April 30, 2024:
We did a self-guided walking tour of Chipping Campden the evening of April 30th, and toured several other Cotswolds sites the next day, May 1st: St. Michael the Archangel Church, Stanton; Snowshill Manor, Snowshill; Cotswold Motoring Museum, Bourton-on-the-Water; and Chastleton House, Moreton-in-Marsh.
Chipping Campden Self-Guided Walk:
Our self-guided walk of Chipping Campden missed a few sites Rick Steves recommends visiting due to our late afternoon arrival, e.g., the St. James Church interior was closed, as was the Court Barn Museum, the Silk Mill, and the Tourist Information Center.
Church of St. James Churchyard – We started our self-guided tour of Chipping Campden at the Church of St. James churchyard (the interior was closed – we parked at the pay car park next to the church). We got to see an interesting “cat tombstone” just outside the front door, and the “11 apostles Linden trees (one died)” and a few old graves…
Simon the Cat tombstone – St James Church – Chipping Campden
“Apostles” Linden trees – entrance to St James Church
Old Gravestones
Church of St. James
Baptist Hicks Gate, Land and Ruins – Next door to the St. James churchyard we found a gate and ruins relating to the former Baptist Hicks land and mansion. Adjacent to the town church, the area known as Baptist Hicks Land held Hicks’ huge estate and manor house. This influential Lord of the Manor was from a “family of substance”, who were merchants of silk and fine clothing as well as money-lenders.
Ornate Gate to Sir Baptist Hicks Land – Chipping Campden
Beyond the ornate gate, only a few outbuildings and the charred corner of Hicks’ mansion survive. The mansion was burned by royalists in 1645 during the Civil War – notice how Cotswold stone turns red when burned.
Ruins of Hicks’ former mansion
Old Court Barn – Next to the gate we passed the old Court Barn, a small museum about crafts and designs from the Arts and Crafts movement, with works by Ashbee and his craftsmen (£5, open Tuesday-Sunday 10 am – 5 pm; closed Monday; +44 1386 841 951; www.courtbarn.org.uk).
Old Court Barn Museum
Almshouses – Hicks housed the poor, making a show of his generosity, adding a long row of almshouses (with his family coat of arms) for neighbors to see as they walked to the church. These almshouses (lining Church Street) house pensioners today, as they have since the 17th century.
Baptist Hicks Almshouses
Flowers on the wall of the almshouses
Hicks coat of arms
Cart Wash – Across the street is a ditch built as a “cart wash” – it was filled with water to soak old cart wheels so they would swell up and stop rattling.
“Cart Wash”
Fancy Houses – Next we entered High Street and started walking toward the center of Chipping Campden. We saw some houses of the obviously wealthy.
Fancy house in Chipping Campden
Market Hall – In downtown Chipping Campden, we viewed the Market Hall. The Market Hall was built in 1627 by the Lord of the Manor, Sir Baptist Hicks (look for the Hicks family coat of arms on the east end of the building’s façade).
Market Hall
Hicks coat of arms – Market Hall
The timbers inside the Market Hall are true to the original. Study the classic Cotswold stone roof, still held together with wooden pegs nailed in from underneath (tiles were cut and sold with peg holes, and stacked like waterproof scales).
Market Hall timbers – Photo: theoccasionalnomads.com
War Memorial – Adjacent to the Market Hall is the sober WWI monument – a reminder of the huge price paid by nearly early little town. Walking around it, noticing how 1918 brought the greatest losses.
War Memorial – Chipping Campden
War Memorial – 1918 had the greatest losses
Cotswold Way Disc – Between the Market Hall and the WWI monument we found a limestone disc embedded in the ground marking the ceremonial start of the Cotswold Way.
Cotswold Way disc – Photo: iaincotton.co.uk
Chipping Campden Baptist Church – We were struck to see a Baptist Church here in Chipping Campden, a town of old money and strict Anglicans.
Chipping Campden Baptist Church
The Green Dragon House – This house’s decorative, black cast-iron fixtures (originally in the stables) once held hay and functioned much like salad bowls for horses. Fine-cut stones define the door, but “rubble stones” make up the rest of the wall. The pink stones are the same limestone but have been heated, and likely were scavenged from a house that burned down.
The Green Dragons House
Fancy door knocker close to the Green Dragons House
Shop of Robert Welch – We crossed High Street to see, at the corner of Sheep Street, the silversmith shop of Robert Welch, a local industrial designer who worked in the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement. His son and daughter carry on his legacy in the fine shop with sleek tableware, glassware, and bath fittings (with a little museum case in the back).
