Martin Elvery explores historic Burford – jewel of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds.

Beautiful Burford is probably the jewel in the splendid crown of all the Cotswold towns.

Standing at the north east gateway to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this picture postcard community has the highest concentration of listed buildings anywhere in the country on its High Street. You can almost hear the Tudor timbers groan as the houses and shops prop each other up at impossibly crooked angles up and down the steep hill.

The street is thronged with gift shops and cafes where you can tuck in to a bite to eat in between exploring the sights and ducking under beams into hidden alleys, and there is an excellent tourist information centre where you can get information about the town and the surrounding Cotswolds.

The town started life as an Anglo-Saxon settlement, which grew to become an important regional crossroads and wealthy wool town.

The splendid 13th-century bridge is a wonderful example of medieval architecture despite the fact it was reinforced with concrete by troops so tanks could cross it in the Second World War.

Nearby St John the Baptist Church was built between 1160 and 1475. Its many interesting features including a memorial tablet to Henry VIII’s barber-surgeon, Edmund Harman, featuring one of the earliest known representations of South American Indians.

High up on one wall there is a mystery carving which some believe is a remnant of a Romano-Celtic temple, and a font on which one of a group of mutineers from Oliver Cromwell’s army carved his name during the turbulent times of the civil war. In 1649 the mutineers known as Levellers were imprisoned in the church before being forced onto the roof to watch their leadersbeing executed in the churchyard below.

The Tolsey building half way up the High Street dates to the 16th century and was a medieval merchants’ hall, now converted into a museum. Burford Priory is a country house that stands on the site of a 13th-century Augustinian hospital.

These days Burford has a thriving tourist trade and a busy events calendar. Festivals include the annual Levellers Day which commemorates the events of 1649 and includes a debate, a colourful procession and commemorative ceremony and an afternoon of dancing and music. The biannual summer festival includes music, open gardens, theatrical events and tours.

Burford and its surrounds is home to an increasing number of celebrities – Kate Moss and members of Radiohead live nearby – and its easy to see why. Despite the heavy traffic passing through daily which infuriates residents, it retains a character and charm that cannot be suppressed.