| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 43 | Roman Settlement at Alchester founded |
| 634 | Settlement of Burncester founded |
| 873 | Battle fought with the Danes at Graven Hill |
| 912 | Old town of Burncester destroyed by the Danes |
| 1132 | Bicester Priory founded by Gilbert Bassett and dedicated to St Edburg |
| 1239 | Permission to hold a weekly market in Market Square granted to William de Longspree |
| 1441 | Permission to hold a regular Friday market granted to Robert Brooke |
| 1536 | Bicester Priory closed as part of the Dissolution. Priory Church destroyed and St Edburg’s shrine moved to Stanton Harcourt. |
| 1642-1651 | English Civil War. Royalist troops stationed in Bicester for a number of years with the King being in Oxford. |
| 1793 | First Public Coach between Bicester and London |
| 1831 | Population 3022 |
| 1845 | Gas introduced to the town |
| 1850 | Railway from Bletchley, Winslow and Bicester to Oxford opened by the Buckinghamshire Railway company – later London North Western Railway (LNWR) – with a station at Bicester |
| 1894 | Bicester Urban District Council constituted |
| 1901 | Population 3032 |
| 1905 | Mains water piped throughout the town |
| 1910 | Bicester North station and the new railway between Aynho Junction and Ashendon Junction are opened by the Great Western Railway. The existing LNWR Bicester station becomes Bicester London Road. Fastest trains on the new shorter route between Birmingham Snow Hill and London Paddington take 2 hours. |
| 1917 | RAF Bicester opened |
| 1929 | Electric Street lighting switched on |
| 1941 | Graven Hill Depot Opens. Site chosen due to central location and rail link. |
| 1951 | Population 4151 |
| 1961 | Population 5513 |
| 1967 | Bicester London Road station closes. Train service on the Varsity line between Oxford, Bicester, Bletchley, Bedford and Cambridge withdrawn (except for Bletchley-Bedford section). |
| 1968 | Bicester North station becomes simply “Bicester”. To save costs, the double track between Aynho Junction and Princes Risborough is reduced to single with a passing loop at Bicester. |
| 1971 | Population 12355 |
| 1981 | Bicester twinned with Neunkirchen Seelscheid. Population 20241 |
| 1986 | Chris Green assumes responsibility for the London and South East area rail network at British Rail establishing Network South East. Total Route Modernisation of Chiltern line is authorised with plans to close Marylebone station reversed! |
| 1987 | Bicester London Road station reopens as Bicester Town. Train service to Oxford resumes, initially on an experimental basis. |
| 1991 | M40 motorway opens. New Turbo Trains arrive on the line through Bicester |
| 1994 | Sheep Street pedestrianised |
| 1995 | Bicester Village designer shopping outlet opens |
| 1996 | Following privatisation of British Rail, Chiltern Railways wins its first franchise and takes over the routes from London Marylebone to Birmingham and Aylesbury |
| 2001 | Population 28672 |
| 2011 | Population 32642 |
| 2012 | Chiltern Railways receives permission under the Transport and Works Act for Evergreen 3 project, including construction of a section of new track linking the Oxford to Bletchley and Birmingham to London lines. |
| 2013 | New Pioneer Square development with Sainsbury’s store and Vue cinema opens |
| 2014 | Bicester Town station closes for rebuilding |
| 2015 | Chiltern Railways’ train service between Oxford Parkway, Bicester and London Marylebone begins. Bicester Town Station reopens as Bicester Village. |
| 2016 | Oxford to London Marylebone service introduced completing Chiltern Railways’ Evergreen 3 Project and Phase 1 of East West Rail, Western Section |
| 2018 | Preferred Corridor announced for Oxford to Cambridge Expressway. The road is likely to pass close to Bicester and would cost £3.5 bn |
The Cherwell Life 