Shop of Robert Welch
Thatched Roof Houses – Then we walked down Sheep Street to see some beautiful thatched roof houses.
Thatched roof house – Photo: BritanExpress.com
We returned to High Street, turned right and started making our way back to our car. Along High Street, we viewed the…
William Grevel House – In 1367, William Grevel built what is considered Campden’s first stone house. Sheep tycoons had big homes. Imagine back then, when this fine building was surrounded by humble wattle-and-daub huts. It had newfangled chimneys, rather than a crude hole in the roof (no more rain inside).
The finely carved central bay window is a good early example of the Perpendicular Gothic style. The gargoyles scared away bad spirits – and served as rain spouts. The boot scrapers outside the door were fixtures in that muddy age – especially in market towns, where the streets were filled with animal dung.
William Grevel House – Photo: feldonbuildersltd.co.uk
Grevel House Gargoyle – Flickr – Koocheekoo
Ernest Wilson Memorial Garden – On the right, we found a small Gothic arch leading into the Ernest Wilson Memorial Garden. Once the church’s vegetable patch, this small and secluded garden is a botanist’s delight today. The garden is filled with well-labeled plants that the Victorian botanist Ernest Wilson brought back to England from his extensive travels in Asia.
Ernest Wilson Memorial Garden
This concludes our Chipping Campden self-guided walk.
May 1, 2024:
Stanton – We were very interested in visiting this small town of Stanton and its church, Church of St. Michael and All Angels, as Rick Steves even devotes an introductory video to it – https://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/stanton-church/.
Stanton was our first stop from our accommodation in Broadway. We parked at the Public Car Park next to the Stanton Village Club and walked into Stanton.
Rapeseed field at the Public Car Park – Stanton
Village of Stanton
Stanton war memorial
Stanton door – old house
Horse rider in downtown Stanton
Historic Sundial in Stanton topped with a cross
Detail – historic sundial
Church of St. Michael and All Angels – This little church was one of the most interesting places we visited in England, as it has a pagan past.
Stanton – Church of St. Michael and All Angels
We first toured the graveyard, with well weathered tombstones.
Graveyard – Church of St. Michael and All Angels
Over the front door was a statue of St. Michael the Archangel and above that, a sundial.
Entrance to the Church of St. Michael and All Angels – statue of St. Michael the Archangel
Sundial over the entrance – Photo: gaudiumsubsole.org
When we entered, we were struck at the simple, yet complex nave. After seeing the Rick Steves’ video, the first thing we looked for were the sheep dog leash marks on the pews.
Nave of St. Michael and All Angels
Sheepdog leash marks – pews
We also looked for, and found, on the right columns of the nave, the pagan symbols of the sun and the moon.
Pagan symbols of the sun and the moon. Photo: Rick Steves’ Europe
The baptismal font was very plain, as was the pulpit.
Baptismal font and the pulpit
On the north transept (far side from the entry), we viewed faint medieval frescoes through 17th century whitewash (once upon a time, these frescoes were considered too “papist”).
Faint, whitewashed frescoes
The list of rectors (at the very back of the church, under the organ loft) goes back to 1269.
Rectors – Church of St. Michael and All Angels
1305 tombstone in the church
High Altar
View of the organ and timbered ceiling
St. Michael the Archangel, St. Mary the Virgin and St. Gabriel the Archangel Stained-Glass Window
Side chapel
Banner – St. Michael and All Angels
Crucifixion over the Choir
The Apostles Window
Old Bible
Cushions under the pews
Thank You Donation Box
St. Anne, St. John the Evangelist, St. Mary Magdalene Window
Wooden roundel
This concludes our tour of Stanton and the Church of St. Michael and All Angels.
Snowshill Manor, Snowshill – Dark and mysterious, this old manor house is stuffed with the lifetime collection of Charles Paget Wade. It’s one big, musty celebration of craftmanship, from finely carved spinning wheels to frightening samurai armor to tiny elaborate figurines carved by prisoners from the bones of meat served at dinner. Taking seriously his family motto, “Let Nothing Perish”, Wade dedicated his life and fortune to preserving things finely crafted.
Snowshill Manor and Gardens
Cost and Hours – Open daily 11:30 am – 4:30 pm; £12; garden and ticket office open 11 am; café; +44 1386 852 410; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/snowshillmanor.
