Over the centuries the village has had several names. Cercelle, Churchell with an E, but by the middle of the 16th century it had settled on Churchill.

We don’t normally go to any great lengths to explain the weird names there are in the Cotswolds, but to avoid everyone leaping to the natural but inaccurate conclusion that it has something to do with Winston, and his local family at Blenheim, it’s worth just mentioning the name on this occasion.

It probably derives from the Old English word Cyrc, which means hill, and often refers to a burial place, the remains of several of which are to be found in the vicinity. This does strongly suggest that there was a settlement here in pre-historic times.

It seems the fire was started by the local baker, possibly trying to find a way to avoid the Hearth tax. This was a tax familiar as far back as the Byzantine empire, but introduced to England at the restoration of the monarchy in 1662, in order to help provide the enormous income Charles the second was believed to need at the time. Needless to say it caused some resentment.

In the case of this village it led to disaster, as the whole place was consumed by fire, leaving nothing standing but the church.

The villagers rebuilt on the hill above, from stone rather than wood, and despite several fires since, it has survived to tell the tale.