Chipping Campden

Chipping Campden

Chipping Campden is one of the loveliest small towns in the Cotswolds and a gilded masterpiece of limestone and craftsmanship. The main street curves in a shallow arc lined with a succession of ancient houses each grafted to the next but each with its own distinctive embellishments.

Pevsner described Chipping Campden as ‘the best piece of townscape
in Gloucestershire, arguably one of the best in England’.

As the name suggests (“Chipping” means market or market place from the old English “Ceping”). Chipping Campden was one of the most important of the medieval wool towns and famous throughout Europe. This legacy of fame and prosperity is everything that give the town its character.

Chipping Campden

This house is the oldest in Chipping Campden and was built by William Grevel in about 1380. The house would have been one of the first to have chimneys instead of just holes in the roof.

William Grevel was one of the country’s most influential wool merchants, a citizen of London and financier to
King Richard II.

Chipping Campden’s wealth came from the Wool Trade.

Chipping Campden

24 Comments CherryPie on Mar 9th 2015

24 Responses to “Chipping Campden”

  1. I would love to stroll slowly through that lovely little town
    and take in the centuries of stories still hanging in the air
    like sunsparkles on water. Such stories those stones must keep:)
    thanks for sharing a place I’d love to go,
    Jennifer

  2. ....peter:) says:

    This is a wonderful town built by masons so long ago Cherie… the roof line on the house that was built in 1380 is sagging a bit… i’m sure that it will still be there in another 100 years….peter:)

  3. lisl says:

    The Cotswold Stone looks even more golden here, Cherie. A fine place and a welcome one when walking the Cotswold Way

  4. Sigrun says:

    Beautiful, Cherie. I hope to visit it again.

    Sigrun

  5. Sackerson says:

    The baskets are wrong, aren’t they? Loook brash against the understated beauty of the stone.

  6. rusty duck says:

    It’s one of my favourite places.

  7. I would love to visit and live in a house from the 1300s…so much history and life would be found there. Sounds like a must see town.

  8. Ayush says:

    i liked all the shots but the view in the second shot is most memorable to me, CP

  9. Amfortas says:

    Carefully crafted photos are necessary with such lovely old buildings, lest the ubiquitous road signs intrude. (the double-yellow lines need cropping out) :)

    That apart, it is such a pleasure in our changing to crass world that we retain some link to a vital history such that even a photo can confirm a heritage and ease a soul. Very nicely displayed, Cherie.

    • CherryPie says:

      I probably need to remove the manhole cover in the second shot too ;-)

      I am glad you enjoyed my views of Chipping Campden, it is a lovely place to visit.

      Thank you :-)

  10. I would like to visit the Cotswolds one day, the architecture is stunning, what wonderful colour the sandstone brickwork is.

    Di xx

  11. james higham says:

    The colour and texture of those walls would be hard to duplicate/replicate. Fabulous hue.

  12. J_on_tour says:

    Chipping Camden is a beautiful place. On my handful of trips as a passenger from Bristol it was always the first port of call on a Cotswold day tour with Cirencester, Stow or Bourton being the main of the day. Shame really, would have liked to spend longer there, probably only got a couple of photo prints from there back in the day.

    • CherryPie says:

      We didn’t have enough time there either, it was a lunch stop off on the way to Salisbury. I would have liked to venture a little further and have a look around the church.