View source for Fairford

{{Short description|Market town in Gloucestershire, England}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{infobox UK place
|country       = England
|official_name = Fairford
|static_image_name=Fishing_River_Coln_Fairford.jpg
|static_image_caption=[[River Coln]], Fairford
|coordinates   = {{coord|51.708|-1.785|display=inline,title}}
|label_position = top
|population = 3,236
|population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123324&c=Fairford&d=16&e=62&g=6427023&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1427126087172&enc=1 |title=Parish population 2011|access-date= 23 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120706/https://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123324&c=Fairford&d=16&e=62&g=6427023&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1427126087172&enc=1 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref>
|civil_parish = Fairford
|shire_district = [[Cotswold (district)|Cotswold]]
|shire_county = [[Gloucestershire]]
|region = South West England
|constituency_westminster= [[South Cotswolds (UK Parliament constituency)|South Cotswolds]]
|post_town = Fairford
|postcode_district = GL7
|postcode_area = GL
|dial_code = 01285
|os_grid_reference = SP149010
|website = [http://www.fairfordtowncouncil.gov.uk/ Welcome to Fairford Town Council]
}}

'''Fairford''' is a [[market town]] in [[Gloucestershire]], England. The town lies in the [[Cotswolds|Cotswold]] hills on the [[River Coln]], {{convert|6|mi|km|0}} east of [[Cirencester]], {{convert|4|mi|km|0}} west of [[Lechlade]] and {{convert|9|mi|km}} north of [[Swindon]]. Nearby are [[RAF Fairford]] and the [[Cotswold Water Park]].

== Name ==
First attested as ''Fagrandforda'' in 872 CE and as ''Fareforde'' in the [[Domesday Book|Domesday book]]. The components come from Old English from ''[[wiktionary:fæger|fæger]]'' + ''[[wiktionary:ford#Old_English|ford]]'' meaning 'clear ford'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Domesday Book Online - Gloucestershire A-F |url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/gloucestershire1.html#fairford |website=www.domesdaybook.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ekwall |first=Eilert |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names |date=1991 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-869103-7 |edition=4. ed., repr |location=Oxford}}</ref>

==History==

=== Iron Age ===
There was a major roundhouse settlement in Horcott (on the south side of the town),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Biddulph |first=Edward |title=Oxford Archaeology - Latest news |url=https://oxfordarchaeology.com/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=oxfordarchaeology.com |language=en}}</ref> and the [[Welsh Way]], which passed through Fairford, was used during this period as a trade route.

=== Middle Ages ===
Evidence of settlement in Fairford dates back to the 9th century, and it received a royal market grant in the 12th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Herbet |first=N. M. |date=1981 |title='Fairford', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol7/pp69-86#h3-0002 |access-date=2021-07-22 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> An estate in Fairford, which seemingly belonged to [[Gloucester Cathedral|Gloucester Abbey]], was bequeathed to [[Burgred of Mercia]] in the mid 9th century.<ref name=":0" /> At the time of the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066, [[Brictric]], a large landowner in the [[West Country]], held a manor in Fairford.<ref name=":0" /> [[Matilda of Flanders]] came to own the land, which became the property of the Crown.<ref name=":0" /> In 1100, [[Robert Fitzhamon]], the first Norman [[Feudal barony of Gloucester|feudal baron of Gloucester]], is recorded as owning the land, which would be passed down to subsequent barons of Gloucester for the next 200 years,<ref name=":0" /> along with the [[Tewkesbury Abbey#History|manor of Tewkesbury]].

