Raymond Moody

David Cohen has kindly provided this tribute to a truly eminent Burfordian.

Raymond and Joan arrived in Burford in 1960 and set about restoring Cobb House, which is still the family home. They both joined the faculty of Burford Grammar School.

I came to Burford in 1980 and first became aware of Raymond when, in 1983 Raymond and Joan published “The Book of Burford.” I went to visit them to discuss the history of The Highway Hotel. One of many visits that started out as a quick chat and was difficult to bring to an end. This “education” into Burford its people, buildings, intrigues and history has spanned over four decades for which I will be eternally grateful.

Much will be written about Raymond, but I will only touch on a few aspects.

In 1978, as a Town Council nominee, Raymond, joined the committee of Falkland Hall; a building bought by the town but falling into disrepair and in need of a transformation. Spearheaded by Raymond  its fortunes changed and when I joined the committee in 1997, eventually becoming Chairman, it was a thriving charity able to award grants. It is not an exaggeration to say that, without Raymond, Falkland Hall may have ceased to exist.

It was very important to Raymond that the papers he had amassed whilst researching Burford, plus the records, deeds and pother papers, held both privately and by other institutions, remained in the town rather than to disappearing to Oxford. So the search was on to find a suitable building in which to start the Burford Archive. Eventually the Falkland Hall Trust was able to purchase a barn in Swan Lane. An important part of our collection is “The Moody Collection” of documents from the 17^th century brought together and used by Raymond and Joan in their research. Today we research using computers; Raymond and Joan must have manually scoured many hundreds of newspapers and documents to leave behind the wealth of Burford’s history we have today.

The Burford Tolsey Museum and Archive have also benefitted enormously from Raymond’s generosity in making over to Burford the printing rights to all of his publications. Their popularity has never waned; not only are they an important revenue stream but these invaluable records are constantly used for research.

Much will be written about Raymond’s life in Burford and the impact he has made. It is a great source of comfort to me that each time I open one of his books, or look at The Moody Collection, I will have loving memories of this inspirational man. He was a man who never took but always gave, and I feel privileged to have known him.

David Cohen

Chairman Burford Tolsey Museum and Archive