Sir Baptist Hicks
Sir Baptist Hicks, first Viscount Campden, made many benefactions to Campden including the Almshouses, the Market Hall and his gifts to the Church included the Pulpit and the Lectern. The water-supply to his new manor house by the Church and to the Almshouses came from springs on Westington Hill and the tiny but elegant Conduit House is still to be seen.
Sir Baptist Hicks’ new manor house was built at a cost of £44.000 in the very latest style and with superb gardens. Towards the end of the Civil War, in 1645, it was burned to the ground by order of the Royalist commander, Prince Rupert, in order to prevent it falling into the hands of the Parliamentary forces.
The Gatehouse and two Banqueting Houses or pavilions remain together with some ruins of the house, beside the Church. It is said that Lady Juliana Noel, Sir Baptist’s heir and widow of Edward Noel, second Viscount Campden, lived afterwards in the converted stables, now called the Court House in Calf Lane.