Fairford is a small market town in Gloucestershire situated on the River Coln between Cirencester and Lechlade. The town was once an important centre in the wool trade and it is famed for St Mary’s Church which has the most complete set of medieval stained glass windows in Britain thanks to the Tame family of wool merchants.
Fairford has many attractions for the visitor and the historian including the water mill and mill pond, the Oxpens, the Market Place with the The Bull (an old coaching inn), the High Street with its beautiful Grade 2 listed buildings, the Community Centre (formerly the Fairford Free School), the Retreat Aylum, as well as an extensive series of local footpaths including walks alongside the River Coln.
The Fairford History Society was founded in 2004 to collect and make available documentation and information relating to the history of Fairford. The Society has regular meetings throughout the year when invited speakers give talks on a wide variety of historical topics. The Society also has a publications programme which focuses on specific aspects of the town’s history.
To learn more about Fairford History Society click on the About Us page on the top menu. Details on how to join the Society can be found on the Membership page. Our meetings are advertised on the Meetings page and publications are listed on the Publications page, some are available as free downloads. Short accounts of interesting historical subjects can be found on the Topics page.