BOURTON

Bourton is a small Vale village close to the boundary with Wiltshire. Unlike other nearby villages, particularly those to the south, there are no chalk/thatch cottages here. Instead, the cottages are built in the local grey stone, most with slate or stone roofs.

It is thought that the original village was in the area now known as Lower Bourton to the north of the village. In the centre of the present village stands a pinnacle or monolith said to also have been built by the Danes to commemorate victory in in a battle with the Saxons. Also in the centre of the village are Pinewood School, in the grounds of the old Bourton House, and the Village Hall. Pinewood School is a coeducational school for children from Nursery through to prep school offering boarding and day facilities.

The impressive looking village Hall was originally a Baptist chapel and is a fine example of Victorian Chapel Architecture with an attractive hammered type ceiling, built in 1851.

At the southern edge of the village is the 19th century village church, St James's, built by public subscription of local stone quarried several hundred yards up the road from the church. For a brief history and information about St. James's Church click here.

The remains of the Wilts and Berks Canal passes just north of Bourton at the end of Steppingstone Lane and used to bring a lot of trade and goods to the village as well as being a means to export them. The canal was eventually superceded by the railway but, like many other villages along the routes of the canal and the railway, trade declined again when nearby Shrivenham station was closed.

Bourton is about five miles east of Swindon, just off the A420 Swindon to Oxford Road about a mile south of Shrivenham.