In 1066 there were three mills in the town, one of which was still used in the [[Cotswold sheep|wool trade]] in the 13th century. The mill that survives today was built in the 17th century.<ref name=":0" />

[[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and [[Henry VIII]] visited the town in 1276 and 1520 respectively.<ref name=":0" />

Fairford is recorded as having a prison in 1248. [[Hundred courts]] were held by the lord of the manor and borough.<ref name=":0" />

By the 15th century the land of Fairford was managed by wool merchants [[John Twynyho]] and [[John Tame]], after [[George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence]] was forced to give up his lands after being tried for treason.<ref name=":0" />

=== 17th and 18th centuries ===
In 1608, the inhabitants of Fairford were mostly agricultural labourers or artisans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warmington |first=Andrew |date=1989 |title=FROGS, TOADS AND THE RESTORATION IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE VILLAGE |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/mdh.1989.14.1.30 |journal=Midland History |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=30–42 |doi=10.1179/mdh.1989.14.1.30 |issn=0047-729X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Fairford Park]], to the north of the town, was built by Andrew Barker in the 1660s and became part of the manor house grounds.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Andrew Barker ca.1630-1700 - Book Owners Online |url=https://bookowners.online/Andrew_Barker_ca.1630-1700 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=bookowners.online}}</ref> It was later turned into a deer park by James Lambe, with an obelisk built to mark the edge of the grounds.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137378385 |title=The Gentleman's House in the British Atlantic World 1680-1780 |language=en |doi=10.1057/9781137378385}}</ref> The park remained in the Barker family until it was sold to [[Ernest Cook]] in 1945.

In 1755, seven innkeepers were licensed in Fairford. The first record of an inn had been in 1419, and more inns appeared over the centuries owing to Fairford's location on routes between larger towns. [[Stagecoach]]es often called at Fairford on their way to [[Gloucester]], Cirencester, [[Bristol]], [[Oxford]] or [[London]].<ref name=":0" />

=== 19th and 20th centuries ===
{{see also|Poles in the United Kingdom#Polish Resettlement Act 1947}}[[File:Fairford Polish Camp Memorial.jpg|alt=Black granite plaque with carved white upper-case lettering with a Polish Eagle Emblem at the top mounted within a Cotswold dry stone wall. It reads: The site of Fairford Polish Camp 1947-1959. Polish ex-servicemen, who contributed greatly to the allied victory in World War II, joined by their families, vacated by the 186th American Hospital. It provided a temporary home to almost 1500 Polish people. Most had previously been forcibly deported from Poland to Siberian or German labour camps. Fairford Camp became the largest Polish family hostel in Gloucestershire. The Polish ex-combatants Association in GB (SPK) Trust Fund 2015|thumb|Plaque commemorating the Polish camp on Leafield Road]]The first outbreak of the 1830–31 [[Swing Riots]] in Gloucestershire was in Fairford on 26 November 1830.<ref name="hobsbawmc10">{{Cite book |last=Hobsbawm |first=Eric J. |title=Captain Swing |last2=Rudé |first2=George |publisher=Lawrence and Wishart |year=1969}}</ref> Farming machinery which was being manufactured in the town was destroyed by protestors, who then joined forces with those from the surrounding villages of [[Quenington]], [[Hatherop]], [[Coln St. Aldwyns|Coln]] and [[Southrop]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="hobsbawmc10" /> 

By this time there were [[animal shelter|pounds]], in the town as well as a [[village lock-up]] that had been around since at least 1809.<ref name=":0" />

[[RAF Fairford]] was constructed in 1944 as a joint British and American base.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=William |date=2022-12-13 |title=US Air Force moving HQ to RAF Fairford |url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/usaf-moves-hq-raf-fairford-7925637 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=GloucestershireLive |language=en}}</ref> 

From 1947 to 1959, Fairford housed 1,200 [[Polish people|Poles]] in The Displaced Persons Camp who had been displaced due to the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Memorial marks 50th anniversary of Polish camp |url=https://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/4420885.memorial-marks-50th-anniversary-of-polish-camp-in-fairford/ |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard |language=en}}</ref> The site had originally been an American Air Force hospital that had been built during the war. The buildings were then repurposed for the camp, before being demolished in 1977.<ref name=":0" />

