Chipping Campden in 1836
Chipping (market) Campden, 24 miles north-east of Gloucester, near the confines of Worcestershire, is a very ancient market-town and borough, situated in a fertile valley surrounded by cultivated hills partially covered with woods. There are records so early as 687 of this place, when the Saxon kings assembled here to consult on the mode of carrying on the war with the Britons. In the fourteenth century this town became the principal mart for wool, and the residence of many opulent merchants ; but as the wool trade became more generally diffused Campden gradually declined, and both the manufacturers and merchandise of early days are now totally lost.
The church stands on a gentle declivity above the town, in the hamlet of Berrington ; it is a very handsome ancient structure, having an ornamented tower at the west end, 120 feet high ; at the east end of each aisle is a chapel. It is probable that this church owed its erection to the munificence of the wool merchants, several of whom are interred here, with brass effigies and memorials. In the chapel in the south aisle there are some very fine marble monuments. Campden has an hospital and several other institutions founded by Sir Baptiste Hicks, early in the seventeenth century. The population of the place in 1831 was 2038, the number of houses was 419. Campden is one of the polling places for the eastern division of the county.
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