Getting There – When we got to Snowshill Manor (at opening time) the parking lot was completely full (apparently there was a staff meeting). We were fortunate to find an overflow parking lot a short walk away from the main entrance.
Gardens – Before touring the Manor, we walked for quite a while through the Gardens.
Gardens on our way to the Manor
We were surprised by the volume of “stuff” collected by Charles Paget Wade.
Part of Snowshill Manor Collection
The highlight of our visit was to see the Samurai Warriors.
Samurai Warrior Collection
It seemed the collection had no end…
More collectables
Charles Paget Wade must have been quite a character.
And, we weren’t done yet…
The collection was just getting started
The Manor had a model village and costume room; and a music room.
Village models and costume room
The Music Room
I think we’re close to the end…
Finally done
We went through a different set of gardens (with a model village) on the way back to the car park.
Snowshill Gardens
Garden Model Village
Bourton-on-the-Water – Our next stop in the Cotswolds, Bourton-on-the-Water, also had a model village, with the highlight being another eclectic collection in the Cotswold Motoring Museum.
Getting There – We had difficulty parking in the village, so we ended up parking at the far side of the village at a large pay parking lot (Rissington Road Car Park) and walking about 5 minutes to get to the village of Bourton-on-the-Water.
Walking along the River Windrush from the Car Park
Bourton-on-the-Water Model Village – On our way to the village, we toured the Bourton-on-the-Water Model Village.
Bourton-on-the-Water Model Village
Cost and Hours – Open daily, 10 am – 5:30 pm; in the New Old Inn, Bourton-on-the-Water, Cheltenham GL54 2AF; £5.
From the model village, we walked along the River Windrush, until we reached the…
Cotswold Motoring Museum – Lovingly presented, this good, jumbled museum shows off a lifetime’s accumulation of vintage cars, old lacquered signs, thread-bare toys, prewar memorabilia, and sundry British pop culture knick-knacks. Wander the car-and-driver displays, which range from the automobile’s early days to slick 1970s models, including period music to set the mood.
Cost and Hours – Open daily 10 am – 6 pm; £7; +44 1451 821 255; www.cotswoldmotoringmuseum.co.uk.
Cotswold Motoring Museum
We made our way back to the Car Park along the river.
River Windrush – Bourton-on-the-Water
Chastleton House – This stately home, located about five miles southeast of Moreton-in-Marsh, was lived in by the same family from 1607 until 1991. It offers a rare peek into a Jacobean gentry house (Jacobean, which comes from the Latin for “James”, indicates the style from the time of King James I – the early 1600s).
Chastleton House and adjoining Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Dovecote on the grounds on the way from the car park to Chastleton House
The house came to the National Trust on the condition that they would maintain its musty Jacobean ambience. It’s so authentic that the BBC used it to film scenes from its adaptation of Wolf Hall.
Chastleton was built between the years 1607 and 1612 by a man named Walter Jones. He had bought the site from the infamous Robert Catesby (of Gunpowder Plot fame), after that man had sold it to help pay a huge fine to the Government after having taken part in the revolt of the Earl of Essex back in 1601. Walter had plans drawn up which resulted in the existing house being pulled down and a new “modern” house built in its place. The result is Chastleton House as we see it today.
Wander on creaky floorboards, many of them original, chat with the knowledgeable volunteer guides, and understand this house reveals the lives of nobles who were land rich but cash poor. Play croquet if you want (the ticket counter will lend you a set – Chastleton was where the first field rules were codified in 1866).
Croquet at Chastleton
In 2022, Chastleton House restored three paintings of early Christian saints after conservation work: St. Pope Gregory I, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine of Hippo (a fourth portrait – St. Ambrose of Milan – has been missing since the early 20th century).
Portraits of early Christian Saints restored to Chastleton House – Photo: A Saintly Restoration
Look for these paintings while at Chastleton House.
Saints Pope Gregory I, Augustine, and Jerome
Floor Plan – Chastleton House
Entrance – The entrance to the house is pretty plain, just a small porch (no grand staircase).
Front Door
The Porch
After entering the porch, the first room you visit is the…
Great Hall – This is the first of the prominent rooms you see at Chastleton House, it is a large room featuring a central hearth.
Tbe Great Hall
The walls of the Great Hall are decorated with portraits of the various owners of the estate, from Walter Jones I through to the last owners Alan and Barbara Clutton-Brock.
