Open Historical Evening at Burford Church

Levellers, Lords, and Eight Centuries of Burford

St John the Baptist is one of the Cotswolds' great wool churches — Grade I listed, dating from 1175, and hiding more history per square foot than most buildings you'll walk into. This evening opens it up properly, with volunteer guides who know the stories behind the stones.

On the itinerary: a monument erected to the memory of Henry VIII by his own Barber Surgeon, the Tanfield Chapel and the reasons Sir Lawrence and Lady Tanfield were so comprehensively disliked in the town, and the chapter that Burford keeps returning to — the Levellers, imprisoned here in 1649 following the mutiny, some of whom came to an unfortunate end within these walls. Two and a half hours is about the right amount of time for all of it.

Free to attend. If you've walked past this church a hundred times and always meant to go in properly, this is the excuse.

Friday 12 June 2026 · St John the Baptist Church, Burford OX18 4RY · 6:30pm