent poor , the old and the infirm, although most assistance was granted through a form of poor relief known as outdoor relief – money, food, or other necessities given to those living in their own homes, funded by
11935-404: The age of two were allowed to remain with their mothers, but by entering a workhouse paupers were considered to have forfeited responsibility for their families. Clothing and personal possessions (with the possible exception of spectacles ) were usually taken from them and stored, to be returned on their discharge. After bathing, they were issued with a distinctive uniform: for men it might be
12090-409: The aged and impotent, children, able-bodied males, and able-bodied females. A common layout resembled Jeremy Bentham 's prison panopticon , a radial design with four three-storey buildings at its centre set within a rectangular courtyard, the perimeter of which was defined by a three-storey entrance block and single-storey outbuildings, all enclosed by a wall. That basic layout, one of two designed by
12245-434: The aged and more respectable exposed to all the misery that is incident to dwelling in such a society". After 1835 many workhouses were constructed with the central buildings surrounded by work and exercise yards enclosed behind brick walls, so-called "pauper bastilles". The commission proposed that all new workhouses should allow for the segregation of paupers into at least four distinct groups, each to be housed separately:
12400-573: The architect Sampson Kempthorne (his other design was octagonal with a segmented interior, sometimes known as the Kempthorne star ), allowed for four separate work and exercise yards, one for each class of inmate. Separating the inmates was intended to serve three purposes: to direct treatment to those who most needed it; to deter others from pauperism; and as a physical barrier against illness, physical and mental. The commissioners argued that buildings based on Kempthorne's plans would be symbolic of
12555-652: The beginning of the 20th century some infirmaries were even able to operate as private hospitals. The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–1909 reported that workhouses were unsuited to deal with the different categories of resident they had traditionally housed, and recommended that specialised institutions for each class of pauper should be established, in which they could be treated appropriately by properly trained staff. The "deterrent" workhouses were in future to be reserved for "incorrigibles such as drunkards, idlers and tramps". On 24 January 1918
12710-487: The border of Banburyshire's area. There was a plan in the late 2000s to expand the Bretch Hill estate westwards into local farmland, but this has now been suspended due to the credit crunch and local hostility to the plan, including the southern expansion towards Bodicote . The Hanwell Fields Estate was built in the north between 2001 and 2009. It was intended to provide affordable social housing to
12865-588: The children; they spent the day together playing in Kennington Park and visiting a coffee shop, after which she readmitted them all to the workhouse. Available data surrounding death rates within the workhouse system is minimal; however, in the Wall to Wall documentary Secrets from the Workhouse , it is estimated that 10% of those admitted to the workhouse after the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act died within
13020-517: The construction of an office building in Hennef Way in 2002, the remains of a British Iron Age settlement with circular buildings dating back to 200 BC were found. The site contained around 150 pieces of pottery and stone. Later there was a Roman villa at nearby Wykham Park. The area was settled by the Saxons around the late 5th century. In about 556 Banbury was the scene of a battle between
13175-440: The country there was a good deal of resistance to these new buildings, some of it violent, particularly in the industrial north. Many workers lost their jobs during the major economic depression of 1837, and there was a strong feeling that what the unemployed needed was not the workhouse but short-term relief to tide them over. By 1838, 573 Poor Law Unions had been formed in England and Wales, incorporating 13,427 parishes, but it
13330-468: The current Banbury Cross was erected in 1859 at the centre of the town to commemorate the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal (eldest child of Queen Victoria ) to Prince Frederick of Prussia . The current Banbury Cross is a stone, spire-shaped monument decorated in Gothic form . Statues of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V were added in 1914 to commemorate the coronation of George V. The cross
13485-642: The devastated park. This tragically mirrored an event in the Spiceball park that caused heavy damage on 8 February 2007, but did not deter the council from doing its planned £90,000 and the 2006 arson of two spring riders that led to the closure of the Woodgreen Arcade play park in mid-2006. There were some concerns over antisocial behaviour and heavier than average litter levels in Princess Diana Park and Hillview Park, and that fly-tipping in Banbury also affects some streets and footpaths such as on
