Pictures of Kempsford

About Kempsford

Revered as the birthplace of John Arkell, founder of Arkell's Brewery, who was born here in 1802, this picturesque village is also at the division of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire which are divided by the waters of the Thames. The Arkell family estate takes up most of the land in the area and it is therefore unsurprising to find the Arkell name hanging on local pub signs. At either end of the village there is a pub, the atmospheric George was built by John Arkell in 1861 and the Axe and Compass seems to have been created from a row of cottages of roughly the same period.

Kempsford is a pretty place where buildings from the past sit harmoniously with those of the present day. There are attractive canal-side Victorian cottages, beautiful houses from the 17th-century and romantic Kempsford Manor dates from the 18th-century. St.Mary's church is of interest and shows much work from the Norman period, the vicarage though dates from the 16th-century. According to history, a 12th-century castle once stood on the spot where there is now a substantial farmhouse.

The peace of this quaint English village is disturbed at times by the departure and arrival of heavy aircraft at nearby R.A.F Fairford. None-the-less, this pretty Thames-side village with its attractive bridge and quaint English pubs, is well worth a visit.