Deddington

Most visits are for the farmers' market, the Unicorn on the square or the walk round the castle banks. Nothing here charges for entry.

What to see in Deddington

The three things to see are the Market Place and Town Hall, St Peter and St Paul's Church, and the castle earthworks. All are within a few minutes' walk of each other, and you can do them in a morning, finishing at the Unicorn on the square, which opens at noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Market Place is the heart of it. The Town Hall in the middle was rebuilt in 1806 on the site of a Town House acquired by 1611, and Deddington's history society records butchers using three stalls under its arches in 1818 and a fire engine kept there until the 1930s. Stalls still go under the arches on farmers' market days, and it doubles as a bus shelter.

St Peter and St Paul is built of local ironstone, with early thirteenth-century work in the chancel and the nave arcades, and its big four-stage tower tells the story. The medieval tower and spire fell in March 1634. The bells were left broken, and in early 1643 the king requisitioned them to melt for artillery, according to the Victoria County History. Only in 1683 did the Oxford mason Thomas Wood contract to complete the new tower, and its pinnacles went up in 1683 to 1685. The figures of the two saints on the west front are re-used stone, partly medieval. The east window is by C. E. Kempe, and G. E. Street began a Victorian restoration in 1858.

Deddington Castle

Deddington Castle is earthworks only, free to enter at any reasonable time in daylight, and it is bigger than you expect. English Heritage says it was the Oxfordshire base of Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror, and that the ramparts reach 15m.

Don't come looking for walls, since none are visible. By 1310 little was left but a chamber and a dovecote, and in 1377 the canons of Bicester were buying its dressed stone. Digs from 1947 and again in the late 1970s found stone buildings, a thirteenth-century chapel over an earlier one and evidence of a gatehouse, and the foundations were covered again. The parish council bought the grounds from the Church Commissioners in 1945 and looks after the outer part as open space for dog walks and picnics, while the inner bailey is in English Heritage's care.

Enter from Castle Street, between two pillars by Hopcraft Lane. The ground is uneven and sloping, and dogs on leads are welcome.

The farmers' market

Deddington Farmers' Market (opens in a new tab) runs on the fourth Saturday of each month from 9am to 12.20pm, the market says, with over 30 stalls, and it is the best day to come. The next are 28 November and, breaking the pattern, 19 December 2026.

Expect bread, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, flowers, preserves, ready meals and beer, with craft stalls in the church on the same mornings. The market finishes at 12.20pm, and the Unicorn is on the same square for afterwards.

A morning in Deddington

Arrive for 9am on market day, or at a quiet time on a weekday. Park early, shop the stalls first, and take the castle after that.

From the Town Hall, walk to St Peter and St Paul, then follow Castle Street to the pillars for a circuit of the banks. Back at the square, there is lunch at the Unicorn at weekends; on weekdays it opens in the evening, CAMRA's listing says, so ring first. If you have the afternoon free, drive on to Adderbury, or to Aynho and the canal.

Walks from Deddington

The parish's own history website publishes the walks, and it is the place to start. It has a Deddington Circular Walk, a Clifton Loop and a Hempton Loop as downloadable PDFs, along with a walk round the village and a page on Daeda's Wood, named after the Saxon lord thought to have given Deddington its name.

We have not walked or timed them, so read the distance on each sheet. Clifton lies about a mile to the east, towards the Cherwell, with the Duke of Cumberland's Head for a drink at the end. Hempton is about a mile and a half west.

Food and drink in Deddington

Start on the Market Place. Our guide to the best pubs near Banbury has more choice nearby.

The Unicorn Inn faces the square. The parish website lists other places to eat, but its pages are undated, so we name only what we could check.

Where to stay in Deddington

The Unicorn on the square has seven rooms. The Duke at Clifton is a mile away.

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Parking and getting to Deddington

Parking is free and the bus is good. The parish website says parking is free, and the spaces are round the Market Place, though they are in demand. In 2004 a councillor told the parish council they were filled by 10am on working days, and the farmers' market takes part of the square, so arrive early.

Stagecoach's S4 runs about hourly between Banbury and Oxford through Deddington, with stops on the Market Place and at the Leyes. It takes about 25 minutes from Banbury via Adderbury. Timetables for November 2026 showed a Sunday service too, about every 90 minutes from 8.30am to 5.30pm out of Banbury, though check Stagecoach's current sheet. There is no station, and the nearest for most people is Banbury.

When to come to Deddington

The fourth Saturday of the month is the day to choose. Otherwise the village is quiet, and church concerts bring people in on some evenings: the Banbury Symphony Orchestra is due at St Peter and St Paul on 14 November 2026.

The Deddington Festival returned as a free one-day event at the Unicorn on 28 June 2025, and a comedy night ran under its name at the Deddington Arms on 18 June 2026, but we could not confirm a 2027 date. The parish's events page is the best place to check. The old Pudding Pie Fair, a November fair going back to a grant of 1393, ended in the 1930s, so don't look for it.