13640-512: The door of a workhouse were at the mercy of the porter, whose decision it was whether or not to allocate them a bed for the night in the casual ward. Those refused entry risked being sentenced to two weeks of hard labour if they were found begging or sleeping in the open and prosecuted for an offence under the Vagrancy Act 1824 . A typical early 19th-century casual ward was a single large room furnished with some kind of bedding and perhaps
13795-532: The early 17th century the Copes granted the freehold of much of their Neithrop land to their tenants and lessees, such as the Parnells, in an act of great generosity for this time. Further expansion in Neithrop occurred after 1850; thus St. Paul's Terrace and the houses on the west side of Paradise Road were among several small terraces that had been built in Neithrop village before 1881, besides some 50 houses in
13950-673: The early 1960s. The county of Oxfordshire has two main commercial centres, the city of Oxford itself that serves most of the south of the county, and Banbury that serves the north (such as Adderbury , Cropredy , Deddington , Wroxton , Great Bourton , and Bloxham ) plus parts of the neighbouring counties of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire . The villages of King's Sutton and Middleton Cheney , and possibly also Aynho , Fenny Compton , Charlton , and Croughton could be considered part of Banburyshire, as well as Upper and Lower Brailes . The settlements of Bicester , Hinton-in-the-Hedges , Chipping Norton , and Hook Norton are on
14105-438: The economic trend by discouraging the provision of relief to anyone who refused to enter a workhouse. Some Poor Law authorities hoped to run workhouses at a profit by utilising the free labour of their inmates. Most were employed on tasks such as breaking stones, crushing bones to produce fertiliser, or picking oakum using a large metal nail known as a spike. As the 19th century wore on, workhouses increasingly became refuges for
14260-415: The elderly, infirm, and sick rather than the able-bodied poor, and in 1929 legislation was passed to allow local authorities to take over workhouse infirmaries as municipal hospitals. Although workhouses were formally abolished by the same legislation in 1930, many continued under their new appellation of Public Assistance Institutions under the control of local authorities. It was not until the introduction of
14415-560: The entrance building contained offices, while the main workhouse building housed the various wards and workrooms, all linked by long corridors designed to improve ventilation and lighting. Where possible, each building was separated by an exercise yard, for the use of a specific category of pauper. Each Poor Law Union employed one or more relieving officers, whose job it was to visit those applying for assistance and assess what relief, if any, they should be given. Any applicants considered to be in need of immediate assistance could be issued with
14570-419: The entrance were the casual wards for tramps and vagrants and the relieving rooms, where paupers were housed until they had been examined by a medical officer. After being assessed the paupers were separated and allocated to the appropriate ward for their category: boys under 14, able-bodied men between 14 and 60, men over 60, girls under 14, able-bodied women between 14 and 60, and women over 60. Children under
14725-445: The established church. As section 19 of the 1834 Poor Law specifically forbade any regulation forcing an inmate to attend church services "in a Mode contrary to [their] Religious Principles", the commissioners were reluctantly forced to allow non-Anglicans to leave the workhouse on Sundays to attend services elsewhere, so long as they were able to provide a certificate of attendance signed by the officiating minister on their return. As
14880-517: The estate, which will include local shops, a post office, a school and other local services. The more popular, and upmarket Hanwell Fields Estate was built in the north during 2008 and 2009. It was meant to bring affordable social housing to the west and south of Banbury, while providing for more upmarket housing in the Hanwell fields area. Whilst they are officially part of the Bretch Hill estate, they were originally created as separate entities in
15035-481: The indoor staff. At their head was the governor or master, who was appointed by the board of guardians. His duties were laid out in a series of orders issued by the Poor Law Commissioners. As well as the overall administration of the workhouse, masters were required to discipline the paupers as necessary and to visit each ward twice daily, at 11 am and 9 pm. Female inmates and children under seven were
15190-411: The late 1960s and early 1980s. Claypits Close was built circa 2007 and named after the old clay pit it was built on. There were many small, Victorian clay pits and kilns in the south west of Banbury, but they had closed by the 1920s. The Bradley Arcade shopping centre was built circa 1965 and named after police inspector James Roy Bradley , who was deliberately run down and killed by wanted criminals at
