FAIRFORD, a market•town of England in Glou cestershire, is situated in a pleasant country at the foot of the Cotswold hills, on the banks of the river Coble, at an old ford near the confluence of that river with the Thames. The town consists of two streets, neatly and regularly built, and is principally distinguished for its fine Gothic church, and the exquisitely painted glass which it contains. The church, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a fine specimen of the Gothic which prevailed about the end of the 15th century. It consists of a lofty nave, a chancel, side-aisles, and a low tower rising from the centre of the edifice, which has been supposed to have been intended for the foundation of a spire. The whole of the building, which is 120 feet long, and 55 broad, is embattled, and sustained by pin nacle(' buttresses, those of the tower being flattened, and gradually diminishing- to the top. Statues, as large as life, arc rudely sculptured on their bases ; and round the architrave is a series of grotesque figures. The exterior is adorned with many niches, which had once contained carved statues. The architecture of the inter for is re markably fine : light fluted pillars, sustaining four arches on each side, divide the aisles from the nave. The aisles are continued parallel with the chancel, with which there is a communication by two arches of equal height. The chancel is encircled with a fine oak screen, adorned with finely carved tabernacle-work, and stalls of the same work. The pavement is chequered with blue and white stone.
This magnificent edifice was founded by John Tame, an opulent merchant, who having, in 1492, taken a vessel laden with painted glass, and bound from a Flemish port to Italy, resolved to have a large building erected for its reception. Having been for some time settled at Fair
ford, he began the present church in 1493, and disposed' of the glass in 28 windows, each having four or more compartments. The principal subjects of these paint ings are scriptural, some of them are the Roman em perors, who opposed and who favoured the establish ment of Christianity. The designs in the great west window are the Resurrection and the Last Judgment, the colours of which are so brilliant, and the drapery so delicate, that Mr Dallaway regards them as a more pleasing specimen of ancient art than will often be met with in England or on the Continent. Vandyck con sidered some of the figures as so well done, that they could not be surpassed by the hest pencil.
The church contains a variety of monuments and se pulchral inscriptions. A tomb of Italian marble is erect ed in the north aisle to the memory of Sir Edmund Tame, son of the founder of the church.
There is here a free school endowed for 60 boys, and other charitable institutions. The Colne is crossed by three bridges ; and, about three miles from the town is the great canal which joins the Severn and the Thames. The inhabitants of Fairford chiefly subsist by its markets and fairs, which are well attended. The population of. the town and parish, in 1811, was, See Rudge's Gloucestershire, and the Beauties of and 'Vales, vol. v. p. 629-636. (j)