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Fairford is a small town in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Cotswolds on the River Coln. RAF Fairford is located near the town, as is the Cotswold Water Park.
The Church of England parish church of St Mary is renowned for its complete set of medieval stained glass, stone carvings and misericords.
Fairford also has a 19th century Roman Catholic church of St Thomas of Canterbury. Following the closure of the recusant chapel at Hatherop Castle in 1844 a church was built at Horcott (Fairford) during the following year for the 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 Presbytery was built twenty years later to the designs of Benjamin Bucknall, the architect of Woodchester Mansion. The church contains an organ by Hill and stained glass by Wailes, 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 de Mauley family; that on the right depicts the Eucharist.
The churchyard includes a stone memorial to Tiddles the church cat who fell off the church roof. (source: Wikipedia) local website: http://www.fairford.org/index.html History Society: http://www.fairfordhistory.org.uk/ Local School: http://www.fairfordcofeprimary.ik.org/
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