15345-605: The late 1960s to early 1970s and mid-1970s to early 1980s respectively. Trinity Close was mostly built between 1973 and 1975. Powys Grove is near the Barley Mow Pub and Trinity Close is opposite the North Oxfordshire Academy school. The Bretch Hill Road may have remained a long cul-de-sac not reached the main road near the Drayton School or have had Appelby and Penrith Closes added to it, if
15500-631: The late 1970s and was abandoned in the late 1980s, while the Crown Hotel and the Foremost Tyres/Excel Exhausts shops found new owners after they closed in 1976 due to falling sales. Hella , a vehicle electronics firm, closed its factory on the Southam Road in the mid-2000s. The ironmonger , Hoods, opened in the mid-1960s and closed in 2007, with the shop becoming part of the then enlarged Marks and Spencer . Owing to
15655-550: The little you made First to the Poorhouse and then to the grave Anonymous verse from Yorkshire By the late 1840s most workhouses outside London and the larger provincial towns housed only "the incapable, elderly and sick". By the end of the century only about 20 per cent of those admitted to workhouses were unemployed or destitute, but about 30 per cent of the population over 70 were in workhouses. The introduction of pensions for those aged over 70 in 1908 did not reduce
15810-523: The local Anglo-Saxons of Cynric and Ceawlin , and the local Romano-British . It was a local centre for Anglo-Saxon settlement by the mid-6th century. Banbury developed in the Anglo-Saxon period under Danish influence, starting in the late 6th century. It was assessed at 50 hides in the Domesday survey and was then held by the Bishop of Lincoln . The Saxons built Banbury on the west bank of
15965-466: The long planned Banbury by-pass had gone ahead in the early to mid-1980s. Since then there has been much redevelopment work done, with the demolition of the old lock-up garages between Appleby Close and Edinburgh Close making way for a car park and a small housing development. There is the Barley Mow Pub which was built in its present form in 1981 replacing the M&;B old pub that stood on the road side and
16120-535: The marrow. The resulting scandal led to the withdrawal of bone-crushing as an employment in workhouses and the replacement of the Poor Law Commission by the Poor Law Board in 1847. Conditions were thereafter regulated by a list of rules contained in the 1847 Consolidated General Order , which included guidance on issues such as diet, staff duties, dress, education, discipline, and redress of grievances. Some Poor Law Unions opted to send destitute children to
16275-471: The master and matron. A typical workhouse accommodating 225 inmates had a staff of five, which included a part-time chaplain and a part-time medical officer. The low pay meant that many medical officers were young and inexperienced. To add to their difficulties, in most unions they were obliged to pay out of their own pockets for any drugs, dressings or other medical supplies needed to treat their patients. A second major wave of workhouse construction began in
16430-437: The matter, which could be arranged without the permission or knowledge of their parents. The supply of labour from workhouse to factory, which remained popular until the 1830s, was sometimes viewed as a form of transportation . While getting parish apprentices from Clerkenwell , Samuel Oldknow 's agent reported how some parents came "crying to beg they may have their Children out again". Historian Arthur Redford suggests that
16585-422: The meal times to avoid any contact between the sexes. Education was provided for the children, but workhouse teachers were a particular problem. Poorly paid, without any formal training, and facing large classes of unruly children with little or no interest in their lessons, few stayed in the job for more than a few months. In an effort to force workhouses to offer at least a basic level of education, legislation
16740-467: The mid-1860s, the result of a damning report by the Poor Law inspectors on the conditions found in infirmaries in London and the provinces. Of one workhouse in Southwark , London, an inspector observed bluntly that "The workhouse does not meet the requirements of medical science, nor am I able to suggest any arrangements which would in the least enable it to do so". By the middle of the 19th century there
16895-570: The newly laid out Park Road and Queen Street. A sawmill, timber yard and vine nursery had all come into existence behind the Magistrates court by 1882 and along Green Street and Nursery Lane, but only the Nursery Lane/Green Street vine nursery had survived until the 1920s. The by then town of Neithrop was formally incorporated into the borough of Banbury in 1889. Banbury town council built the houses in King's Road and on
17050-483: The northeast, southeast and west of Banbury. Banbury is located at the bank of the River Cherwell which sweeps through the town, going just east of the town centre with Grimsbury being the only estate east of the river. Banbury is at the northern extreme of the UK's South East England region, less than two miles (3 km) from the boundary with the East Midlands , and three miles (5 km) from that with
