Burford is a little middle ages town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire area of Oxfordshire, England. It is usually referred to as the 'portal' to the Cotswolds. Burford lies 18 miles (29 km) west of Oxford and also 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Cheltenham, about 2 miles (3 km) from the Gloucestershire border. The toponym derives from the Old English words burh implying fortified community or hilltown as well as ford, the going across of a river. The 2011 Census recorded the population of Burford parish as 1,410 and also Burford Ward as 1,847. The town centre's most notable building is the Church of St John the Baptist, a Church of England parish church, which is a Quality I provided structure. Defined by David Verey as "a complicated structure which has actually created in an interested way from the Norman", it is known for its vendors' guild chapel, memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, featuring South American Indians as well as Kempe stained glass. In 1649 the church was used as a prison during the Civil War, when the New Model Army Banbury mutineers were held there. Some of the 340 prisoners left makings and also graffiti, which still survive in the church. The town centre additionally has some 15th-century houses as well as the baroque design condominium that is currently Burford Methodist Church. Between the 14th as well as 17th centuries Burford was necessary for its wool profession. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, which was when the centerpiece for profession, is now a gallery.