Chipping
Campden dates back to the Iron Age, with traces of Roman and Anglo-Saxon
settlement. The origin of the name Campden is disputed with some
people saying that it comes from the Saxon meaning "valley with
fields" and others that it is Saxon for "battle" (camp) and
"valley in the woodlands". The battle that is referred to is the
great battle of AD670 between Ina, a Saxon King, and the Welsh.
The first detailed reference to Campden is in 1085 in William the Conquer's Domesday Book. This book recorded details of land ownership. Before 1066 the manor of Camperdene had been owned by King Harold but after his death and the conquest of England by the Normans it had passes into the ownership of Hugh d'Avranches the Earl of Chester.
Throughout the Middle Ages Campden prospered on the wool trade. Cotswold wool was highly valued and was exported throughout northern Europe. Around 1185 Chipping Campden received its charter as a borough and a new market was established. By the early 1200s the market area was already been called " Cepynge Caumpedene" - Market Campden. In 1218 a three day fair was granted to Campden to be held on St. James' Day and the two following days. St. James became the patron saint of Chipping Campden with both the Anglican church and primary school bearing his name.
The
rights to the manor of Camperdene passed to Hugh de Gondeville who was one of
the assassins of Thomas a Becket. It is assumed that as an act of
contrition he built a chapel to Catharine of Alexandria. Part of it is
thought to have been incorporated into the town hall. St. Catharine's (the
saint associated with the firework, the Catharine wheel) name
lives on in Campden in both the Catholic church and school.
By the middle of the fourteenth century Campden had become very rich. One
building which does stand out is the house
of William Grevel, built about 1380, possibly later. Grevel was a wool
merchant at a time when wool was the major English export to
