Wardington

What to see in Wardington

St Mary Magdalene is listed Grade I. The earliest trace is a twelfth-century window, partly blocked, in the south wall of the chancel. The nave and aisles are thirteenth century, the clerestory fourteenth, and the west tower was up before 1400. Look for the octagonal font dated 1666 and the floor brass to Henry Freebody, who died in 1444. Ewan Christian restored the church in 1887 and 1889. We found no published opening hours.

Wardington Manor, listed Grade II*, is a two-storey house on a half-H plan. A stone with the date 1665 and the initials G.C., probably for George Chamberlayne, may mark the later house. J. W. B. Pease, later Lord Wardington, bought it in 1917. Wardington House, once an inn, was remodelled early in the twentieth century by H. F. B. Lynch, who added a library and classical Greek inscriptions. Both are private.

Williamscot and the Civil War

Williamscot House, listed Grade II* and private, was built by Walter Calcott soon after he bought Williamscot in 1559, and given an ashlar south front in 1780. The war passed through twice. Prince Rupert spent the second night after Edgehill at Wardington. In 1644 the battle of Cropredy Bridge was fought partly over Wardington land, with Hay's Bridge on the A361 a key point, and afterwards the king slept two nights in Williamscot, in a poor man's house, because there was smallpox at Williamscot House. Read the whole story in the Civil War in Banburyshire, and see our page on the Cropredy battlefield for what is on the ground.

A morning in Wardington

See the church, walk through Lower Wardington, and have lunch at the Hare and Hounds, Thursday to Sunday, or at the Greenhouse Cafe. Then drive the short way west to Cropredy for the bridge, the canal and its own Grade I church. Keep off the A361 on foot at Hay's Bridge, where the Battlefields Trust warns of fast traffic and little verge.

Walks from Wardington

We found no council or parish leaflet for a walk from Wardington. The Jurassic Way long-distance path passes Barn Farm Plants at Upper Wardington, so a there-and-back stretch is possible, and the Battlefields Trust says rights of way cross much of the Cropredy battlefield, with good views from the hills near Williamscot. The Trust's map for the battlefield is OS Explorer 206.

Food and drink

The Hare and Hounds on Edgcote Lane is a Hook Norton pub with a large beer garden and Sunday roasts, which it advises booking. It serves lunch from Thursday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays, by its own site. The Greenhouse Cafe at Barn Farm Plants in Upper Wardington serves home baking and lunches among the plants, and closes at 4pm, or 3.30pm on Sundays. The garden centre's site also lists Banbury Antiques Centre beside it.

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When to come

Any day for the church and lunch. The battle's anniversary is 29 June. In mid-August (13 to 15 August in 2026; the 2027 dates were not announced when we checked), Fairport's Cropredy Convention brings heavy traffic: its day car park is on Williamscot Road, so book anything near it early.