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Copyright of Rosemary Lockie

St Andrew's Church,
Church Lane,
Sevenhampton, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1150, and we understand it is still open.

Ros Stewart in her book The Story of Sevenhampton (2006) provides a date of foundation for St Andrew's Church as c.1150. She also mentions nearby Charlton Abbots Church, built c.1250, and Whittington Church itself (c.1100); and of the group as a whole she says:

"They were already sited next to the Manor Houses but not as their chapels; the churches were in place long before the present Manor Houses were built. However, Whittington may well have had a former chapel on the same site as the present church where there was a moated house near to, or on the site of the present Whittington Court."

Her book begins Sevenhampton's history with an account of the Anglo Saxon settlement known as Sennington. The remains of this now deserted settlement were unearthed in 1936 by a lady from Bourton on the Water. The Gloucester Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) now records several "house platforms", and a larger platform which may have been the base of a chapel on its site.

It is believed to have been destroyed by forces loyal to King Stephen in the 12th century Civil War, as it had belonged to Llanthony Abbey, and Miles (or Milo) of Gloucester, who had previously been loyal to Stephen, but had changed sides, and had become a supporter of Empress Matilda (or Maud). The settlement was on higher ground than the present village, on land now owned by Manor Farm, and when the villagers rebuilt, they chose land lower down, but above the flood plain of the River Coln. "The people of Sennington then brought down their original, precious stone altar from the remains of their former chapel on the hill. This was placed at the East end of the new church beside a blank wall - there were no East windows in churches at this stage.".

And so began the story of Sevenhampton Church. The original building was small, stretching from the west wall to just beyond the present entrance doorway. It was later extended as far as the chancel steps, and again in the early 15th century to its present length, the new area becoming the chancel. The transepts were added later in the century, whilst the archway over the entrance doorway is typically Tudor - "pierced quatrefoils in the spandrels, a straight head, and stops carved with roses".

It is believed that the church originally had a bell turret, similar to the one still at St Martin's Church in Charlton Abbots, sited over the roof between the transepts. This would have housed Sevenhampton's oldest (15th century) bell (inscribed Sancte Gabriel ora pro nobis). A legacy from John Camber, a wool merchant who died in Sevenhampton in 1497, was used to build the present tower. It has an octagonal stair turret on its south east corner.

There are nine stained glass windows in the church. The earliest is a group of 3 decorated lancets in the south transept, dated 1869, dedicated to John Walter WALKER (6th in the accompanying photographs). The most recent one (last but one photograph) is to the left of the altar, and a memorial dated 1997 to Revd. Stanley WILSON from Cheltenham. The remainder of the windows are alternating panes of clear and pink glass.

St Andrew's Church currently (2018) belongs to the Coln River Group of parishes, as part of the united parish of Sevenhampton with Charlton Abbots.

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SP0326721727. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Andrew's Church, Sevenhampton shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Sevenhampton shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Sevenhampton, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The United Benefice of Withington, Sevenhampton with Charlton Abbots, Hawling, Whittington, Dowdeswell and Andoversford, Shipton and Cold Salperton - the Coln River Group (null) (verified 2018-11-01)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.