Built in the 16th Century, the Crown Inn (as it was then), has played a pivotal role in the town’s evolution. Although the front of the hotel was modernized in the 18th Century, visitors and guests can still find its historic heart alive and well inside.

The discreet balcony at the front of the hotel has housed many people from local celebrities, Father Christmas for the Christmas Lights Switch On ceremony through to Napoleonic war hero General Field Marshall Blucher.

The hotel cemented its place in Brackley history when it started the Great Fire of Brackley! A fire starting at the rear of the property destroyed 14 apartments at the back of the building. It spread through the High Street destroying many buildings as it went. When it reached the chandler’s shop on Halls Lane, it ignited a fair amount of tallow, which exploded. There was a resulting fireball, which injured many people.

The hotel was subsequently rebuilt in 1680. The Crown Hotel bar boasts some of the original Crown Glass style in its windows and, although modernized over the years, offers a great sense of its history.

Although it has a prominent position within the town, it once lost ground to its rival hotel The Reindeer Inn, until recently a branch of Barclays Bank. Whilst the Crown offered three weekly coaches into Northampton, it was The Reindeer Inn that offered guests the town’s first direct coach to London. Despite this, The Crown continued to cement its importance at the heart of the town, whereas The Reindeer Inn is now just a distant memory.