=== 21st century ===

==== Iraq War ====
{{see also|Fairford Five}}
In March 2003 'Flowers to Fairford' was held as a protest against the use of [[RAF Fairford]] as the base for the 14 [[B-52 bombers]] aircraft which were used to bomb [[Iraq]] as part of [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]]. Several thousand people attended and there was a large police presence, but the event passed off peacefully.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flowers to Fairford - 22 March 2003 |url=http://www.fairford.org/PeaceDemo/flowersfairford.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729135655/http://www.fairford.org/PeaceDemo/flowersfairford.html |archive-date=2012-07-29 |website=www.fairford.org}}</ref> A coach load of people intending to protest was stopped in Lechlade under Section 44 of the [[Terrorism Act 2000]] and searched by police and sent back to London.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-12-31 |title=Telegraph {{!}} Opinion {{!}} The police must end their abuse of anti-terror legislation |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/10/03/do0304.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231215407/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/10/03/do0304.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-12-31 |access-date=2023-04-20 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dent |first=Jackie |date=2004-10-14 |title='Coach-napped' activists protest outside court |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/oct/14/politics.antiwar |access-date=2023-04-16 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Ninety of the detained demonstrators formed Fairford Coach Action and sought legal recourse against [[Gloucestershire Constabulary|Gloucestershire constabulary]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Staff |date=2006-10-23 |title=Anti-war protesters' rights breached, court told |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/oct/23/politics.iraq |access-date=2023-04-16 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The group stated that:<blockquote>"On 22 March 2003, the police used surprisingly extreme tactics to prevent more than 120 activists from reaching [the] legally sanctioned anti-war demonstration in Fairford, (Gloucestershire, UK). The demonstration outside a US Airforce Base in Fairford was well attended with estimates of up to 5,000 activists attending. Among the scheduled speakers on the day were writer [[George Monbiot]] and [[Caroline Lucas]] (MEP). The people who police prevented from attending were a diverse group with a broad range of affiliations. The main thing that they had in common was the desire to travel from London by coach and the intention of joining the legal protest in Fairford. Two of the four main scheduled speakers for the Fairford demonstration were travelling on these coaches from London. After the coaches had travelled two and a half hours from London, the coaches were stopped by police just miles from the demonstration. Using section 60 powers (of the Public Order and Criminal Justice Act 1994) police searched the coaches for weapons for one and a half hours. The passengers cooperated with this search, and they were invited to reboard the coaches when the search concluded. No arrests were made and no items found. After all the passengers boarded, the coaches were escorted immediately back to London under a continuous 9–12 vehicle police escort."</blockquote>In 2013, after appeal, Gloucestershire police's actions were found to be unlawful, and included breaching "protesters' rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly."<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2013 |title=RAF Fairford protesters win legal battle against police |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-21382889}}</ref> Some of the demonstrators involved were awarded upwards of £4,000 in compensation by a judge after taking their claim to court.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |last2=correspondent |first2=legal affairs |date=2013-02-08 |title=Iraq war activists to get £4,000 compensation over 2003 protest |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/08/iraq-war-compensation-police-detention |access-date=2023-04-16 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==== Flooding ====
In July 2007 Fairford suffered [[2007 United Kingdom floods#Gloucestershire|unseasonably high rainfall]] which led to major flooding of 64 homes on Milton Street and London Street as well as in some other surrounding areas. This meant that many of the annual events had to be cancelled.{{CN|date=December 2022}}

==== Archaeological find ====
In 2013, a female skeleton was found in the River Coln and was later discovered to be of [[Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan]] origin. The remains were estimated to be around 1000 years old (between 896 and 1025 CE) and it is thought that the woman was around 18-24 when she died.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gover |first=Dominic |date=2013-09-18 |title=The First Black Briton? 1,000 Year Old Skeleton of African Woman Discovered by Schoolboys in Gloucestershire River |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/fairford-sub-sahara-africa-skeleton-gloucestershire-507102 |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=International Business Times UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Schoolboys amazed that skeleton is 1,000 year old African woman |url=https://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/10688142.fairford-schoolboys-who-found-skull-are-fascinated-to-hear-it-dates-back-1000-years/ |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard |language=en}}</ref> Until this discovery, the earliest known Africans in Britain were from the 12th century.<ref name=":1" />

