Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Moreton Pinkney
A quiet village a mile from Canons Ashby, with a church whose tower is twelfth century and a living once held by Gilbert White of Selborne. No pub since 2017, so come for an hour on the way to the National Trust house.
- Nearest station
- None. Banbury is about 12 miles by road
- Parking
- No car park. Park with care on the village streets, and not on the greens
- Best time
- A Canons Ashby open day, with an hour here first
- When it's busy
- Never busy, from all we read. Canons Ashby, a mile north, has its own car park.
- Toilets
- None in the village that we could find. Canons Ashby has them for visitors
About Moreton Pinkney
Moreton Pinkney is a small village about 9 miles north-east of Banbury Cross in a straight line, and under a mile south of Canons Ashby. It has a church, a village hall on Upper Green, a Victorian lodge built like a small Scottish castle, and no pub or shop. There is an hour here at most, and the obvious plan is to spend it on the way to the National Trust's house.
What to see in Moreton Pinkney
St Mary's is listed Grade II*. Its three-stage west tower is twelfth century, and the north arcade, three bays of pointed arches on round piers, is late twelfth century too, as is the inner doorway of the north porch. A plaque dated 1649 on that porch probably records a repair. The chancel and south arcade were rebuilt in 1846 in their old form with old stone. In the chancel there is a thirteenth-century double piscina with stiff-leaf capitals.
Historic England's entry also records that Gilbert White, the eighteenth-century naturalist, was vicar of Moreton Pinkney while he lived at Selborne in Hampshire. In the churchyard the base of a cross is listed on its own. The list entry says it is said to be Saxon and that the decorated part of its shaft is now missing. We found no published opening hours for the church.
The lodge and gateway at the entrance to the Manor House are the surprise. E. F. Law designed them in 1859 to 1860 in a Scottish Baronial style, in squared ironstone, with a round turret under a conical roof and a segmental stone arch. The plaque on the raised centrepiece carries the arms of Edward Sempill and Baroness Maria Jane, dated 1860. The Manor House behind is private.
Canons Ashby, a mile north
The Drydens' Elizabethan manor at Canons Ashby is the reason most people come this way. It is National Trust, with painted rooms, Jacobean plasterwork and terraced gardens, and opening days vary through the year, so check its calendar. Beside it stands what is left of the Augustinian priory, its church.
A morning from Moreton Pinkney
See St Mary's and the lodge, then drive the mile north to Canons Ashby for the house and gardens and lunch in its tea room. In the afternoon, Eydon, about 2 miles west, has a pub and a farm shop, and Culworth has a castle earthwork and the story of its highwaymen.
Food and drink
Moreton Pinkney has had no pub since the Four Candles closed in 2017, and older guides that list it are out of date. The tea room at Canons Ashby serves on open days. For a pub, Eydon's Royal Oak is about 2 miles away; it reopened in 2026 and was closed on Mondays when we checked.
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When to come
Time it for a Canons Ashby open day, which means checking the Trust's calendar first. The village itself is the same all year, and a dry day makes the churchyard and the greens pleasanter.
Last verified 11 November 2026 by our editors
Things to do in Moreton Pinkney
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.
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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 Moreton Pinkney
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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
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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
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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 Moreton Pinkney
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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 Moreton Pinkney
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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.
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St James the Less, Sulgrave
Sight · Church · Sulgrave
Sulgrave's Grade II* church, where George Washington's ancestor Lawrence Washington is buried before the family pew under its painted Washington arms. A west doorway perhaps Saxon, and a Tudor porch. No regular opening times.
Getting to Moreton Pinkney
- By car
- About 12 miles from Banbury by road, about 25 minutes on a clear run.
- By bus
- We found no bus to the village. The nearest regular service is Stagecoach's 200 at Woodford Halse, about 3 miles north-west, Monday to Saturday.
- By train
- No station. Banbury is the nearest.
- Parking
- No car park in the village. Canons Ashby has a small National Trust car park a short walk from the house, and the Trust says it cannot guarantee a space.
- Access
- We have not checked access in the village or the church.
Places near Moreton Pinkney
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EydonA 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.
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CulworthA village on the old Welsh Way, 7 miles north-east of Banbury, with a Norman castle ringwork beside its church and the story of the Culworth Gang, highwaymen hanged in 1787. A pub, a café and a butcher's, and Sulgrave a mile and a half away.
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SulgraveA quiet Northamptonshire village, home to Sulgrave Manor, the house built by George Washington's ancestors. The manor, the Washington pew in the church and a Norman ringwork make a good half day between March and September.
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Woodford HalseThe railway village of the Great Central, which grew round a great marshalling yard and lost it in 1966. The embankment is now a community wood, and the church has a medieval effigy and brass. Come for the railway story and the walks, not for sights.