In 1086, 20 years after the invasion of England by the Normans under William the Conqueror, this manor and village of Brimpsfield was gifted by William to Osbern, the son of Walter Giffard, one of William’s closest supporters and who, along with his sons, had fought at the decisive Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Osbern built a castle at Brimpsfield and lived here until his death in 1090. His descendants continued to hold this manor and live in the castle until 1321, when Sir John Giffard, the second Baron, made the mistake of rebelling against King Edward the second. He was hanged as a traitor at Gloucester and his castle ordered to be destroyed.

What’s amazing is that the huge earthworks, forming the roughly oval motte, and even the footings of the original gatehouse are still extremely obvious in the landscape, particularly from the eagle eye of our drone.

St Micheal’s church here was built mainly of stone quarried at Smith’s Cross quarry on Ermine Street which produced the best walling stone in the Cotswolds.

As always, the church we see today took shape over the centuries. The tower was probably added in the late 15th century, but the original 12th century details are everywhere. The replacement of the tower required all kinds of structural reinforcement, as is often the case, but here some truly imaginative techniques were employed leaving us with an unusual and extremely pleasing character.

A network of arches and buttresses produced a couple of very convenient nave alters both North and South.