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Banburyshire
A bench and the old stocks on a tree-shaded green, a stone building with a bellcote beyond

Paul Shreeve, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Eydon

A planned medieval village of two long ironstone streets on high ground north-east of Banbury, with a Norman font in its church, a Grade I Georgian hall next door, a pub, a farm shop and a mummers' play at Christmas.

Nearest station
None. Banbury, about 11 miles by road. Woodford Halse's station closed in the 1960s
Parking
No car park. Park with care on the High Street, and not across the narrow cross lanes
Best time
A Thursday to Saturday, when the farm shop is open
When it's busy
Quiet, from all we read. The annual village fete, shared by the village hall and the church, is held on the sports field.
Toilets
The National Churches Trust lists toilets, one of them accessible, in St Nicholas church, open in daylight

About Eydon

Eydon is a village on high ground about 8 miles north-east of Banbury Cross in a straight line, a mile and a half south of Woodford Halse. The Eydon Historical Research Group thinks it was laid out in the eleventh or twelfth century: two long parallel streets with two lanes across them, built largely of local ironstone. It is a pleasant place for an hour, with a church, a great house beside it and somewhere to eat.

What to see in Eydon

St Nicholas stands at the south end of the village and is listed Grade II*. The research group says it was built in the twelfth century and keeps Norman stonework. Its tower is fourteenth century, and Richard Charles Hussey restored the church in 1864 to 1865, when it reopened on 1 June 1865. The thing to find is the Norman font, carved with unusual scalloped fluting and still in use. The church is open in daylight, says its entry on the National Churches Trust.

Next to it is Eydon Hall, listed Grade I. James Lewis designed it in 1789 to 1791 for the Revd Francis Annesley, and published its designs in 1797. Sir Herbert Baker made small changes inside about 1930. It is a private house with no public opening that we could find, so look from the churchyard and the road.

A stone church with a traceried east window in a churchyard of long grass, bluebells and dandelions
St Nicholas, Eydon Photo: AJD, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Walk the High Street end to end to see the plan. Ridge and furrow from the open fields, enclosed in 1762, still shows in the pasture round the village, and aerial photographs show crop marks of four rectangular enclosures on Eydon Hill, the research group says, like Iron Age and Roman farmsteads elsewhere in the county.

Walks from Eydon

Two parishes publish walks that reach Eydon. Culworth's parish council has a walk to Eydon through Eydon Park and back by the site of the lost village of Trafford, which it puts at about two and a half hours, with three stiles and mud in wet weather, and one towards Eydon. Woodford cum Membris Parish Council has one from Lime Avenue in Eydon down to the Cherwell at Jack's Ford, about 90 minutes by Butterfly Lane or two hours by West Farndon. We have not walked them, and neither parish gives a distance, so take a map.

A morning in Eydon

Come on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. See St Nicholas and look over at the Hall, walk the High Street, then call at the farm shop and, if you have rung ahead, stay for lunch at the Royal Oak. In the afternoon, drive the 2 miles to Moreton Pinkney and on to Canons Ashby.

Food and drink in Eydon

The Royal Oak on Lime Avenue, a seventeenth-century ironstone pub, was refurbished and reopened in summer 2026, says CAMRA's local branch, which surveyed it in October 2026 and gives it as closed on Mondays and open from noon the rest of the week. Its hours have changed since the parish council's January 2026 welcome pack, so ring first. The Store at Dodds Manor Farm, a beef farm at 22 High Street, opens from 9.30am to 3pm, Thursday to Saturday, by the farm's own site. Oboe Fine Wine, in the old slaughterhouse on the High Street, gives its hours as noon to 8pm from Tuesday to Thursday, noon to 9pm on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 3pm on Sunday, closed on Mondays. None is on our list yet, so ring before a special trip.

When to come to Eydon

At Christmas, if you are lucky. The Eydon Mummers revived the village's play at the end of 1991 and perform round the pubs and venues at Christmas, suddenly and, they say, usually under-rehearsed, collecting for a different charity each year. Eydon's play is unusual: it has nine characters, and its villain is the Duke of Cumberland. Otherwise, look for the village fete, and the parish council lists events on its site.

Last verified 11 November 2026 by our editors

  • A gabled ironstone house with an arched doorway beside a road and a green
  • A small gabled stone lodge with a bellcote behind iron railings, a drive and a mown verge in front
  • A stone building with steep gables and a bellcote between them, behind railings and a strip of grass
  • A straight village street of brick and ironstone houses with cars parked along it
  • Old wooden stocks on a mown green, a high stone wall and trees behind

Things to do in Eydon

See all
The stone manor house and its white tower above a clipped garden under a cloudy sky

Historic houses and heritage

Canons Ashby

The Dryden family's Elizabethan manor house in south Northamptonshire, with painted rooms, Jacobean plasterwork and terraced gardens, beside the surviving church of a medieval priory. National Trust, north east of Banbury.

