Brackley, which can trace its history back to the
very earliest times, was probably founded in two distinct areas.
One was around the parish church and the other around the castle
by the River Ouse. Iron Age remains were found at the Mill Lane
development and others were found when the Castle Lane site was
excavated. There was, too, probably a Roman villa to the south east
of the parish church. It was this site at which Bracca built the
very first village.
Bracca, who came from the larger settlement at Halse, lived between
550 and 650 A.D. He came into possession of a ‘ley’
or clearing and on it built a small village which was named after
him - as Braccaley, the Brackley of today.
At the time of the Normans, Brackley was in the Hundred of Odboldistow
and in the Manor of Halse, Indeed, Brackley’s manor house
remained in Halse for another two centuries although, as time passed,
Brackley far outgrew Halse and became a town of importance. To prevent
the barons using tournaments as local wars, Richard I named five
official places where tourneys could be held and Brackley was one
of these.
Brackley grew along the Oxford to Northampton road and trade along
that route brought it prosperity. By the 13th century it was a staple
town and sent delegates to trade meetings at Westminster. It was
of sufficient importance, too, for a castle to be built for its
protection. Only slight evidence of this now survives, along the
Hinton Road.
The barons met representatives of the King at Brackley in 1215,
the year of the Magna Carta, and a similar meeting followed in 1264.
The parish church was mostly built in the 13th and 14th centuries
and, on the eastern side of the High Street, the Hospital of St.
James and St. John was founded in 1150.
This later passed to Magdalen College of Oxford who, at the Dissolution,
founded a grammar school which existed until 1972 and is now a comprehensive
school. The original hospital chapel survives although it was greatly
restored in 1870.
Brackley, however, fell on hard times during the Tudor period. Its
fortunes declined and when John Leland visited the town he referred
to it as ‘this por towne’. It still, however, retained
its right to elect a mayor and by 1547 it was allowed to send two
members to parliament.
The Civil War saw Brackley on the side of the Roundheads. A record
exists of Royalist troops going from Northampton to Oxford and being
attacked and routed by the citizens of Brackley, despite their only
having the most rudimentary of weapons. The spoils of that battle
were worth six or seven thousand pounds and many local people, who
had not had a horse before, rather suddenly obtained one. Because
of its central position, Brackley was often a stopping place for
troops during the Civil War.
Brackley prospered again as the coaching era dawned. It was a staging
point and several coaching inns of this period still survive albeit
in more modernised form. The town was dominated by the Egerton family
for some two centuries until the Reform Act of 1832. Then Brackley
lost its two M.P.’s and it never regained its former importance,
becoming a rather quiet market town.
In the mid 19th century the railways came to the area with Brackley
first having a station on the L.N.W.R. route from Banbury to Bletchley.
Fifty years later the Great Central Railway opened its extension
from Leicester south to London’s Marylebone station and on
this was a station at the top end of Brackley. This was the last
of the main lines to reach the Capital. Both lines and stations,
however, closed under the Beeching cuts and Brackley no longer sees
the great expresses thundering through. Road improvements, including
the A43 by-pass, have hardly made up for the town’s removal
from the railway network.
In more recent times, especially since the early 1950’s,
Brackley has grown considerably and new industry has been attracted
to the town whose activities now include food processing, chemical
engineering and many manufacturing industries. In 1974 Brackley
lost its historic Borough status when it became a parish, with its
own Town Council, within the South Northamptonshire District. House
building has proceeded apace to the extent that in 2008 the population
rose to 13,913. In short, Brackley, whose history has reflected
the ups and downs of changing fortunes, now seems to face the new
challenges of rapid growth.
 The
Almshouses Founded in 1633 by Sir Thomas later Lord
Crewe of Steane. Lord Crewe was a Puritan who supported Parliament
in the Civil War and was also Speaker of the House of Commons. The
Almshouses restored in some measure the provision of accommodation
for the poor, which had existed in Brackley before the closure of
the Hospital of St James and St John.
Golden Spring Near
St Peter’s church there are two ancient springs called Golden
Spring Well and St Rumbold’s Well. Because water ran from
the springs down the roadway, it is known as Watery Lane.
St Rumbold was a legendary child prodigy from the royal families
of Mercia and Northumbria. According to a 10th century document,
at his birth, in Kings Sutton, he is supposed to have spoken at
length on Christianity. Later he foretold of his death and his wish
to rest for two years at Brackley before being buried at Buckingham.
His resting-place at Brackley is the site of the well.
Charities
Sir Thomas Crewe’s Almshouses Trust Cllr.
D Dunham Cllr. L Ross, John Vidley , Bruce Carthew, D. G. Cox, and
the Vicar of Brackley Revd. Nicholas Gandy.
Brackley United Feoffee Charity: Councillors: C.S.
Billingham (Chairman), P. Stocker and W.B. Stimpson. The remaining
members are Mr T. Gregory, Dr P Stevens, Mr K. Bunker, Mr G.W. Britchfield,
the Town Mayor and the Vicar of Brackley Revd. Nicholas Gandy.
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