Thame is managing to retain some of its historic character whilst  steadily expanding. It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1087. In the  13th Century the Parish Church was rebuilt and the boat-shaped market area made,  with a main road that was diverted to run into it. During the Civil War the town  was occupied by Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. Oliver Cromwell's cousin,  John Hampden died in what was then the Greyhound Inn in 1643 after the battle of  Chalgrove. The wide main street includes houses and inns dating from the 15th  century and a grammar school, Lord Williams's from the 16th century. The picture on the right shows the prominent Victorian Town Hall. The parish  church includes memorials to Lord Williams and his wife and Geoffrey Dormer who,  with two wives, had no less than 25 children.