History of Banbury the region within approximately 20 miles of the market town of Banbury. The county of Oxfordshire has two main commercial centres, the city of Oxford itself, which serves most of the south of the county, and Banbury, which serves the north (such as Adderbury, Deddington, Wroxton, Great Bourton and Bloxham), plus parts of the neighbouring counties of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. Hook Norton brewery, on the outskirts of Banburyshire, is one of Britain's last working tower breweries (by April 2006) and supplies several Banbury and Oxfordshire pubs with beer. From the former, the villages of King's Sutton and Middleton Cheney, and
William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG, PC (1544 – 25 May 1632) was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. He was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, of Greys Court in Oxfordshire, and of Reading, in Berkshire, and his wife, Catherine Carey. Knollys was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Stafford in 1571, Tregony from 1572–81 and 1583–84 and for Oxfordshire from 1584–1586, 1592–1593 and 1601. In 1584 he was made castellan of Wallingford Castle. In 1596 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, a