Traditional Bampton Morris Dancers

In the small West Oxfordshire town of Bampton (Bampton-in-the-bush) Morris dancing has a very long history, and the Morris is taken quite seriously. Bampton is one of the very few English towns or villages with a unique Morris tradition that has an unbroken history stretching back centuries. The Bampton Morris dances are among the most popular of the dances favoured by revival Morris sides in England and throughout the world. Today Bampton has no fewer than three Morris sides (or teams) representing the tradition.

Welcome to the web home of the Traditional Bampton Morris Dancers where you can learn about the Bampton Morris as embodied in the history and dances of our side.

Next Appearance

Look for us at the Black Bourton Summer Fete, 7th September.

Cookies Notice

Apart from the cookie that tells us that you have seen this notice, the TBMD site does not set cookies, does not use trackers and does not collect your data. It is possible that services we use on this site such as Google maps, YouTube and Twitter may use cookies and we recommend you set your browser to block them. 6

John Wright 1948-2025

We are deeply saddened to report Johb Wright in Ilmington 2024 the death of our musician John Wright who passed away at his home after a short illness on 13th June 2025. John was one of our main musicians and a friend to all on the side. He was extremely kind and very generous, not the least with his time, and he supported the side whenever and wherever he was needed. He will be sorely missed.

John joined the side in 2013, but was already well known to our musicians Paul Smith and Tom Bower from their time together with the Royal Alfred Morris Men in the 1970s. Over the decades John supported several Morris sides and up to his death he was also a key musician for Charlbury Finstock Morris.

The family has created a web page on Much Loved with funeral and memorial information.

Paul Smith and Tom Bower with John on Whit Monday 2021