Burford's Buildings, Witney Street
South Side
This small early 14th-century house, though heavily remodelled, may be Burford's earliest surviving domestic building, and is documented from the 1390s. A watercolour of 1840 shows that it had a two-centred arched doorway to the street and an adjacent window with ballflower decoration, whose top half was cut off in the 16th or 17th century when a floor was inserted. Part of a medieval column and capital survives just below the eastern (left-hand) apex of the roof, perhaps relating to an earlier roof structure. Fourteenth-century features inside include archways, a chimneypiece, and more ballflower decoration, while the rear wing has a raised cruck truss with arched braces to a collar. A Decorated (14th-century) chimneystack shown on the eastern gable in 1840 belonged to the neighbouring house (No. 14), which has been largely rebuilt. Presumably the stack escaped demolition because the gable was shared with No. 12.
Collection Items
Dominating what is now a narrow side street of small cottages, The Great House is one of three large gentry houses in Burford, and one of the few B
No. 16 Witney Street is modern, built c.1990 on the site of the former Agg's builders' yard.
The blocked doorway left of centre shows that No. 18 was once a pair of cottages, erected probably in the mid 17th century.
Like No. 12 (Bull Cottage), No. 14 is documented from the 1390s.
This small early 14th-century house, though heavily remodelled, may be Burford's earliest surviving domestic building, and is documented from the 1