==Churches==

===St Mary's Church===
{{main|St Mary's Church, Fairford}}

The [[Church of England parish church]] of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Saint Mary]] is renowned for its complete set of [[medieval]] [[stained glass]], stone carvings and [[misericord]]s. Rebuilt in the early 1490s by the wool merchant John Tame (d.1500), the church is an example of late [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular Gothic architecture]] that is characterised by slim stone window mullions and light but strong [[buttress]]es. The style enabled larger windows than previously, allowing much more light into the building. Grade 1 listed by English Heritage, its structure and details remains unaltered since built.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Mary, Fairford|num=1089998|access-date=12 July 2011}}</ref>

The churchyard includes a stone memorial to Tiddles, the church cat who fell off the church roof. There is also a stone grotesque to commemorate a young boy who climbed up the walls of the church and jumped, falling to his death. The churchyard contains eight [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|Commonwealth war graves]]; three British Army soldiers, a [[Royal Navy]] seaman and a [[Royal Air Force]] airman of [[World War I]] and two British soldiers and a [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guardsman]] of [[World War II]].<ref>http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/38552/FAIRFORD%20(ST.%20MARY)%20CHURCHYARD CWGC Cemetery Report, details from casualty record.</ref>

====Stained glass, St Mary's Church====
{{main|Fairford stained glass}}

St. Mary's is of national historical and architectural importance because it houses the most complete set of mediaeval [[stained glass]] windows in the country,<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Mary, Fairford |url=https://ghct.org.uk/church/st-mary-fairford |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust |language=en-GB}}</ref> attributed to [[Barnard Flower]]. The glass survived the [[Reformation]] when many images in English churches were destroyed. In 1642, during the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], they narrowly avoided destruction<ref>{{cite web |author=Don Cobbett |date=8 August 2011 |title=Fairford Town History |url=http://www.fairfordu3a.org.uk/History/fairford.html |access-date=6 December 2018 |publisher=Fairford & District U3A |archive-date=12 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912180609/http://fairfordu3a.org.uk/History/fairford.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> when the [[Roundhead]] army was marching on the nearby town of [[Cirencester]].

Some of the panes were damaged during a storm in November 1703 and those were repaired and modified or replaced. A conservation and restoration programme began in 1988 and finished in 2010. Clear glass now protects the old glass.<ref>{{cite web |author=Andrew Russel |date=8 June 2012 |title=The History of St Mary's Church |url=http://www.stmaryschurchfairford.org.uk/stmaryshistory.html |access-date=6 December 2018 |publisher=St. Mary's Church Fairford}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:October plenty.jpg|Parish church of St. Mary (consecrated 1497)
File:Founder'sTombFairford.jpg|alt=The tomb, in St. Mary's Church, of wool merchant John Tame (d.1500) who rebuilt the church and his wife Alice Twynyho (d. 1471)|The tomb, in St. Mary's Church, of John Tame and his wife Alice Twynyho.<ref>Keble, Rev. Edward, St. Mary's Church, Fairford. 6th. ed., Much Wenlock, 2010, p.27</ref>
File:EdmundOneTameBrassFairford.jpg|alt=Monumental brass for Edward I Tame (d. 1534), son and heir of John Tame, in the north wall of the Lady chapel. Kneeling opposite are his first wife Agnes Greville and second wife Elizabeth Tyringham, kneeling behind is his son Edmund II Tame|[[Monumental brass]] for Edward I Tame in the north wall of the [[Lady chapel]].
File:LygonDenysTombFairford.jpg|alt=Tomb with effigies of Katherine Denys (d. 1584) and her third husband Roger Lygon of Madresfield, Hereford. Katherine was daughter of Sir William Denys (d. 1535) of Dyrham, Gloucestershire and widow and heiress of Sir Edmund II Tame.|Tomb with effigies of [[Walter Buckler#Marriage|Katherine Denys]] and her third husband Roger Lygon of [[Madresfield]].<ref>MacLean, Sir John (ed.), Visitation of Gloucestershire 1623, London, 1885, p.260 Tame, p.51 Dennis</ref>
</gallery>

