Burford parish church (St John the Baptist)

Burford parish church, its elegant 15th-century spire visible for miles around, is the town’s earliest and largest communal building. In both size and complexity it is clearly an urban church, reflecting the wealth and civic pride of Burford’s medieval wool merchants.

The church has a complex history, and its predominantly 15th-century appearance masks work of many periods.  The main building phases are:

• 11th/12th century - base of stair turret
• 12th-century - tower, chancel, nave, font
• 13th-century (1) - chancel extended; addition of transepts, south nave aisle, north chancel aisle
• 13th-century (2) - freestanding guild chapel
• 14th-century - St Thomas’s chapel; south transept chapel; font recut
• 15th-century (1) - tower heightened, spire; new windows; arcades and clerestory; porch; north and south chancel aisles
• 15th-century (2) - guild chapel extended into the nave
• Reformation and later (16th to 18th centuries): destruction of medieval fittings; basic upkeep
• 19th century - internal reorganization 1827; Victorian restoration (1870-87); later work

For photographs and fuller accounts of the church's development, see the list on the right

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