Banbury Museum & Tooley's Boat Yard

Really, this brand new museum (01295 259855) is two attractions in one - on either side of the Oxford Canal, linked by a bridge.

On one side, Banbury Museum - housed in an architectural award-winning modern building - showcases themes from Banbury's history including the English Civil War, Victorian Banbury and Banbury during WWII.

On the other bank, Tooley's Boatyard is about as far from being a piece of modern architecture as it is possible to get. It is a scheduled ancient monument, and has been in continuous use since it opened in 1778. Tooley's Boatyard played a significant role at the start of the canal restoration and conservation movement.

It was here in the 1940s that the working boat Cressy was refitted as a leisure boat. That became the boat that LTC (Tom) Rolt used to travel the waterways and write his ground-breaking book Narrow Boat. The book has been credited as the catalyst for the creation of the Inland Waterways Association (of which LTC Rolt was a founder), which really was the force that kick-started the whole canal regeneration movement.

View attraction map »

Back to list »