17205-575: The number of elderly housed in workhouses, but it did reduce the number of those on outdoor relief by 25 per cent. Responsibility for administration of the Poor Law passed to the Local Government Board in 1871, and the emphasis soon shifted from the workhouse as "a receptacle for the helpless poor" to its role in the care of the sick and helpless. The Diseases Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1883 allowed London workhouse infirmaries to offer treatment to non-paupers as well as inmates, and by
17360-549: The number of parish workhouses in England and Wales at more than 1800 (about one parish in seven), with a total capacity of more than 90,000 places. This growth in the number of workhouses was prompted by the Workhouse Test Act 1723 ; by obliging anyone seeking poor relief to enter a workhouse and undertake a set amount of work, usually for no pay (a system called indoor relief), the Act helped prevent irresponsible claims on
17515-631: The parish paid for the cost of the journey and a "wedding dinner". By the 1830s most parishes had at least one workhouse, but many were badly managed. In his 1797 work, The State of the Poor , Sir Frederick Eden , wrote: The workhouse is an inconvenient building, with small windows, low rooms and dark staircases. It is surrounded by a high wall, that gives it the appearance of a prison, and prevents free circulation of air. There are 8 or 10 beds in each room, chiefly of flocks, and consequently retentive of all scents and very productive of vermin. The passages are in great want of whitewashing. No regular account
17670-482: The park's closure. The charred spring riders, the bench and the small roundabout were removed at this date. It was later tarmacked over and public access restored a short while later. The sizeable Stanbridge Park is roughly two-thirds the size of Princess Diana Park and contains the Stanbridge Children's Play Park and a netball court. It runs between Bretch Hill and Woodgreen. St. Louis Meadow park area
17825-425: The participating parishes, assisted by six ex officio members. The guardians were usually farmers or tradesmen, and as one of their roles was the contracting out of the supply of goods to the workhouse, the position could prove lucrative for them and their friends. Simon Fowler has commented that "it is clear that this [the awarding of contracts] involved much petty corruption, and it was indeed endemic throughout
17980-545: The passage of the Casual Poor Act 1882 vagrants could discharge themselves before 11 am on the day following their admission, but from 1883 onwards they were required to be detained until 9 am on the second day. Those who were admitted to the workhouse again within one month were required to be detained until the fourth day after their admission. Inmates were free to leave whenever they wished after giving reasonable notice, generally considered to be three hours, but if
18135-436: The pauper is always promptly attended by a skilful and well qualified medical practitioner ... if the patient be furnished with all the cordials and stimulants which may promote his recovery: it cannot be denied that his condition in these respects is better than that of the needy and industrious ratepayer who has neither the money nor the influence to secure prompt and careful attendance. The education of children presented
18290-478: The paupers before breakfast and after supper each day. Each Poor Law Union was required to appoint a chaplain to look after the spiritual needs of the workhouse inmates, and he was invariably expected to be from the established Church of England . Religious services were generally held in the dining hall, as few early workhouses had a separate chapel but in some parts of the country, notably Cornwall and northern England , there were more dissenters than members of
18445-552: The poor may have once shunned factories as "an insidious sort of workhouse". From the Jewish point of view ... was the virtual impossibility of complying with the Jewish ritual requirements; the dietary laws could have been followed, if at all, only by virtual restriction to bread and water, and the observance of the Sabbath and Festivities was impossible. Religion played an important part in workhouse life: prayers were read to
18600-487: The poor. From the 16th century onwards a distinction was legally enshrined between those who were willing to work but could not, and those who were able to work but would not: between "the genuinely unemployed and the idler". Supporting the destitute was a problem exacerbated by King Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries , which began in 1536. They had been a significant source of charitable relief, and provided
18755-467: The recent changes to the provision of poor relief; one assistant commissioner expressed the view that they would be something "the pauper would feel it was utterly impossible to contend against", and "give confidence to the Poor Law Guardians". Another assistant commissioner claimed the new design was intended as a "terror to the able-bodied population", but the architect George Gilbert Scott
