Spiceball Country Park, Banbury
Banbury's largest park, 26 acres split by the River Cherwell with the Oxford Canal along one edge: play area and skate ramps on the town side, woodland walks and nature trails across the wooden bridges. Free, with free parking on Grimsbury Green.
Common or park
BanburySpiceball Country Park is the largest park in Banbury: 26 acres on the edge of the town centre, divided by the River Cherwell, with the Oxford Canal along its western edge. It is free, a few minutes on foot from Castle Quay, and the place to go for a long walk or to tire children out.
The two sides of the park
The river splits the park into a kept side and a wild one, joined by wooden bridges. On the town side are the children's play area, the skate ramps, a cycle track, an outdoor fitness area and circular footpaths with benches, which suit walkers and runners. The council also provides free do-it-yourself barbecue stands in the picnic area. Across the river, the wild section is trees, hedgerows and native plants, with nature trails and woodland walks.
The town council manages that side with Wild Banbury, a partnership that began in 2015. The council lists kingfishers, sparrowhawks, bullfinches, bees, butterflies and weasels among what lives there. A kingfisher is the sighting to hope for, so walk the river quietly and early.
Visiting Spiceball
There is no charge and no ticket. The council's page does not mention toilets, a café or dog rules, so plan on walking back into town for those, and look for signs about dogs at the entrances. Expect the ground on the wild side to be nature trail, not tarmac.
Getting there
The main entrance is off Cherwell Drive, with others from Oxford Canal Walk and Grimsbury Green. Waterworks Car Park on Grimsbury Green, OX16 3JJ, is free for park users. Riverside Car Park on Cherwell Drive, OX16 2AY, is pay and display with 44 spaces: from 1 July 2026 Cherwell District Council charges £1.60 for an hour and £2.80 for two, 8am to 6pm, and it is free after that. Compton Road Car Park, OX16 2PR, is also paid. For the whole town, see our guide to parking in Banbury.
On foot, the canal towpath is the pleasant way in, past Tooley's Historic Boatyard.
Nearby
Banbury Museum and Gallery and Tooley's are both on the canal at Castle Quay, so the three make an easy morning. People's Park is the smaller, more formal park on the other side of town, with a café. Further north up the canal is Cropredy Bridge, where the Civil War battle of 1644 was fought.
Walks past Spiceball Country Park, Banbury
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Banbury Fringe Circular Walk
Walk · Starts in Banbury · 5 hrs · Circular
A 10.6-mile (17.1km) waymarked circular walk round the edge of Banbury, moderate and about five hours: the Oxford Canal south to Bodicote, the Salt Way past Crouch Hill, field and wood paths by Giant's Cave, and an old ironstone railway back to the canal.
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Banbury Ironstone Heritage Walk
Walk · Starts in Banbury · 4 hrs · Circular
The Banbury Ironstone Heritage Walk is a 9.6-mile (15.5km) moderate circular walk from Banbury station, about four hours with 180m of climbing. It follows the canal, skirts the northern estates, reaches Wroxton and North Newington, and ends at Banbury Cross.
Stay and eat near Spiceball Country Park, Banbury
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Banbury Museum and Gallery
Museums and galleries · Banbury
Banbury's free town museum, on the Oxford Canal with an entrance in Castle Quay: Bronze Age finds, a cannon from Banbury Castle, plush cloth and a canal gallery, with paid touring exhibitions and a canalside café.
Family-friendly · Rainy days · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
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Tooley's Historic Boatyard
Historic houses and heritage · Banbury
A working dry dock and forge on the Oxford Canal in Banbury, in use since 1778 and now hemmed in by Castle Quay. Small museum in the chandlery, Saturday boat trips in summer, and blacksmith courses. A scheduled monument and the start of Tom Rolt's Narrow Boat.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
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Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn, Banbury
Pubs · Banbury
A Parsons Street pub that dates itself to 1570 and calls itself Banbury's oldest, a Hook Norton house with the panelled Globe Room of the 1630s, serving food every day from noon to 9pm.
Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
Stories about Spiceball Country Park, Banbury
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Banbury with children: days out for families
Story · Guides · 9 minute read
Banbury with children: the aviary and play areas in the two parks, the free museum, swimming at Spiceball, boat trips at Tooley's, then Silverstone Museum, Compton Verney, Burton Dassett and Sulgrave by car, with ages, prices and what to skip.
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Free things to do near Banbury
Story · Guides · 8 minute read
Free things to do in and near Banbury: the Cross and the Fine Lady, the free museum, People's Park and Spiceball, the canal towpath, Deddington's castle banks, Swalcliffe Barn on summer Sundays, Radway's battle exhibition and the town's free events.
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The Oxford Canal near Banbury
Story · Guides · 9 minute read
The Oxford Canal near Banbury: Tooley's Boatyard and the free museum in town, the towpath north to Cropredy, Aynho Wharf and its odd lock to the south, boat trips and day boats, canalside pubs, and what low water has done to the summers.
More sights to see
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People's Park, Banbury
Sight · Common or park · Banbury
Banbury's town centre park, opened in 1919 to mark the peace, with an aviary of budgies and cockatiels, a walled garden, rose garden, bowling green, tennis, a play area and a café. Free, and run by the town council.
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Banbury Cross
Sight · Monument · Banbury
The cross of the nursery rhyme stands at the top of Banbury High Street, but it is a Victorian monument of 1858 to 1859, put up about 250 years after the town's medieval crosses were pulled down. Grade II*, free and seen from the street at any time.
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Cropredy Bridge
Sight · Bridge · Cropredy
The bridge over the River Cherwell at Cropredy, north of Banbury, where a royalist army beat Sir William Waller on 29 June 1644. This is a 1937 rebuild faced in old Hornton stone, with an inscription on its south side. Free to see at any time.