The people of Brockhampton, the village we visited just west of here, would walk the mile or two to church in the village of Sevenhampton, pronounced locally Sennington I understand, where we are now. The church of St Andrew was formally a chapelry of Prestbury, and Norman in origin, but it was very much altered and enriched under the will of John Camber, who died around 1497.

Camber was a merchantman from Worcester who almost certainly had a wool business in the Cotswolds and is buried in this church. He was responsible for the central tower, the south porch as well as the remodelling of the 13th century transepts.

It is the central tower, inserted with Camber’s money and under his instruction, that gives this church its unique and charming character.

There are two fonts. One probably 17th century shaped like a chalice, and the more recent and more often used, decorated with large angels, dated 1892.

There is a small brass inset in the wall of the church’s benefactor, John Camber. A small monument, in a small church to a generous man who clearly fell for this part of the world and the people in it.

This little church can certainly claim the title of a Cotswold Wool Church, having largely been paid for out of the proceeds of a local wool business, but it has none of the pomp and grandiosity that you find in the more famous wool churches of, for instance, North Leach or Burford. It is small, compact, and beautifully formed. A classic Cotswold Gem.