18910-444: The responsibility of the matron, as was the general housekeeping. The master and the matron were usually a married couple, charged with running the workhouse "at the minimum cost and maximum efficiency – for the lowest possible wages". A large workhouse such as Whitechapel , accommodating several thousand paupers, employed a staff of almost 200; the smallest may only have had a porter and perhaps an assistant nurse in addition to
19065-590: The scheme gradually spread across the country, and by 1897 there were more than 100 branches. In 1836 the Poor Law Commission distributed six diets for workhouse inmates, one of which was to be chosen by each Poor Law Union depending on its local circumstances. Although dreary, the food was generally nutritionally adequate, and according to contemporary records was prepared with great care. Issues such as training staff to serve and weigh portions were well understood. The diets included general guidance, as well as schedules for each class of inmate. They were laid out on
19220-399: The state becoming responsible for the support of the poor. However, mass unemployment following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the introduction of new technology to replace agricultural workers in particular, and a series of bad harvests, meant that by the early 1830s the established system of poor relief was proving to be unsustainable. The New Poor Law of 1834 attempted to reverse
19375-602: The supplementing of inadequate wages under the Speenhamland system did become established towards the end of the 18th century. So keen were some Poor Law authorities to cut costs wherever possible that cases were reported of husbands being forced to sell their wives , to avoid them becoming a financial burden on the parish. In one such case in 1814 the wife and child of Henry Cook, who were living in Effingham workhouse, were sold at Croydon market for one shilling (5p);
19530-518: The surrounding area's notable links with world motorsport , the town is home to many well known organisations within the industry. Prodrive , one of the world's largest motorsport and automotive technology specialists, is based in the town as are a host of race teams involved in competition across many different disciplines and countries. Within Formula One , two teams have had their base of operations in Banbury. The Simtek team which competed in
19685-529: The system. Some Poor Law authorities hoped that payment for the work undertaken by the inmates would produce a profit for their workhouses, or at least allow them to be self-supporting, but whatever small income could be produced never matched the running costs. In the 18th century, inmates were poorly managed, and lacked either the inclination or the skills to compete effectively with free market industries such as spinning and weaving. Some workhouses operated not as places of employment, but as houses of correction,
19840-522: The tenants of Neithrop had become freeholders, as recorded in the land deeds of 1583 to 1608 and 1614, with the permission of both Sir Anthony Cope and then his son Sir William Cope. The Land rights over the tenants' land of the former episcopal estate in the boroughs of Calthorpe and Neithrop seem to have passed to the Cope family, which also held property there which had been included in the Duke of Somerset 's land grant of Hardwick to Anthony Cope in 1548. In
19995-476: The term workhouse is from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "we have erected wthn [ sic ] our borough a workhouse to set poorer people to work". The origins of the workhouse can be traced to the Statute of Cambridge 1388 , which attempted to address the labour shortages following the Black Death in England by restricting the movement of labourers, and ultimately led to
20150-432: The total profits of court were valued at 103s. 4d. a year in "certainty money". In 1875 payments were made only by Williamscot, Swalcliffe, Prescote, Great and Little Bourton, Neithrop, Claydon, and Shutford since the rest were freed from their rent obligations. In 1225 there were 46 tenants in Neithrop with average land holding 1.3 yardlands, but by 1441 there were 21 tenants with an average holding 2.9 yardlands and by 1575
20305-587: The town and county. It was formally closed in June 1998, after being abandoned several years earlier and was replaced with a new housing development and Dashwood Primary School. Banbury railway station is served by three train operating companies: The town's bus routes are operated primarily by Stagecoach in Oxfordshire both within the town and linking it with Brackley , Chipping Norton , Oxford and places further afield including Daventry , Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon . Hennef Way ( A422 )
20460-683: The ward during 2006. A lone Liberal Democrat ran in the Hardwick estate only. Banbury Banbury is an historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire , South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire and southern parts of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire which are predominantly rural. Banbury's main industries are motorsport, car components, electrical goods, plastics, food processing and printing. Banbury
