Fairford

Fairford is a small market town on the River Coln in south-east Gloucestershire, best known for possessing the only complete set of medieval stained glass in any English parish church. The Church of St Mary the Virgin contains twenty-eight windows of extraordinary glass dating from around 1500, depicting scenes from the life of Christ and the Old Testament in vivid detail. The glass survived the Civil War and five centuries of English weather largely intact, and represents one of the most important works of medieval art in England.

The town itself is handsome and unhurried, with a market place flanked by Georgian and Regency buildings and a good selection of independent shops along London Street. The Mill Lane area running alongside the Coln is particularly attractive, with the town mill and its surroundings forming a classic small Cotswold townscape. Several good pubs serve the town and the surrounding agricultural community.

Fairford is also known internationally as the home of RAF Fairford, which hosts the Royal International Air Tattoo each July — one of the largest military airshows in the world. The Cotswold Water Park lies immediately to the north, and Cirencester and Lechlade are both within easy reach. The town makes an excellent and relatively uncrowded base for exploring the south-east corner of the Cotswolds.