Wood Burner in Burford

Burford

Burford is a small medieval community on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is frequently described as the 'entrance' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located 18 miles (29 km) west of Oxford as well as 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Cheltenham, about 2 miles (3 kilometres) from the Gloucestershire border. The toponym stems from the Old English words burh implying prepared town or hilltown as well as ford, the crossing 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 noteworthy structure is the Church of St John the Baptist, a Church of England parish church, which is a Quality I listed building. Described by David Verey as "a complicated building which has actually developed in a curious way from the Norman", it is understood for its vendors' guild chapel, memorial to Henry VIII's barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, featuring South American Indians as well as Kempe discolored glass. In 1649 the church was made use of as a prison during the Civil War, when the New Model Army Banbury mutineers were held there. Several of the 340 prisoners left carvings as well as graffiti, which still make it through in the church. The community centre likewise has some 15th-century homes and the baroque style condominium that is now Burford Methodist Church. Between the 14th as well as 17th centuries Burford was important for its woollen profession. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, which was once the centerpiece for trade, is now a museum.