===St Thomas' of Canterbury===
Fairford has a 19th-century [[Roman Catholic church|Catholic]] church of [[St Thomas of Canterbury]]. Following the closure of the [[Recusancy|recusant]] chapel at [[Hatherop Castle School|Hatherop Castle]] in 1844, a church was built at Horcott the following year at a cost of £700. The first Mass was celebrated in 1845, five years before the Restoration of the Hierarchy in England and before the creation of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton]]. The stained glass window behind the altar depicts [[St. Thomas of Canterbury]] in the centre panel, showing the date 1845. The adjoining [[Rectory|Presbytery]] was built 20 years later to designs by [[Benjamin Bucknall]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Thomas Catholic Church Fairford |url=http://www.stthomasparish.plus.com/st-thomas/st-thomas-church.html |website=www.stthomasparish.plus.com |access-date=8 June 2012 |archive-date=9 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009055022/http://www.stthomasparish.plus.com/st-thomas/st-thomas-church.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> the architect of [[Woodchester Mansion]]. The church contains an organ by Hill and stained glass by [[William Wailes]], [[Hardman & Co.|Hardman]] and Geoffrey Robinson. The two windows in the porch were added to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first Mass. The left window depicts the crest of the [[Baron de Mauley|de Mauley]] family; that on the right depicts the [[Eucharist]].

===Fairford United Church===
In 1981 a group of local Methodists approached the local Congregational Church to use the chapel for their services as there was no Methodist Church in Fairford. They were officially united into one congregation in 1986 and the present church follows the traditions of both the Methodist Church and the Congregational Federation.

The churches in and around Fairford are represented by the organisation Churches Together Around Fairford (CTAF) which has meetings and organises services of unity.

== Governance ==
Fairford was part of the Cirencester Rural District until the [[Local Government Act 1972]], when it became part of the [[Cotswold District]].<ref name=":0" /> 

Fairford is in a [[civil parish]] and has a Town Council with 13 members. The mayor is James Nicholls.

After a boundary review implemented for the 2015 local elections, Fairford was split into two District Council [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral wards]] called Fairford North Ward (single member) and Lechlade, [[Kempsford]] and Fairford South Ward (two member). On Cotswold District Council Fairford North Ward is represented by Liberal Democrat Andrew Doherty and Lechlade, Kempsford and Fairford South Ward is as of May 2023 represented by Liberal Democrats Councillors Clare Muir and Helene Mansilla.

As of 2021, the town is represented on [[Gloucestershire County Council]] by Conservative Councillor Dom Morris who represents the Fairford and Lechlade on Thames Division.

The ward population at the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] was 4,031.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ward population 2011 |url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/fairford-e05004322#sthash.z8gfDF6t.dpbs |access-date=23 March 2015 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305163524/http://www.ukcensusdata.com/fairford-e05004322#sthash.z8gfDF6t.dpbs |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== 2023 Cotswold District Council election results ===
{{see also|Cotswold District Council elections#Council elections}}{{Election box begin|title=Fairford North Ward}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link||party=Liberal Democrats (UK)|candidate=Michael Vann|votes=406|percentage=51.5|change=-17.7}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Conservative Party (UK)|candidate=Tom Dutton|votes=316|percentage=40.1|change=+9.8|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Heritage Party (UK)|candidate=James Nicholls|votes=67|percentage=8.5|change=N/A|}}
{{Election box majority|votes=90|percentage=11.4|change=|}}
{{Election box turnout|votes=789|percentage=|change=|}}
{{Election box hold with party link||winner=Liberal Democrats (UK)|loser=|swing=}}
{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin|title=Lechlade, Kempsford and Fairford South Ward (2 seats)}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link||party=Liberal Democrats (UK)|candidate=Clare Muir|votes=1,150|percentage=56.5|change=+26.2}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link||party=Liberal Democrats (UK)|candidate=Helene Mansilla|votes=976|percentage=48.0|change=N/A}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Conservative Party (UK)|candidate=Stephen Andrews*|votes=785|percentage=38.6|change=-13.4|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Conservative Party (UK)|candidate=Steve Trotter*|votes=776|percentage=38.2|change=-13.6|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Labour Party (UK)|candidate=Esme Barlow Hall|votes=131|percentage=6.4|change=N/A|}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Labour Party (UK)|candidate=Trevor Smith|votes=114|percentage=5.6|change=-9.1|}}
{{Election box majority|votes=191|percentage=|change=|}}
{{Election box turnout|votes=2034|percentage=9.4|change=|}}
{{Election box gain with party link no swing||winner=Liberal Democrats (UK)|loser=Conservative Party (UK)}}
{{Election box gain with party link no swing||winner=Liberal Democrats (UK)|loser=Conservative Party (UK)}}
{{Election box end}}

