Burford
Burford is a little medieval town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire area of Oxfordshire, England. It is typically described as the 'portal' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located 18 miles (29 km) west of Oxford and 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Cheltenham, regarding 2 miles (3 kilometres) from the Gloucestershire border. The toponym originates from the Old English words burh implying prepared community or hilltown and also ford, the going across of a river. The 2011 Census recorded the population of Burford parish as 1,410 as well as Burford Ward as 1,847. The town centre's most notable structure is the Church of St John the Baptist, a Church of England parish church, which is a Quality I noted building. Explained by David Verey as "a complicated structure which has actually developed in a curious means from the Norman", it is known for its merchants' guild chapel, memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, including South American Indians as well as Kempe stained glass. In 1649 the church was made use of as a jail during the Civil War, when the New Model Army Banbury mutineers were held there. A few of the 340 prisoners left carvings and also graffiti, which still survive in the church. The town centre additionally has some 15th-century residences as well as the baroque design condominium that is now Burford Methodist Church. In between the 14th and also 17th centuries Burford was important for its woollen trade. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, which was when the centerpiece for profession, is currently a museum.
