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Towcester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative centre of the South Northamptonshire district.
Towcester is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the country. It was the Roman Britain of Lactodurum, located on Watling Street, today's A5. In Saxon times, this was the frontier between the kingdom of Wessex and the Danelaw. Towcester features in Charles Dickens's novel The Pickwick Papers as one of Mr Pickwick's stopping places on his tour. The local racecourse has hosted many national horseracing events.
In Roman Britain, Watling Street, now the A5 road, was built through the area and a garrison town called Lactodurum established on the site of the present-day town. Two candidate sites for the Battle of Watling Street, fought in 61AD, are located close to the town, these are Church Stowe which is located to the north and Paulerspury which is to the south. A stone female head, that mixes Celtic art and Roman art styles, was found on Watling Street outside the town and was given to the British Museum in 1903.
The coaching trade came to an abrupt halt in September 1838 when the London and Birmingham Railway was opened, which bypassed Towcester and passed through Blisworth; four miles away but enough to result in Towcester quickly reverting to being a quiet market town. By 1866 however, Towcester was linked to the national rail network by the first of several routes which came together to form the Stratford and Midland Junction Railway. Eventually, from Towcester railway station it was possible to travel four different ways out of the town: to Blisworth (opened May 1866); to Banbury (opened June 1872); to Stratford-upon-Avon (opened July 1873); and finally Olney (for access to Bedford, opened December 1892). The latter line however was an early casualty, closing to passengers in March 1893 although it continued to be used by race specials up until the outbreak of the Second World War. The Banbury line closed to passengers in July 1951 and the rest in April 1952. Goods traffic lingered on until final axing in February 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts. The site of Towcester railway station is now a Tesco supermarket.
Towcester might have gained a second station on a branch line of the Great Central Railway from its main line at Brackley to Northampton, but this branch was never built.
The motor age brought new life to the town. Although now bypassed by the A43, the A5 trunk traffic still passes directly through the historic market town centre causing traffic jams at some times of the day. The resulting pollution has led to the town centre being designated an air quality management area. An A5 north-south bypass with plans for expansion of the town was being planned by the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation in 2007. A scheme to build a bypass for the A5 was submitted in 2020 and expected to cost up to £38 million. As of 2023 a relief road to the south linking the A5 to the A43 is under construction, and traffic calming measures will be implemented in the town centre while avoiding potential damage to the ancient Roman road.
The population was 2,743 at the time of the 1961 Census and this had grown to 9,252 by the 2011 census – a growth rate of about 3% per year. It has since rapidly expanded and there are plans to expand still further with another 3,300 houses equating to an appx 8,250 increase in population. Improvements to the links to the A43 and Watling Street roundabout took place in the first half of 2015, including traffic light controls.
Construction of the A43 bypass began on 8 September 1986, which cost £4.5m, built by May Gurney. Buckingham Advertiser Friday 21 August 1987, page 44 The 2.1-mile bypass opened on Tuesday 22 December 1987, five months early. Buckingham Advertiser Friday 11 December 1987, page 52
Northampton railway station is the nearest railway station, being away from the town. Buses to Northampton, Milton Keynes, Brackley, Potterspury, Deanshanger, Silverstone and Biddlesden operate, but these are infrequent.
Towcester was an ancient parish. When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894 it was given a parish council and included in the Towcester Rural district. Towcester Rural District Council initially met at the workhouse on Brackley Road, but bought the previously privately owned Town Hall in 1935 to serve as its headquarters.
The rural district council was abolished in 1974 and replaced with the larger South Northamptonshire District Council. The district council chose to base itself in Towcester, initially using the Town Hall as its headquarters. The district council moved to a new building at the junction of Springfields and Brackley Road in 1983, which in turn was replaced by another new building called The Forum on Moat Lane in 2015. South Northamptonshire District Council and Northamptonshire County Council were both abolished in 2021 and their functions passed to the new West Northamptonshire Council, which has its main offices in Northampton, but retains The Forum as an area office.
The parish council took over the Town Hall after the district council vacated it in 1983. In 1986 the parish council formally declared the parish to be a town, allowing the council to adopt the name Towcester Town Council.
Since the 2010 general election Towcester has been part of the South Northamptonshire constituency. Prior to that it was in the Daventry constituency.
Towcester Mill in Chantry Lane was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the oldest extant part of the building is just over two hundred years old. The mill's working gear was powered by water, and was used to grind corn into flour and to mix animal feed, and is believed to be the only water mill in Northamptonshire with a working turbine.
Just outside the town in Slapton are The Slapton Wall Paintings, a noted collection of 14th and 15th century wall paintings, in the Church of St Botolph.
The town has an Air Cadet squadron, 1875 (Towcester) Sqn ATC located near to Sponne School and the 1st Towcester scouts and guides group.
The Towcester Museum has exhibits tracing the community's prehistory and history. The town has a wetland park, two and a main park, The Recreation Ground, which is known locally as "The Rec".
In 2010 the World Hovercraft Championship was held on the racecourse. The town's rugby union club, Towcestrians R.F.C., play in the London & South East Premier League. Towcester's cycling club, the A5 Rangers, was founded in 1948.
Towcester is just 5 miles away from motor racing circuit Silverstone Circuit.
On 14 April 2025, during the Towcester Town Council meeting, the Towcester Town Mayor finalised the official town twinning with Zhydachiv, Ukraine
Briefly mentioned in the BBC television show Peaky Blinders. In the episode episode S02E03, the transcript reads: "Mr Sabini, if you think they're planning to fix Northern races, we'll take no more bets on anything north of Towcester."
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