Banbury

Banbury , town (1991 pop. 37,463), Oxfordshire, central England, on the Cherwell River. Light industry and tourism are important to the local economy. Banbury's population has increased in recent years as a result of overspill from Greater London. The town still produces the spiced currant cakes and ale for which it has been famous since the 17th cent. The Banbury Cross of the nursery rhyme was destroyed by the Puritans in 1602; a new one was installed in 1859.

Banbury an Oxfordshire town formerly noted for the number and fervour of its Puritan inhabitants, as for its cakes and cheese.
Banbury cake a flat pastry with a spicy currant filling, originally made in Banbury.
Banbury Cross a market cross in Banbury, referred to in the nursery rhyme, ‘Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, To see a fine lady upon a white horse.’ The original Cross was in fact destroyed at the end of the 16th century.
thin as Banbury cheese very thin; in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597), Slender is addressed as ‘You Banbury cheese’.

Banbury, England/UK Banesberie ‘Banna's Stronghold’ from an Old English personal name and burh. It is known for its cross which is mentioned in a children's nursery rhyme and gives its name to a special spiced cake.