20615-496: The west and north of Banbury, and more upmarket housing in the Hanwell fields area. In January 1554 Banbury was granted a royal charter that established the town as a borough to be governed by the aldermen of the town. The same charter created the position of High Steward of Banbury . Banbury was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835 . It retained a borough council until 1974, when under
20770-546: The workhouse at Hunslet in West Riding of Yorkshire had two steam boilers with automatic stokers supplying heating and hot water throughout the building, a generator to provide electricity for the institution's 1,130 electric lamps, and electric lifts in the infirmary pavilion. As early as 1841 the Poor Law Commissioners were aware of an "insoluble dilemma" posed by the ideology behind the New Poor Law: If
20925-511: The workhouse by the parish doctor. The Lunacy Act 1853 did promote the asylum as the institution of choice for patients afflicted with all forms of mental illness. However, in reality, destitute people suffering from mental illness would be housed in their local workhouse. Conditions in the casual wards were worse than in the relieving rooms, and deliberately designed to discourage vagrants, who were considered potential troublemakers and probably disease-ridden. Vagrants who presented themselves at
21080-403: The workhouse: apprenticed children were not subject to inspection by justices, thereby lowering the chance of punishment for neglect; and apprenticeships were viewed as a better long-term method of teaching skills to children who might otherwise be uninterested in work. Supporting an apprenticed child was also considerably cheaper than the workhouse or outdoor relief. Children often had no say in
21235-461: Was a growing realisation that the purpose of the workhouse was no longer solely or even chiefly to act as a deterrent to the able-bodied poor, and the first generation of buildings was widely considered to be inadequate. About 150 new workhouses were built mainly in London, Lancashire and Yorkshire between 1840 and 1875, in architectural styles that began to adopt Italianate or Elizabethan features, to better fit into their surroundings and present
21390-507: Was about half that of providing workhouse accommodation. Outdoor relief was further restricted by the terms of the 1844 Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order , which aimed to end it altogether for the able-bodied poor. In 1846, of 1.33 million paupers only 199,000 were maintained in workhouses, of whom 82,000 were considered to be able-bodied, leaving an estimated 375,000 of the able-bodied on outdoor relief. Excluding periods of extreme economic distress, it has been estimated that about 6.5% of
21545-426: Was anticipated that if they were allowed to leave their parishes for higher-paid work elsewhere then wages would inevitably rise. According to historian Derek Fraser, the fear of social disorder following the plague ultimately resulted in the state, and not a "personal Christian charity", becoming responsible for the support of the poor. The resulting laws against vagrancy were the origins of state-funded relief for
21700-490: Was built in the early 1960s and was slated for redevelopment in 2010, unlike the similarly aged pub. Bretch Hill is a housing estate in the Neithrop ward of Banbury, Oxfordshire. It was formerly a council estate , but today many of its houses are owner-occupied and the remainder are owned by a housing association . Only a couple of farms and the Neithrop Guardens orchards stood in the unspoiled countryside until
21855-447: Was built on the grounds of Hanwell Farm during 2005 and 2006. Banburyshire is an informal area centred on Banbury, claimed to include parts of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire as well as north Oxfordshire . Use of the term dates from the early to mid 19th century. It was common in the 19th century for market towns in England to describe their hinterland by tacking "shire" onto the town's name. "Stones Map of Banburyshire" held by
22010-428: Was built over the former Victorian village of Wood Green in the 1930s. The name 'Woodgreen' was hyphenated from 1927 to 1937, and merged by 1947. An Ordnance Survey map from 1882 reveals Park Road and part of Queen's road were partly built. Queen's road was completed by the 1900 map edition and King's road was mostly completed by the 1922 edition. Banbury's Woodgreen Youth Centre was built in 1964 and opened in 1965. It
22165-451: Was critical of what he called "a set of ready-made designs of the meanest possible character". Some critics of the new Poor Law noted the similarities between Kempthorne's plans and model prisons, and doubted that they were merely coincidental - Richard Oastler went as far as referring to the institutions as 'prisons for the poor'. Augustus Pugin compared Kempthorne's octagonal plan with the "antient poor hoyse", in what Felix Driver calls
