Burford
Burford is a tiny middle ages town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is frequently referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford lies 18 miles (29 km) west of Oxford as well as 22 miles (35 kilometres) southeast of Cheltenham, about 2 miles (3 km) from the Gloucestershire limit. The toponym originates from the Old English words burh meaning fortified town or hilltown and ford, the going across of a river. The 2011 Census recorded the population of Burford parish as 1,410 and Burford Ward as 1,847. The community centre's most notable building is the Church of St John the Baptist, a Church of England parish church, which is a Grade I detailed structure. Described by David Verey as "a complicated structure which has developed in a curious method from the Norman", it is understood for its vendors' guild chapel, memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, featuring South American Indians and Kempe tarnished glass. In 1649 the church was used as a prison throughout the Civil War, when the New Model Army Banbury mutineers were held there. A few of the 340 prisoners left carvings and graffiti, which still endure in the church. The town centre likewise has some 15th-century residences and also the baroque design townhouse that is currently Burford Methodist Church. In between the 14th and 17th centuries Burford was essential for its woollen profession. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, which was as soon as the centerpiece for trade, is now a gallery.