Pictures of England

Search:

Historic Towns & Picturesque Villages

Pictures of Aynho

in the county of Northamptonshire

About Aynho

There is a pale beauty about Aynho that is enhanced only by the pale golden fruit that flourishes in these parts and caused this lovely place to become known as 'The Apricot Village'. Legend tells that apricots were once given to the local lords of the manor as rent for cottages inhabited by villagers. Whatever, this pretty village, looking almost unscathed by the passage of time, has a history stretching back beyond the days when it was first recorded in the Domesday Book.

This spacious village sprawls across a hill and has engaging little lanes and alleyways, crammed with picturesque limestone cottages, some with roofs of glowing thatch and others with quaint dormer windows bursting from steeply pitched tiles. Limestone continues to be used in the buildings of today, thus the village maintains a unique unity of colour and style. Even the ancient village church of St.Michael and All Angels is built in this lovely material. The original church suffered Civil War damage and was largely demolished early in the 18th-century when it was rebuilt in Grecian style. Fortunately, the lofty tower dating from the 14th-century was retained. Those who climb the steep steps of the tower are rewarded with magnificent views over the village and surrounding countryside.

Richard Cartwright was the last squire of Aynho, the Cartwright family had been Lords of the Manor since 1615 and had lived in Aynho Park until 1954 when sadly, both Richard Cartwright and his son were killed in a motor accident. The house was burned down during the relentless fighting of the Civil War. Following the war, the family claimed compensation from the Crown and the house was rebuilt to its former glory. The great parklands surrounding the house were landscaped by Capability Brown in 1761. Today, this splendid mansion that witnessed so many stirring times during its noble history, is converted into flats.

Other buildings of note in the village include The Jacobean grammer school, old almeshouses dating 1822, and the Cartwright Arms an old coaching inn. Aynho lies a short distance from all the pleasures of the large town of Banbury and is not far from the beautiful Cherwell Valley. Picturesque Aynho makes an ideal place from which to explore this ancient and interesting region.

Recommended towns & villages near Aynho

Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire. Ancestral home of George Washington's family

Sulgrave (2 Pictures) in the county of Northamptonshire

(8.1 miles, 13.1 km, direction N of Aynho)

USA President George Washington's ancestral home in England...

Wroxton University Parkland

Wroxton (26 Pictures) a Picturesque Village in the county of Oxfordshire

(8.3 miles, 13.3 km, direction NW of Aynho)

Quintessential pretty Oxfordshire village showing a wealth of attractive thatched cottages, built mostly following a fire which struck the village during the latter half of the 17th-century...

The Stocks at Woodstock

Woodstock (94 Pictures) a Historic Market Town in the county of Oxfordshire

(10.9 miles, 17.5 km, direction S of Aynho)

Woodstock will be forever inextricably linked with the great Palace of Blenheim and as birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, one of the greatest Englishmen ever...

Farnborough Hall 15 June 2011

Farnborough (4 Pictures) in the county of Warwickshire

(11.5 miles, 18.6 km, direction NW of Aynho)

Traditionally known as the last outpost of the Cotswolds...

Chipping Norton Church

Chipping Norton (31 Pictures) a Historic Market Town in the county of Oxfordshire

(12.6 miles, 20.2 km, direction W of Aynho)

Chipping Norton lies in the midst of beautiful cotswold countryside and is surrounded by other villages that radiate the glory of traditional honey-coloured cotswold stone Manor Houses and magnificent Churches...

All towns & villages in Northamptonshire
Complete A to Z of towns & villages in England

Nearby attractions..

Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire. Ancestral home of George Washington's family

Sulgrave Manor (1 Pictures)

(8.6 miles, 13.8 km, direction NE)

This delightful Tudor house is the very epitome of the comfortable English country home, and yet it embodies all that is best of.....

A picture of Brook Cottage Gardens, Alkerton

Brook Cottage Gardens, Alkerton (16 Pictures)

(10.7 miles, 17.2 km, direction NW)

..

View inside the inner courtyard at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock

Blenheim Palace (258 Pictures)

(11.4 miles, 18.4 km, direction S)

Home of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace has been awarded Historic Attraction of the Year 2002 and is birthplace of.....

The Old Gaol Museum, Buckingham

The Old Gaol Museum (8 Pictures)

(11.6 miles, 18.6 km, direction E)

..

Old Austin

Upton House & Gardens (55 Pictures)

(11.6 miles, 18.7 km, direction NW)

The impressive mansion, built in the 17th century on an earlier site, was remodelled in the 1920s by the 2nd Viscount Bearsted,.....

Canons Ashby House, Northamptonshire

Canons Ashby House (44 Pictures)

(11.9 miles, 19.2 km, direction N)

This house was originally part of an Augustinian Priory, it was only converted into a charming Elizabethan manor house during the.....

The King's Men, part of the megalithic Rollright Stones

Rollright Stones (12 Pictures)

(13.1 miles, 21.1 km, direction W)

These Bronze-Age monolithic circles are third in importance only to Stone-Henge and Avebury. They are one of the most historic.....


All attractions in Aynho
All attractions in Northamptonshire
Complete A to Z of attractions in England