=== 2017 Cotswold District Council by-election result ===
<big>'''Fairford North Ward'''</big>{{Election box begin | title=Fairford North Ward by-election }}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
 |party      = Liberal Democrats (UK)
 |candidate  = Andrew Doherty
 |votes      = 610
 |percentage = 68.1
 |change     = +40.2
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
 |party      = Conservative Party (UK)
 |candidate  = Dominic Morris
 |votes      = 270
 |percentage = 30.1
 |change     = -20.9
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
 |party      = Green Party of England and Wales
 |candidate  = Xanthe Messenger
 |votes      = 15
 |percentage = 1.8
 |change     = +1.8
}}
{{Election box majority|
 |votes      = 270
 |percentage = 38.0
 |change     =
}}
{{Election box turnout|
 |votes      = 897
 |percentage = 46.57
 |change     = 
}}
{{Election box gain with party link|
  |winner     = Liberal Democrats (UK)
  |loser      = Conservative Party (UK)
  |swing      = 30.6%
}}
{{Election box end}}

=== 2021 Gloucestershire County Council election results ===
{{see also|Gloucestershire County Council elections#Council elections}}

{{Election box begin|title=Fairford and Lechlade on Thames}}</noinclude>
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|party=Conservative Party (UK)|candidate=Dom Morris|votes=2,326|percentage=59|change=+4}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Liberal Democrats (UK)|candidate=Tony Dale|votes=1,344|percentage=34|change=+2}}{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Labour Party (UK)|candidate=Sharon Aldrick|votes=261|percentage=7|change=+1}}{{Election box majority|votes=982|percentage=25|change=+2|}}
{{Election box turnout|votes=3,931|percentage=45.20|change=+5.40|}}
{{Election box hold with party link||winner=Conservative Party (UK)|swing=}}
{{Election box end}}

==Culture==

=== Air Tattoo ===
For three days every year [[RAF Fairford]] hosts one of the world's largest military air shows – the [[Royal International Air Tattoo]]. The event usually takes place in July and brings a boost to the economy of the town and surrounding areas.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

=== Ploughing Championship ===
The Fairford, Faringdon, Filkins and Burford Championship and Country Show held every year since 1948.<ref>{{Cite web |last=FFF&B |title=F.F.F.& B Ploughing Match |url=http://www.ploughingmatch.co.uk/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=F.F.F.& B Ploughing Match |language=en}}</ref>

=== Steam Rally ===
The [[Ernest Cook Trust]] used to host the annual Fairford Steam Rally and Show. The Show closed in 2015 after running for 46 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breaking: Fairford Steam Show closed after running for 46 years, but restarted again in 2023. It's free to attend and is taking place on the 17th and 18th August 2024. |url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/13890018.Breaking__Fairford_Steam_Show_to_close_after_running_for_46_years/}}</ref>

