Burford Tolsey Museum

Burford Tolsey Museum
Burford Tolsey Museum
	Burford Tolsey Museum
Location	High Street, Burford
Coordinates	51°48′26″N 1°38′13″W / 51.8073°N 1.6370°W
Built	1520
Architectural style(s)	Tudor style
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	The Tolsey
Designated	12 September 1955
Reference no.	1224632
	Shown in Oxfordshire

The Burford Tolsey Museum is a local museum in the town of Burford, west Oxfordshire, England.^[1]^[2]^[3] It is located in a Tudor style structure, known as The Tolsey,^[a] and was formerly where market tolls were collected and where town meetings may have been held in the upper chamber. It is a Grade II* listed building.^[5]

History

The building

The Tolsey was designed in the Tudor style, built using half-timbering techniques and was completed in 1520.^[6] Surveys using dendrology have dated the timbers back to 1525^[7] although the first documented reference to the building was not until 1561.^[8] The building was raised on stone pillars so that markets could be held, with an assembly room on the first floor.^[9] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with two bays facing onto the High Street; the first floor was fenestrated by bay windows and surmounted by gables. The ground floor was the place for wool merchants to meet in medieval times. Tolls for the use of the market facilities and taxes were also collected on behalf of the lord of the manor. The assembly room was used as a venue for borough court hearings and also operated as the local town hall.^[7] The room was furnished with a chair, a table and a chest of drawers bearing the coat of arms of Burford Corporation.^[10]

A lock-up for petty criminals was established at the rear of the building in the late 16th century,^[6] a projecting beam which supported a clock, with a bell suspended below, was installed in the right-hand gable in the 17th century,^[11] and a horse-drawn fire engine was acquired for the town and stored on the ground floor in the late 18th century.^[6] After Burford Corporation was disbanded in 1861, ownership of the building was transferred to trustees.^[6] The building fell into a state of disrepair in the first half of the 20th century although it was extensively refurbished in 1955.^[6]

The museum

A leading Burford antique dealer, Roger Warner, who had been collecting objects with a known Burford connection since the 1930’s,^[12] ranging from rope-making tools to a boxwood clarinet, donated his collection to enable the museum to open as a local history museum in 1960.^[6]

The museum which was recorded as such in the BBC Domesday Project in 1986.^[13]

The Museum is open 2-5pm every day from April to October, weekends only in November & December and closed January to March. Admission is free. Donations are invited.^[14]

The archive

When in November 2022, the Burford Tolsey Archive was opened in an historic nearby barn in Swan Lane to collect, preserve and share Burford’s written and oral stories and images, the Registered Charity No. 309176 was renamed the Burford Tolsey Museum & Archive.^[15]

Notes

^ Tolsey is an ancient word for a tollbooth.^[4]

References

^ "Tolsey Museum". UK: Oxfordshire Museums Council. Archived from the original on 10 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ "Tolsey Museum". UK: Oxfordshire County Council. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ "Tolsey Museum". www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org. Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ Fisher, John (1861). A History of the Town of Burford, Oxfordshire. R. Edwards.
^ Historic England. "The Tolsey (1224632)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Burford Timeline". Burford Tolsey. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b Steane, John; Ayres, James (2013). Traditional Buildings in the Oxford Region, c. 1300-1840. Oxbow Books. p. 388. ISBN 978-1842174791.
^ "The Tolsey". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ "Tolsey Museum". thecotswoldgateway.co.uk. UK: The Cotswolds. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ Monk, William John (1891). History of Burford (PDF). C. W. Swatman. p. 158.
^ Moody, Raymond (2010). Burford Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445627205.
^ "About Us". Burford Tolsey. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
^ "The Tolsey Museum at Burford". Domesday Reloaded. UK: BBC. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
^ "Local History Museum | Burford Tolsey | United Kingdom". Burford Tolsey. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
^ "Burford's heritage on display – The Wychwood Magazine". Retrieved 3 June 2024.

External links

[5] Tolsey is an ancient word for a tollbooth.^[4]

[oxfordshiremuseums-1] "Tolsey Museum". UK: Oxfordshire Museums Council. Archived from the original on 10 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[oxfordshire-2] "Tolsey Museum". UK: Oxfordshire County Council. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[oxfordshirecotswolds-3] "Tolsey Museum". www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org. Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[4] Fisher, John (1861). A History of the Town of Burford, Oxfordshire. R. Edwards.

[listed-6] Historic England. "The Tolsey (1224632)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[time-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Burford Timeline". Burford Tolsey. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[steane-8] Steane, John; Ayres, James (2013). Traditional Buildings in the Oxford Region, c. 1300-1840. Oxbow Books. p. 388. ISBN 978-1842174791.

[9] "The Tolsey". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[thecotswoldgateway-10] "Tolsey Museum". thecotswoldgateway.co.uk. UK: The Cotswolds. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[11] Monk, William John (1891). History of Burford (PDF). C. W. Swatman. p. 158.

[12] Moody, Raymond (2010). Burford Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445627205.

[13] "About Us". Burford Tolsey. Retrieved 3 June 2024.

[bbc-14] "The Tolsey Museum at Burford". Domesday Reloaded. UK: BBC. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

[15] "Local History Museum | Burford Tolsey | United Kingdom". Burford Tolsey. Retrieved 3 June 2024.

[16] "Burford's heritage on display – The Wychwood Magazine". Retrieved 3 June 2024.

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v t e Museums and galleries in Oxfordshire
City of Oxford	Ashmolean Museum Bate Collection of Musical Instruments Christ Church Picture Gallery Modern Art Oxford Museum of the History of Science Museum of Oxford Oxford University Press Museum University of Oxford Botanic Garden Oxford Castle Oxford University Museum of Natural History Pitt Rivers Museum Science Oxford The Story Museum
Region	Abingdon County Hall Museum Ashdown House Aston Martin Heritage Trust Museum Banbury Museum Benson Veteran Cycle Museum Blenheim Palace Bloxham Village Museum Broughton Castle Burford Tolsey Museum Buscot Park Bygones Museum Champs Chapel Museum of East Hendred Charlbury Museum Chastleton House Chipping Norton Museum Churchill and Sarsden Heritage Centre Cogges Manor Farm Combe Mill Didcot Railway Centre Dorchester Abbey Museum Greys Court Hook Norton Brewery Museum Hook Norton Village Museum Kelmscott Manor Mapledurham House Mapledurham Watermill Oxford Bus Museum Oxfordshire Museums Resource Centre The Oxfordshire Museum Pendon Museum Project Timescape River and Rowing Museum Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Stonor Park Swalcliffe Barn Swinford Museum Thame Museum Tom Brown's School Museum Vale and Downland Museum Wallingford Museum Waterperry Museum of Rural Life Witney and District Museum
Organisations	Oxfordshire Museums Council