Benson is one of several key South Oxfordshire sites of the English civil war, lying between the site of the Battle of Chalgrove Field (18 June 1643) and Wallingford Castle, reputedly the last Royalist stronghold to surrender, and close to the Royalist cities of Oxford and Newbury.
At Benson itself, a building is still known as the Court House from the time that King Charles I held court there on his way to Oxford.

A flash lock was installed on the Thames at Benson in 1746.
Benson weir collapsed in 1783, necessitating the construction of Benson pound lock in 1788.
The lock was rebuilt in 1870.

The road between Henley-on-Thames and Dorchester on Thames was made into a turnpike in 1736 and in the 18th and early 19th centuries Benson became an important staging post for coaches running between London and Oxford via Henley.
Its broad open square was surrounded by coaching inns.
At its peak the village had four large inns, ten smaller alehouses and a blacksmith.
The opening, in 1844, of the Oxford branch of the GWR resulted in a rapid decline in coach traffic, so that within ten years only three Oxford-London coaches per week were running through Benson.
The Henley – Dorchester road ceased to be a turnpike in 1873.

The decline in coaching, the enclosures, and the agricultural depression led to a fall in population from 1253 in 1841 to 1157 by 1861.

The failure to extend the Wallingford and Watlington Railway to Watlington, which would have included a station at Benson (on an embankment north of Littleworth Road and close to the junction with Oxford Road), left the village increasingly isolated, as passenger transport between London and Oxford largely followed a railway line that ran nowhere near the once-prominent coaching stop.

The village recovered as motor coaches and increasingly private cars became more important.
In response Benson gained a number of roadhouse-type cafes – the early 20th-century equivalents of coaching inns.
Benson is one of several key South Oxfordshire sites of the English civil war, lying between the site of the Battle of Chalgrove Field (18 June 1643) and Wallingford Castle, reputedly the last Royalist stronghold to surrender, and close to the Royalist cities of Oxford and Newbury. At Benson itself, a building is still known as the Court House from the time that King Charles I held court there on his way to Oxford.
A flash lock was installed on the Thames at Benson in 1746. Benson weir collapsed in 1783, necessitating the construction of Benson pound lock in 1788. The lock was rebuilt in 1870.
The road between Henley-on-Thames and Dorchester on Thames was made into a turnpike in 1736 and in the 18th and early 19th centuries Benson became an important staging post for coaches running between London and Oxford via Henley. Its broad open square was surrounded by coaching inns. At its peak the village had four large inns, ten smaller alehouses and a blacksmith. The opening, in 1844, of the Oxford branch of the GWR resulted in a rapid decline in coach traffic, so that within ten years only three Oxford-London coaches per week were running through Benson. The Henley – Dorchester road ceased to be a turnpike in 1873.
The decline in coaching, the enclosures, and the agricultural depression led to a fall in population from 1253 in 1841 to 1157 by 1861.
The failure to extend the Wallingford and Watlington Railway to Watlington, which would have included a station at Benson (on an embankment north of Littleworth Road and close to the junction with Oxford Road), left the village increasingly isolated, as passenger transport between London and Oxford largely followed a railway line that ran nowhere near the once-prominent coaching stop.
The village recovered as motor coaches and increasingly private cars became more important. In response Benson gained a number of roadhouse-type cafes – the early 20th-century equivalents of coaching inns.
Benson, Oxfordshire