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Copyright of John Williams

St George's Church,
Riddle Street,
Hampnett, 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 1125, and we understand it is still open.

Hampnett is a Cotswold stone gated village about half a mile off the busy A40. It has a wonderful Norman church, with almost unique wall painting, in medieval style. The nave and chancel date from 1125, with an extension to the south side, a tower, and south porch added in the 15th century.

Inside however is the church's most spectacular feature. The walls and ceiling of the chancel are covered with a the russet-coloured stenciling, in a recreation of medieval artwork. This dates from 1868, and is the work of the Rev. William WIGGIN, the parish's incumbent at that time. There is however some doubt whether he painted the walls himself, though he claimed to have done so in the Cotswold Church Monthly of April 1892. A more probable scenario, suggested by the information leaflet available inside the church is that it was by the Bristol firm of stained glass makers, Clayton and Bell.

The villagers of the time did not welcome the paintings, and a fund was set up to pay for their removal (or cover-up with whitewash), but fortunately for us in the 21st century, the amount raised was insufficient to complete the task, and all, or most of the painting have been retained intact.

The painting and decoration also extends to the pipes of the organ, and to the chancel window recesses.

Needless to say, the church is a Grade I Listed Building - see the British Listed Buildings website for further details. Further information, and more photographs, may also be available on the website of St Peter & St Paul, Northleach (St George is one if its Benefice Churches).

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 SP1003415688. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St George's Church, Hampnett shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Hampnett 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 Hampnett, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• Information provided on the St Peter & St Paul, Northleach website. (verified 2018-11-24)

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.