Portraits of the various owners of the estate
You can’t help but first notice the stag, with a body painted on the wall, seamlessly tied to a wooden head and antlers.
Stag with painted body, wooden head and antlers
Also the screen on the other side of the room…
Screen
Leaving the Great Hall, there is a lobby that leads to the White Parlour, one of the two staircases, and the Great Parlour.
White Parlour – The White Parlour was used as a private sitting room by the wives of the last two owners: Irene Whitmore-Jones and Barbara Clutton-Brock. The room has painted oak panelling that was painted from their original oak in the 19th century, when the room was also adorned with William Morris curtains.
The White Parlour
The room is decorated in a “used” state, with lots of clutter…
The ‘Cluttered Look’
Enter back into the lobby, pass the staircase and enter the Great Parlour.
The staircase
On the way, you’ll see a miniature card set…
Miniature card set
Great Parlour – The Great Parlour is set up as the house’s dining room, as it had likely been since the decline in use of the Great Hall as a place for dining in the 1700s.
The Great Parlour
A beautiful painting by Jan van der Vaart is in one corner of the room.
Jan van der Vaart; Anne Jones
The fireplace is lined with beautiful Delft tiles.
Delft tiles lining the fireplace
The room features a large window overlooking the rear grounds, with two quite vibrant stained glass panels depicting the Stuart king, Charles I and his wife Queen Henrietta Maria.
Stained Glass Windows – Queen Henrietta Maria and King Charles I
Utility Room – There is a utility room adjoining the Great Parlour that has tools and household implements.
Utility room with tools
Household implements
The Great Parlour contains a Teniers Tapestry.
Teniers Tapestry
Walk up the staircase in the lobby to the first floor, where the first room is the Fettiplace Bedroom.
Staircase to floor 1 (notice the spires on the staircase posts)
The Fettiplace Bedroom – This room holds examples of some of the nationally significant textiles in the care of the National Trust. The tapestries were woven by hand in Flanders, between 1560 and 1580. They depict scenes from The Story of Jacob, Genesis 33. The crewelwork bed hangings were made in the 1720s.
Fettiplace Bedroom
1720s tapestries in the Fettiplace Bedroom
Attached to the Fettiplace Bedroom is a closet.
The Penitent Magdalen – Fettiplace Bedroom Closet
View from closet into Fettiplace Bedroom
The coat of arms of Henry Jones (son of Walter Jones) and his wife Anne (Fettiplace) are over the fireplace in the Fettiplace Bedroom.
Coat of Arms placed over the Fettiplace Bedroom fireplace
There was a Chinese chest just outside of the Fettiplace Bedroom.
Chinese Chest – Just outside Fettiplace Bedroom
Leaving the Fettiplace Bedroom, the next room is the Great Chamber.
The Great Chamber – This room was meant to be seen by important guests.
Great Chamber
The engraved decanter and glasses on display here belonged to Henry Jones in the 1740s. But owning them was an act of treason, as they’re engraved with emblems in support of the Jacobite cause. The set is a rare survival, as it was customary to smash the glasses after toasting the cause.
Engraved decanter and glasses
Detail – Portraits and carved wood
Decoration includes a remarkable high-relief ceiling and grand chimneypiece, with the coat of arms of Walter Jones and his wife Eleanor (Pope).
Crand Chimneypiece with coat of arms of Walter Jones and his wife Eleanor
The Great Chamber would have been the best room in the upper floor of the house, it was the most public of a suite of three rooms that became increasing private as you moved from one room to another, with the final room (now the Sheldon Bedroom) accessible to only the most important guests.
This room was decorated lavishly, promoting Walter Jones’ success with the ceiling being particularly ornate.
Ceiling – Great Chamber
Enter into the Middle Chamber.
The Middle Chamber – The Middle Chamber was used as a bedroom by John Henry and Dorothy Whitmore-Jones in the mid 19th Century. Currently it’s displayed with a round breakfast table in the middle of the room, with a desk and display cabinet in the one corner.
The Middle Chamber
The coat of arms over the fireplace is that of Jones impaling Fettiplace (two coats of arms combined into one).
Joint Coat of Arms of Jones-Fettiplace
Above the picture rail in this room, there is an ornate plaster frieze containing pomegranates, grapes and pears.
Ornate frieze with pomegranates, grapes, and pears
The next room is the Sheldon Room.
Sheldon Room – The Sheldon Room is the second of the two rooms named after local gentry families. The name likely originates from Walter Jones I’s acquaintance with Ralph Sheldon of nearby Weston Manor.
