Bourton is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Highworth in neighbouring Wiltshire.

Bourton was part of the parish of Shrivenham until 1867,[2] and was in Berkshire until the 1974 local government boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.

[2] In 1529 the manor was recorded as being "late of Sir Francis Lovell", who was attainted in 1485 for supporting Richard III and died childless in 1487.

Despite railway competition, Bourton Wharf's trade continued to increase until 1848, when 823 long tons of Somerset coal were landed there.

[9] Thereafter however the railway increasingly dominated coal and other freight traffic, and trade at Bourton Wharf declined rapidly.

Bourton Wharf handled small amounts of cargo in the mid-1890s, at least some of which was local traffic to or from Melksham and Wantage.

[10] By this time the Wilts & Berks' maintenance and dredging had deteriorated to the extent that narrowboats could not operate fully laden.

The Great Western Main Line railway was built through the parish in 1840, passing just north of Lower Bourton.

Shrivenham railway station was opened 1⁄2 mile (800 m) north-east of Bourton village on the boundary between the two parishes.

[11] St James' parish is now part of the Church of England Benefice of Shrivenham and Ashbury, which also includes Compton Beauchamp, Fernham, Longcot and Watchfield.

[15] Low attendance and a parish deficit of £6,000 per year led the Diocese of Oxford to serve notice at the end of 2003 to make St. James' redundant.