22320-460: Was demolished after the war. The opening of the Oxford Canal from Hawkesbury Junction to Banbury on 30 March 1778 gave the town a cheap and reliable supply of Warwickshire coal. In 1787 the Oxford Canal was extended southwards, finally opening to Oxford on 1 January 1790. The canal's main boat yard was the original outlay of today's Tooley's Boatyard . People's Park was set up as
22475-412: Was destroyed when the youth centre was expanded in 2010. The Woodgreen Arcade play park 52°03′48″N 1°21′10″W / 52.063267°N 1.352726°W / 52.063267; -1.352726 (approx.) was a minor play park by the Woodgreen Arcade. It was removed in 2006 after youths set the two spring riders on fire in 2002. This along with the general increase in vandalism and litter lead to
22630-658: Was discontinued and the railway dismantled. In March 1962 Sir John Betjeman celebrated the line from Culworth Junction in his poem Great Central Railway, Sheffield Victoria to Banbury . British Railways closed this line too in 1966. The main railway station, previously called Banbury General but now called simply Banbury , is now served by trains running from London Paddington via Reading and Oxford once daily, from London Marylebone via High Wycombe and Bicester onwards to Birmingham and Kidderminster and by CrossCountry Trains from Bournemouth and Reading to Birmingham , Manchester and Newcastle . Banbury used to have
22785-470: Was formerly a township in the parish of Banbury, in 1866 Neithrop became a separate civil parish , on 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Banbury. In 1931 the parish had a population of 8165. A major furniture shop, police station and a Texaco garage are located in the ward. Neithrop is also home to a specialist school : Neithrop is home to the People's Park which opened in 1910, has
22940-497: Was needed on the land, along with three successive bad harvests beginning in 1828 and the Swing Riots of 1830, reform was inevitable. Many suspected that the system of poor relief was being widely abused. In 1832 the government established a Royal Commission to investigate and recommend how relief could best be given to the poor. The result was the establishment of a centralised Poor Law Commission in England and Wales under
23095-481: Was not until 1868 that unions were established across the entire country: the same year that the New Poor Law was applied to the Gilbert Unions. Despite the intentions behind the 1834 Act, relief of the poor remained the responsibility of local taxpayers, and there was thus a powerful economic incentive to use loopholes such as sickness in the family to continue with outdoor relief; the weekly cost per person
23250-588: Was passed in 1845 requiring that all pauper apprentices should be able to read and sign their own indenture papers. A training college for workhouse teachers was set up at Kneller Hall in Twickenham during the 1840s, but it closed in the following decade. Some children were trained in skills valuable to the area. In Shrewsbury , the boys were placed in the workhouse's workshop, while girls were tasked with spinning , making gloves and other jobs "suited to their sex, their ages and abilities". At St Martin in
23405-547: Was purchased by the United States–based Haas F1 Team to service their cars during the European races. Until 2017, when the team went into administration and subsequently folded, Manor Racing (the successor to Marussia) was based in the town. Arden Motorsport , a British multi-formula motorsports team (founded by Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner ), is also based in the town. Banbury has one of
23560-483: Was run by "Nelly?" until her retirement. There are none. Most pupils go to either William Morris School or the North Oxfordshire Academy , the latter being built in the 1970s. The local bus services in Banbury town centre radiate out to the various estates. Those to Bretch Hill, Woodgreen, and Hardwick are run by the Stagecoach Oxfordshire bus company. Heyfordian Travel also run a service via
23715-503: Was set for an £80,000 refurbishment on 3 September 2010. A plastic pay tunnel, some low wooden fencing, wood chippings, two cargo nets , a spring rider and a wooden climbing frame were added. At about 10.15pm on 9 February, fire fighters were called to the play area in St. Louis Meadow park, after a member of public reported a fire inside the play area. A plastic tunnel had been deliberately burnt by local youths. It will take £85,000 to repair
23870-556: Was situated in Warwick Road for about 100 years. After World War II the workhouse was used as a hospital until it was demolished and built over in the 1980s. There have been various housing developments since the late 1980s. An old car show room and garage, opposite the Texaco garage, was demolished and replaced by a local housing scheme, in 2004, as was an old warehouse and car park that lay next to The Shires crossroads. Neithrop
24025-452: Was upgraded to a dual carriageway , easing traffic on the heavily congested road and providing north Banbury and the town centre with higher-capacity links to the M40 motorway . The Oxford Canal is a popular place for pleasure trips and tourism. The canal's main boatyard is now the listed site Tooley's Boatyard . The Banbury Guardian is published weekly on Thursdays by Johnston Press ,
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