This room was the bedroom of Barbara Clutton-Brock and it was during her occupancy, that the panelling was painted white in an effort to modernise the space. Towards the end of her life, Barbara shared the house with her 20 cats and her parrot, perhaps unfairly invoking the image of a crazy cat lady.
The Sheldon Room
The coat of arms over the fireplace is Sheldon impaling Ruden (combining of their coats of arms).
Coat of Arms – Sheldon-Ruden
The Sheldon Room is home to a rich set of tapestries hung on the walls depicting the planetary gods: Mars, Sol, Saturn, Jupiter and Luna/Diana, with Venus and Mercury presumably on a separate tapestry not at Chastleton, completing the set.
Tapestries in the Sheldon Room
Looks like there were card players in this room…
Solitare in the Sheldon Room
The next room is the…
Library – The 2,500 books and journals library also has bookcases in many rooms of the Chastleton House. The highlights are the glass framed Royal Bible read to King Charles in 1649 at the time of his execution, works of Aristotle, the earliest Latin volume printed in Venice, and 14 books from the 16th century.
Library
Royal Bible read to Charles I before his execution
Passing by a bathroom, the next room is the…
Bathroom – Chastleton House
The Cavalier Room – The Cavalier Room gets it’s name from the English Civil War where after the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Parliamentary cavalry members slept in this room whilst the house’s owner, Arthur Jones, a royalist/cavalier, hid in the adjoining closet now known as the secret room.
Former closet – now the secret room – Photo: Cavalier Room
This room has a distinctly different look than the majority of the rooms at Chastleton, having been decorated with wallpaper in the 19th Century, giving it a very Victorian look. The bed has a bedspread and pillowcases which were made in the 18th Century by Anne Whitmore and took her 15 years to make.
Cavalier Room
Carvings on the bed
Anne Whitmore by Mrs Walter Jones III – c. 1700/1710
Catherine Howard, Lady d’Aubigny (d. 1650)
after Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 – London 1641)
Desk/Cabinet in Cavalier Room
After viewing the Cavalier Room, you will walk up another staircase to the second floor to view the Long Gallery.
The Long Gallery – Curving above this room is the longest-surviving barrel-vaulted ceiling of its date in England, over 72 feet long . After centuries of neglect, the plasterwork was restored in 1904-5.
The Long Gallery
Two grotesque mask heads at the west end of the room are extremely rare survivals from the 1600s. They’re likely to have been placed there to deter evil spirits.
Two grotesque mask heads from the 1600s
The Long Gallery at Chastleton is the longest and oldest surviving barrel-vaulted ceiling of its kind in England, it was used to display portraits of ancestors and for exercise during in times of cold and wet weather.
Long Gallery Ceiling
In 1899 while the house was tenanted, Rosemary Richardson and her sisters played badminton in the long gallery. Apparently, the room was also used for costume dress-up and hobby-horse play.
Costume box in Long Gallery
Hobby Horse
The Long Gallery contains an old chest c. 1490-1500.
Long Gallery Chest
After the Long Gallery, descend back down the west staircase from the second floor down to the basement where you will enter the Old Kitchen.
The Old Kitchen – Except for a new cooking range, the kitchen has barely been modified since its construction. It includes original feature such as a serving hatch and wooden ceiling rack.
The Old Kitchen
Leave Chastleton House via the Dairy Court into the gardens.
Dairy Court – The dairy court is in the middle of the house, spanning four floors.
Daisy Court
Workspace – On the way out of house via the Daisy Court, we noticed a workspace with several garden tools and a 72 rung ladder for the gutters, only useful if there was enough manpower to get it outside and implemented.
Workspace Garden Tools
72-Rung Ladder
Garden – Chastleton House does not have extensive gardens, but they do have a hedge garden with interesting trims that includes a sundial.
Chastleton House Hedge Garden
Chastleton House Sundial
Getting There – Near Moreton-in-Marsh. Follow the signs to the house, not the town, about a 10-minute drive southeast of Moreton-in-Marsh off A-44. It is a 7-minute walk from the free car park to the house. We found out the hard way – don’t walk on the road to the house (buy your ticket next to the car park and walk from the ticket booth to the house).
Cost and Hours – Open Wednesday – Sunday, 1 pm – 5 pm; £12; 15 people every 10 minutes; last entry one hour before closing; +44 1608 674 355; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chastleton.
This concludes our tour of the Cotswolds.