Burford Methodist Church

[3] Therefore, to find an early example of the Baroque in the high street of a small provincial English town is unusual, more unusual, is that the building sits on a small site still surrounded by its original neighbours - older, smaller medieval buildings which though rare today in their surviving quantity and composition are of little individual architectural merit and serve to accentuate the height and classicism of their more refined neighbour; thus, the church retains a setting which is part of Baroque architecture's original concept - the element of surprise; until the early 20th century, this was exemplified by the sight of St. Peter's Basilica rising incongruously out of the jumble of medieval architecture that was the Borgo before the creation of the Via della Conciliazione, which although it has created a grand approach and perspective to the Basilica has taken away the Baroque element of surprise as one suddenly came upon the Piazza San Pietro from the jumble of narrow streets and small squares.

Given the date of the house, it's possible that the principal bedroom was on the first floor in the piano nobile style, but no documentary evidence survives describing the original layout.

The front (and only) façade is fully rusticated from the 1st floor upwards; it is of five bays divided by six fluted pilasters surmounted by Corinthian capitals which are united by an entablature supporting a balustraded parapet.

The crowded features of the Baroque façade are not dissimilar to those at Heythrop Park, also in Oxfordshire, where Francis Smith, the architect, worked as building contractor.

A large indoor balcony, intended to provide extra seating, was erected at first floor level and the ornamental urns which decorated the balustraded parapet were removed as "inconsistent with the sacred character of the building.