2 Bridge Street, Brackley - 01280 700 111 tic@southnorthants.gov.uk

Brackley, originally also known as Brachelai or Brackele, was owned in 1086 by Earl Alberic. After this it passed to the Earl of Leicester, and to the families of De Quincy and Roland.

In the 11th and 12th centuries Brackley was in the Hundred of Odboldistow and in the Manor of Halse. Richard I (The Lionheart) named 5 officials sites for jousting tournaments[citation needed] 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.

Henry III attacked and destroyed the castle in 1173. The site was later granted to the Hospital of SS. James and John.

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 free or a prisoner — 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.

Market day was on Sundays until 1218, when it was changed to Wednesdays. It is now on Friday mornings.

In 1597 the town was incorporated by James II. It had a mayor, 6 aldermen and 26 burgesses.

Over time the Brackley has been known for wool and lace-making.

In 1901 the population of the town was 2,467.

Until 1834 the poor house in use by the area was in nearby Culworth, but in that year the Brackley Poor Law Union was founded. A workhouse for 250 people was built in 1836, southwest of the town on Banbury Road. It was demolished in the 1930s.

Brackley Castle was built soon afer 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. It was destroyed in 1173.

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. Both the four-bayarcade of the south aisle and the west tower with its niches containing seated statues were added in the 13th century. Next the chancel was rebuilt, probably late in the 13th century. 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.

In about 1150 Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester founded the Hospital of St. James and St. John. Its master was a priest, assisted by a number of religious brothers. Its duties included providing accomodation and care for poor travellers. In the 15th century there were complaints that successive masters of were absentees, holding other livings at the same time as being in charge of the hospital. The hospital was closed in 1423 for maladministration but re-established in 1425. In 1449 a master was appointed who seems to have continued the practice of non-residence while holding parish livings elsewhere. 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.

Waynflete had founded Magdalen College, Oxford in 1458 and Magdalen College School, Oxford in 1480. He made the former hospital part of their property and by 1548 it was Magdalen College School, Brackley. St James' chapel became the school chapel, in which use it remains today. It is the oldest building in Great Britain in continuous use by a school. The oldest part of the chapel is the west doorway, which is late Norman. Most of its windows are slightly later, being Early English Gothic lancet windows. The trio of stepped lancets above the west doorway are late 13th century. The Gothic Revival architect Charles Buckeridge restored the chapel in 1869-70.

The Hospital of St. Leonard was a smaller institution, founded to care for lepers. It was 0.5 miles (800 m) from SS. James and John, apparently on the nothern edge of Brackley. 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. No buildings of St. Leonard's hospital have survived.

The almshouses were founded in 1633 by Sir Thomas Crewe of Steane. They have one storey plus attic dormers. They were originally six houses but by 1973 they had been converted into four apartments.

Brackley Manor House was also a 17th century Jacobean building that also originallly had one storey plus attic dormers. 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. It is now Winchester House School, a coeducational preparatory school for children aged from 3-13. It used to be a Woodard School.

The town hall is Georgian, built in 1706 by the 4th Earl of Bridgewater. The ground floor was originally open but has since been enclosed. 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 checquer pattern.

The town park belongs to the National Trust.

In Domesday, it was Brachelai (Bracca's leah, clearing).