About
Daventry Museum explores the history of this Northamptonshire market town from its prehistoric and Roman origins to the twentieth century — a history distinguished by two of the most remarkable claims in English local heritage: the decisive Civil War battlefield of Naseby lies ten kilometres to the north-west, and the BBC's Empire Service — the forerunner of the BBC World Service — broadcast to the British Empire from a transmitter station on Borough Hill just outside the town from 1932 onwards.
Daventry's site on Borough Hill was occupied in the Iron Age as a major hillfort of the Cornovii or a related tribe, commanding the limestone plateau of central Northamptonshire with views extending to the Welsh Marches on a clear day. The Roman settlement of Bannaventa lay nearby, on Watling Street (the modern A5), and the museum holds finds from the Roman period alongside prehistoric material from the Borough Hill earthworks and the surrounding countryside.
The medieval and early modern town that grew up at the foot of Borough Hill was a market and coaching centre of some importance, positioned on the ancient road between London and the Midlands. Daventry prospered in the coaching era as a stopping point for mail coaches and travellers on the south-west Midland routes, and the town's wide main street, with its handsome Georgian and earlier buildings, reflects this prosperity. John Wesley preached in Daventry on several occasions, noting the religious vigour of its Nonconformist community.
The Battle of Naseby on 14 June 1645 was the decisive engagement of the First English Civil War, at which the New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell destroyed the main Royalist field army under Prince Rupert and King Charles I. The King's correspondence, captured with his baggage train, revealed the extent of his negotiations with foreign powers and effectively destroyed any remaining popular support for the Royalist cause. The battlefield and its remarkable visitor centre lie ten kilometres north-west of Daventry, and the museum provides important context for visitors to the Naseby area.
BorBorough Hill's most recent chapter began on 19 November 1932, when the BBC opened its Empire Service long-wave transmitter station at the hilltop — the transmitter designated 5XX — and began regular shortwave broadcasts to the British Empire, reaching listeners across India, Africa, Australasia, and the Americas. The Daventry transmitters continued operating through the Second World War (when they played a vital role in BBC wartime broadcasting to occupied Europe) and until the masts were finally dismantled in 1992. The BBC World Service, which grew from this 1932 beginning, continues to broadcast globally today.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Combine with a visit to the Battle of Naseby visitor centre and battlefield (10km north-west) for a comprehensive Civil War heritage day.
- Borough Hill Country Park (1 mile north of the town centre) preserves the Iron Age hillfort and the site of the BBC transmitter masts — a rewarding short walk with panoramic views.
- Daventry is best reached by car from the M1 (J18) or M45 — public transport links are limited, though buses connect with Northampton and Rugby.
- The Georgian main street is worth exploring in its own right: the town preserves a good collection of eighteenth-century buildings reflecting its coaching heyday.
- The town's cafes and pubs on the main street provide good lunch options before or after the museum.
- Check the museum website for any special events relating to the BBC World Service anniversary or Civil War commemorations.
- The Daventry Reservoir Country Park (1 mile east) offers walking and birdwatching if you want to extend your visit.
Highlights
The BBC Empire Service at Borough Hill
On 19 November 1932 the BBC opened its Empire Service at a transmitter station on Borough Hill just outside Daventry, broadcasting to the British Empire using the call sign 5XX. The station's short-wave transmitters reached listeners across India, Africa, Australasia, and the Americas, making Borough Hill a centre of global communication at a time when shortwave radio was the only means of broadcasting across continental distances.
Through two world wars the Daventry transmitters played a vital role — including the critical broadcasts to occupied Europe during the Second World War.
The masts on Borough Hill continued operating until 1992; the BBC World Service is their direct descendant.
The Battle of Naseby, 1645
The museum provides essential context for the Battle of Naseby, fought ten kilometres north-west of Daventry on 14 June 1645 — the decisive engagement of the First English Civil War.
The New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell annihilated the Royalist army under Prince Rupert, killing or capturing four thousand Royalist soldiers and seizing the King's baggage train, which included Charles I's private correspondence. The captured letters, revealing his negotiations with foreign Catholic powers, destroyed whatever popular sympathy remained for his cause.
Naseby effectively ended the First Civil War, and the museum explores both the battle and its momentous consequences.
Borough Hill Iron Age Hillfort
Borough Hill, rising above Daventry to the north, was occupied as an Iron Age hillfort — one of the major defended settlements of the Northamptonshire limestone plateau. The hillfort's banks and ditches are still visible across the hilltop, which commands wide views across central England. The museum holds finds from archaeological investigations of the hill and the surrounding area, placing the Iron Age occupation in the context of the broader settlement pattern of pre-Roman Northamptonshire.
The hill's subsequent history — Roman road, medieval rabbit warren, coaching viewpoint, and finally BBC transmitter site — illustrates its continuing strategic importance across millennia.
The Coaching Town of Daventry
Daventry's wide main street and handsome Georgian buildings reflect its eighteenth-century prosperity as a coaching town on the London-Midlands road. The museum documents this prosperous era when Daventry's inns and horse-change stations served travellers on the mail and stage coach routes linking London with Birmingham, Coventry, and the Midland industrial towns.
The coming of the railway in the 1880s bypassed Daventry, temporarily halting its growth but preserving much of its Georgian character.
The coaching era's material culture — carriages, harness, tokens, and innkeeper's trade cards — is represented in the collection.
Collections
Daventry Museum's collections cover the history of Daventry town and its surrounding countryside from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. Core collecting areas include prehistoric and Roman archaeology from the Borough Hill area and surrounding landscape, material relating to the coaching era and Georgian town, social history objects from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and documentary collections (maps, photographs, records) relating to the town's development.
A significant strand of the collection addresses the BBC Empire Service and its Daventry transmitter station, including broadcasting equipment, documentation, and photographs from the Borough Hill site.
Daventry: The Story of a Market Town
Permanent displays covering prehistory, Roman and medieval Daventry, the coaching era, and the twentieth century including the BBC's Empire Service
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.