==Education==
The town's secondary school is [[Farmor's School]], an 11-18 co-educational academy. The school was judged to be of outstanding standard, having achieved Grade 1 in its [[Ofsted]] inspection in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.farmors.gloucs.sch.uk/pdfs/reports/Ofsted_Report_2010.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714034406/http://www.farmors.gloucs.sch.uk/pdfs/reports/Ofsted_Report_2010.pdf|title=OFSTED report|archive-date=14 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> After becoming an academy it achieved lower grades from the board over the years: "Good", "Requires Improvement" and "Good" again in 2013, 2017 and 2021 respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ofsted Communications Team |date=2021-09-25 |title=Find an inspection report and registered childcare |url=http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report |access-date=2022-12-16 |website=reports.ofsted.gov.uk}}</ref>

There is also a primary school (Fairford Primary),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fairford.gloucs.sch.uk/ |title = Fairford C of E Primary School}}</ref> and a playgroup. Coln House School was a 9-16, residential/day, state special school. After being put into special measures following a 2016 Ofsted report, the school closed in March 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Establishment Coln House School|website=Gov.uk|access-date=29 June 2021|url=https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/115812#school-dashboard}}</ref> The building was originally built in 1822 by Alexander Iles as a private asylum called 'The Retreat', which closed in 1944 before becoming a school in 1949.<ref>{{cite web|title=Coln House School|website=Historic England|access-date=29 June 2021|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1172655#contributions-banner}}</ref>

==Local media==
Local news and television programmes is provided by [[BBC South]] and [[ITV Meridian]]. Television signals are received from the [[Oxford transmitting station|Oxford]] TV transmitter. <ref>{{cite web |date=1 May 2004 |title=Full Freeview on the Oxford (Oxfordshire, England) transmitter |url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Oxford |accessdate=25 September 2023 |website=UK Free TV}}</ref>

The town is served by both [[BBC Radio Wiltshire]] and [[BBC Radio Gloucestershire]]. Other radio stations including [[Heart West]], [[Greatest Hits Radio South West]], Cotswolds Radio, community based radio station <ref>{{Cite web |title=Cotswolds Radio |url=https://www.cotswoldsradio.com/ |access-date=26 September 2023}}</ref> and Air Tattoo Live, a [[Restricted Service Licence|RSL]] station which broadcast coverage during the Royal International Air Tattoo. 

Fairford is served by the weekly local newspaper, Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. <ref>{{cite web |date=25 October 2013 |title=Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard |url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-sw/wilts-glos-standard/ |accessdate=26 September 2023 |website=British Papers}}</ref>

==Sport and leisure==

Fairford has a [[non-league football]] team [[Fairford Town F.C.]] who play and train at Cinder Lane. Fairford have their own rugby team FRFC, playing in green and black strip. Fairford also has a women's netball team, competing in the nearby Swindon league. The town also has the Walnut Tree Field: a large playing field and park, a cricket club (dating back to the early 1900s),<ref name=":0" /> a bowling, sailing and water skiing club.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fairfordtowncouncil.gov.uk/amenities/walnet-tree-playing-field-and-park/|title = Walnut Tree Field - playing field & park|date = 18 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://fairford.play-cricket.com/ |title = Fairford CC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fairfordtowncouncil.gov.uk/amenities/facilities/leisure-centre/|title = Leisure Centre|date = 16 December 2000}}</ref> Fairford had a leisure centre until 2019 which had been managed by Farmor's School since 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Row over report looking into closure of Tetbury and Fairford leisure centres |url=https://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/19362862.row-closure-tetbury-fairford-leisure-centres/ |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard |language=en}}</ref>

Fairford also has a youth football club, based at Horcott Road which caters for children between the ages of 5 and 15 years old. The club, established in 1976, is a FA Chartered Club, run by volunteers for the benefit of local children from Fairford and surrounding villages. Teams from U8 and above play in the North Wiltshire Youth Football Leagues.

