In the 1600s, Southam was an important resting place for horse-drawn carriages, and even in recent times had an unusually large number of inns and public houses. (Several have close in the past 20 years.) A main road that Welsh sheep farmers ('drovers') used to travel to London passed through Southam. The town was also at an important junction between Birmingham, Coventry, Daventry, Northampton, Banbury, Oxford, Leamington Spa and Warwick.