Burford is a small medieval town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hillsides, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is commonly described as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford lies 18 miles (29 kilometres) west of Oxford and also 22 miles (35 kilometres) southeast of Cheltenham, regarding 2 miles (3 kilometres) from the Gloucestershire limit. The toponym originates from the Old English words burh suggesting fortified community or hilltown and also 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 significant building is the Church of St John the Baptist, a Church of England parish church, which is a Quality I noted structure. Defined by David Verey as "a challenging structure which has developed in an interested way from the Norman", it is recognized for its vendors' guild church, memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, featuring South American Indians and also Kempe discolored glass. In 1649 the church was made use of as a prison throughout 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 make it through in the church. The town centre additionally has some 15th-century homes as well as the baroque design townhouse that is currently Burford Methodist Church. In between the 14th and also 17th centuries Burford was very important for its wool trade. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, which was as soon as the focal point for trade, is now a museum.