点评:The Market Hall is the most famous landmark in Chipping Campden. As we walked down the High Street, its honey-coloured Cotswold limestone arches and gabled roofline caught our eye immediately .
Built in 1627, by Sir Baptist Hicks, Lord of Chipping Campden Manor, it is incredibly well-preserved. If you walk inside and tip your head back to look straight up to the roof, the timbers look exactly like they would have done 400 years ago. When we looked carefully, we could see the wooden pegs that hold the stone shingles in place. At your feet, the the ancient cobbled stone pavers form the original floor. You can see the marks of centuries of wear. Many areas are worn smooth.
The side walls are not solid and are open arches which makes sense when you think of how it was used. Customers could come and go and had easy access to the stalls.
Back in the day, it was a thriving centre of commerce and would have been bustling with traders selling trade local produce and goods like cheese, bread, butter and poultry.
Although Chipping Campden was a very prosperous sheep and wool town, wool was never sold at this market.
Hicks was a generous benefactor to the town. In addition to the market hall, he built almshouses for the poor and made significant donations to the church.
He had made his fortune as a trader in silks, satins and fine fabrics and, more importantly, as a money-lender to King James I. The Hicks’ family coat of arms can be seen on the facade of the hall, between the two gables on the opposite side to the war memorial.
翻译:市场大厅是奇平卡姆登最著名的地标。我们沿着高街漫步,蜂蜜色的科茨沃尔德石灰岩拱门和人字形屋顶立刻吸引了我们的目光。
市场大厅由奇平卡姆登庄园领主巴普蒂斯特·希克斯爵士于1627年建造,保存完好。走进大厅,仰头直视屋顶,木材的模样与400年前一模一样。仔细观察,我们能看到固定石瓦的木桩。脚下,古老的鹅卵石铺砌成了最初的地面。你可以看到几个世纪以来的磨损痕迹。许多地方都被磨得光滑。
侧墙并非实心,而是开放式拱门,考虑到它过去的用途,这也很合理。顾客可以自由进出,轻松进出摊位。
昔日,这里曾是繁荣的商业中心,商贩们熙熙攘攘,贩卖着当地农产品以及奶酪、面包、黄油和家禽等商品。
尽管奇平卡姆登曾是一座繁荣的绵羊和羊毛小镇,但这个市场从未出售过羊毛。
希克斯对这座小镇慷慨解囊。除了市场大厅,他还为穷人建造了救济院,并向教会捐赠了巨额款项。
他通过经营丝绸、缎子和精美织物积累了财富,更重要的是,他曾为詹姆斯一世国王放债。希克斯家族的盾徽可以在大厅的正面看到,位于战争纪念碑对面的两座山墙之间。