  • A gravel path through stone gate piers with ball finials to the manor between dark yew hedges

    Sulgrave Manor

    Historic houses and heritage · Sulgrave

    The Tudor manor house built by George Washington's English ancestors, in Sulgrave north east of Banbury, and a museum of the Anglo-American link since 1921. Open Sundays to Tuesdays in season, walk-ins welcome. Closed for the winter until March 2027.

    Family-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

Where to eat and drink in Eydon

See all
  • A long ironstone pub with its name on the wall, climbing plants and tables out front

    The Griffin Inn, Chipping Warden

    Pubs

    A Marston's village local at Chipping Warden, north-east of Banbury, with cask ales, a beer garden, a car park with accessible spaces, electric car charging and live sport.

    Dog-friendly · EV charging

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A long pub with a cream end, a blue upper storey and ironstone below, a lawn in front under a deep blue sky

    The Hare and Hounds, Wardington

    Pubs

    A Hook Norton pub on Edgcote Lane in Wardington, near Cropredy, with a large beer garden suited to small children and courtyard tables. Booking is advised for the Sunday roast. Camper vans stay free in the car park if you book in for a meal.

    Family-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A large dark barn with a sign above a wide forecourt, greenhouses and parked cars beyond

    Greenhouse Cafe, Wardington

    Cafes and tearooms

    The café at Barn Farm Plants garden centre, Upper Wardington, near Banbury, serving homebaked cakes and freshly made food with indoor and outdoor seating, on the Jurassic Way and beside an antiques centre.

    Family-friendly · Walker-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

Walks in and around Eydon

All walks starting here
  • A field of ripening barley scattered with red poppies below the dark edge of a wood

    Badby Woods and Fawsley

    Walk · Starts in Badby · 1 hr, 30 mins · Circular

    A 2.9-mile (4.7km) circular walk from Fawsley across the old deer park to the edge of Badby Woods and up to Badby church, moderate and about an hour and a half, with about 120m of climbing. It follows the county council's Southern Circular and the Knightley Way.

Sights in and around Eydon

All sights
  • A pinnacled stone tower beside an arcaded west front with a tall window, seen across rough grass under a grey sky

    St Mary's Church, Canons Ashby

    Sight · Church · Moreton Pinkney

    All that stands of the church of an Augustinian priory at Canons Ashby: a Grade I fragment with a thirteenth-century west front, a fourteenth-century tower and the Dryden family's monuments. Part of the National Trust's Canons Ashby.

History of Eydon

The name began as Aegas dun, the hill of a Saxon called Aegas, and Domesday Book writes it Egedone. Bronze Age flints and Roman pottery have been found in the parish. The planned village came in the eleventh or twelfth century, the church in the twelfth, and the open fields lasted until enclosure in 1762.

Eydon Hall, the manor house, was built in 1789 to 1791, and the research group says the manor house has been rebuilt at least twice on slightly different sites. Railways came in 1872 and 1899, and both had gone by 1966. The Mummers' play lapsed long ago, probably in the nineteenth century, though the research group thinks it may have lasted until the First World War, and it came back at the end of 1991.

Questions about Eydon

Is there a pub in Eydon?

Yes, the Royal Oak on Lime Avenue, refurbished and reopened in summer 2026, says CAMRA's local branch. Its October 2026 survey gives it as closed on Mondays and open from noon on other days. Ring first, because its hours have changed during 2026.

Can you visit Eydon Hall?

Not that we could find. Eydon Hall is a private Grade I house of 1789 to 1791 by James Lewis. You can see it from the churchyard of St Nicholas next door.

When do the Eydon Mummers perform?

At Christmas, round the pubs and venues, without much warning. Their page gives no dates, and suggests the contact page for performance times.

Is Eydon church open?

Yes, in daylight hours, says its entry on the National Churches Trust. St Nicholas has a Norman font and toilets, one of them accessible.

Getting to Eydon

By car
About 11 miles from Banbury by road, about 25 minutes on a clear run.
By bus
No regular bus. Stagecoach's 200 stops at Woodford Halse and Byfield, Monday to Saturday. Ability runs a booked service to Banbury on Mondays and Thursdays.
By train
No station. Banbury is the nearest, then the 200 to Woodford Halse, about 1.5 miles away.
Parking
No car park. Park with care on the High Street.
Access
St Nicholas has level access to its main areas and an accessible toilet, says its entry on the National Churches Trust. We have not checked the streets.
Map of Eydon
© OpenStreetMap contributors

Places near Eydon

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