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Burford is another of the picturesque wool towns of the Cotswolds, in Anglo-Saxon times it formed the site of a fortified ford and grew to be an important crossroads and very wealthy wool town and is today very popular with visitors.
It was the first Cotswold town to be granted a charter in 1087 and formed a merchant guild which gave it the right to hold a market and originally tolls were collected in what is now the town museum (the Tolsey). I think the town has a similarity with Broadway, but is perhaps more upmarket and less obviously 'touristy'.
The Town slopes up from the banks of the River Windrush situated at the North end of the town. The High Street is flanked by a variety of buildings of character most constructed of honey coloured Cotswold stone, many of the old coaching inns can still be seen. Other buildings in Burford were built by wealthy Elizabethans and are worthy of investigation.
The river Windrush with ducks and swans flows around the grand parish church of St. John the Baptist c.1175 which bears testament to the past wealth and importance of Burford.
The wealth of the Cotswolds was generated in the middle ages by the wool trade when wool from Cotswold sheep was regarded as the best in world. Today Burfords income is generated mainly from tourism and the many shops and galleries specialising in jewelry, wood, glass, needlecraft, clothes, art and antiques. Many of its award winning businesses are known worldwide, including the pharmacy which is the oldest in the country and famous for its handcream.
Burford is located at the juction of the A40 and A 361 between Oxford and Chelteham.
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