==Transport==
Fairford was formerly linked to Oxford by the [[Witney Railway]] and its extension the [[East Gloucestershire Railway]]. The route was active between 1873 and 1962.<ref name=":0" /> There have been reports that part of the old track could be cleared of accumulated mountains of detritus and overgrown trees to be re-opened as a cycle path.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} 

There is a bus service to Cirencester and Lechlade, from where travellers can transfer to another bus and travel onwards to Swindon.

==In popular culture==
''The Secret Diary of Sarah Thomas, 1860 – 1865'', is a published journal by [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[diarist]], Sarah Thomas who lived in Fairford. It features local landmarks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The secret diary of Sarah Thomas : 1860-1865 &#124; WorldCat.org |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/59817837 |website=www.worldcat.org}}</ref>

Fairford has been used as a filming location in ''[[Greenfingers|Greenfingers (2000)]]'', ''[[The Power (TV series)|The Power]]'' and an episode in series two of ''[[This Country]]''.

In the first series of the reality TV series ''[[The Restaurant (British TV series)|The Restaurant]]'', one pair of contestants opened their restaurant in Fairford.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-08-31 |title=Couple cook up a storm in TV contest |url=https://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk/news/1657112.couple-cook-up-a-storm-in-tv-contest/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Braintree and Witham Times |language=en}}</ref>

== Notable residents ==
* [[Walter Buckler]] - (?–1554) Courtier and diplomat
* [[Alexander Cohoon]] - (2002–) Competitive swimmer
* [[Kenton Cool]] - (1973–) Mountaineer
* [[Paul Cornell]] - (1967–) Writer
* [[Alfred Cowley]] - (1848–1926) Politician in Australia
* [[Frank Cadogan Cowper]] - (1877–1958) Artist
* [[Sharron Davies]] - (1962– ) Competitive swimmer and sports presenter
* [[Mary Bathurst Deane]] - (1843–1940) Novelist
* [[Barbara Dockar Drysdale]] - (1912–1999) Psychotherapist
* [[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire]] - (1718–1793) Politician
* [[Arthur Hirtzel|Sir Arthur Hirtzel]] - (1870–1937) Civil servant
* [[Ellen Joyce]] - (1832–1924) Imperialist and founder of Winchester Women’s Emigration Society
* [[John Keble]] - (1792–1866) Anglican priest and poet
* [[Joseph Kinghorn]] - (1766–1832) Baptist minister
* [[Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes]] - (1878–1956) Socialite, who survived the [[Sinking of the Titanic|Titanic disaster]]
* [[Gerald Loxley]] - (1885–1950) Aviator and diplomat
* [[Mike Winters (comedian)|Mike Winters]] (1926–2013) Comedian

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Verey, David |title=The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds |title-link= Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|year=1970 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071040-X |pages=243–250}}
* Farmer, Oscar G. ''Fairford Church and its Stained Glass Windows'' 7th ed. 1962 (presumably self-published, printed by Harding and Curtis Ltd, Somerset Hall, Bath)
*[[Ralph Bigland|Bigland, Ralph]] (1791) ''An Account of the Parish of Fairford''; ed. by Richard Bigland

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.fairford.org Fairford community website]
*[http://fairfordtowncouncil.gov.uk Fairford Town CCouncil website]
*[http://www.fairfordunitedchurch.org.uk Fairford United Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123193022/http://www.fairfordunitedchurch.org.uk/ |date=23 November 2020 }}
*[http://fairfordlechladeyfc.co.uk/ Fairford Youth FC]
*[http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/fairford-church.htm St. Mary's Church in Fairford] – Sacred Destinations
*[http://www.stthomasparish.plus.com St Thomas' Catholic Church website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223242/http://www.stthomasparish.plus.com/ |date=3 March 2016 }} Includes history, pictures and details of services.
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2008/10/23/dayout_se_cotswolds_video_feature.shtml BBC archive film of Fairford from 1986]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031159/http://www.focusonuk.co.uk/index.php?pc=lechladeandfairford Local Online website for the Lechlade and Fairford community]

{{Gloucestershire}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Fairford| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Cotswold District]]