THE Almshouses in Chipping Campden were possibly the most famous and most photographed in Britain – but like so many other beautiful buildings 40 years ago were not the most comfortable.

But in 1972 the trustees embarked on a £40,000 improvement scheme, which had just about reached halfway in October of that year.

Five of the almshouses were modernised and completed when an article about the work was printed in the Journal and a further four were in the throes of modernisation.

The remaining three, which had not had any work done at that point, highlighted the contrast between the new and the old.

Mrs Mary Moore lived at the unrestored end of the row of cottages in conditions that could only be described as gloomy, cramped and inconvenient.

While Mr Cyril James at the restored end enjoyed a light and comfortable home.

The alterations were reportedly made “without diminishing the beauty of the group as a whole”.

Yet the cost was heavy and the income available to the trustees was small. Despite receiving grants towards the work, the trustees were appealing for support from townsfolk.

The Earl of Gainsborough, a trustee by virtue of his title, told the Journal: “Costs keep going up all the time. The original estimate two years ago was £22,000, so it has nearly doubled since then. It has cost £546 to repair one chimney stack and there are four more to be done with others at either end.

“They were built by my ancestor, Sir Baptist Hicks, whose daughter, Juliana, after whom my eldest daughter is named, married into the Noel family and it is this marriage which established a link with the Earls of Gainsborough.”

When they were finished it was planned that each Almshouse would have a living room, kitchen with refrigerator and cooker, bedroom, bathroom, central heating and gas fire.

Lord Gainsborough anticipated that more people would want to live in the houses once they were completed.

“People have always liked to come on this terrace, where it faces southwards, and it has always been a popular place.

People who come here always seem to live to quite a good age.

It is nothing to have sprightly old ladies like Mrs Moore, who is 86. They are all wonderful tenants, in their different ways.

You could not find nicer people.”