St George's Church, Hampnett

St George's is the church of Hampnett, a hamlet on the lane a mile north-west of Northleach, close to where the River Leach rises. Its nave and chancel are Norman, built about 1125, and its chancel is covered in Victorian painting. It is listed Grade I.

History

The Northleach Benefice dates the nave and chancel to about 1125, and the twelfth-century work survives well, above all in the chancel arch. The Victoria County History dates the west tower to the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century, and the rebuilt south wall of the nave and the south porch to the late fifteenth or early sixteenth. It also records earthworks showing that the green was once the site of a larger village, and the walk leaflet points out the traces of deserted houses as you walk on through the hamlet.

The painted chancel

In 1868 the church was restored to designs by G. E. Street, when, the Victoria County History says, the sanctuary arch and vault were rebuilt and the chancel roof decorated. The painting in the manner of medieval church art is credited to the Rev. William Wiggin. The Northleach Benefice dates it to 1868; Historic England's listing gives about 1871, with the firm of Clayton and Bell; and the Victoria County History says that after Wiggin became rector in 1871 he had the rest of the interior painted with simpler patterns and texts. The benefice tells how some parishioners objected and raised a fund to have the paintings removed, but did not collect enough money, so most of the work survives. After the First World War the nave walls were whitewashed, leaving the chancel as it was.

What to see

Go straight to the chancel, where the benefice describes russet stencilling over the whole space. Historic England's listing picks out stencilled flowers and stars in the splays of the windows, single blue flowers on the sanctuary walls, painted stars on the roof panels and the openings outlined in purple. Each quarter of the ribbed vault over the sanctuary holds a painted seated figure, probably the four evangelists.

The twelfth-century chancel arch is the best of the Norman work, with chevron and star mouldings, and on the capitals of its shafts are carved pairs of doves. The fifteenth-century tower at the west end has gargoyles. In the churchyard, about 10m south of the nave, is the stump of a cross shaft on its base, possibly fourteenth century, which is listed separately.

Visiting

St George's is a small country church in the Northleach Benefice, which welcomes visitors and worshippers. The benefice says all its churches are open for services and visitors seven days a week, closing at dusk through the winter months; it publishes no set hours. Toilets and food are in Northleach.

Getting there

Hampnett is about 2km on foot from Northleach Market Place, where parking is free. Go west along West End, cross the A429 with care by the Old Prison and follow the road on to Hampnett. On foot, Northleach, Hampnett and the Saltway goes out past the Old Prison to Hampnett and passes the church; the leaflet calls it worth a visit for its chancel.

Nearby

From Hampnett you can see the tower of Northleach's wool church, St Peter and St Paul, with its brasses to the wool merchants. On the way you pass the Old Prison, which stood in Hampnett parish until 1950, and the Wheatsheaf in Northleach is the place for lunch. Further north, in the Windrush valley, is St Andrew's, Naunton.