Much of Gimson’s working life at Sapperton was spent in his drawing office. It was in a two-storey outbuilding in the garden of his house, above an open shed where he did his plasterwork. According to Norman Jewson, Gimson enjoyed the break from routine which an afternoon in the plaster shed provided. He would spend about two mornings a week in the furniture workshops at Daneway; on other mornings he would call in at the smithy at Sapperton and the chair-making workshop at the Daneway sawmill. He made regular visits to Sidney Barnsley, his nearest neighbour and closest friend, to discuss ideas and work in progress. He would also have had to make time to meet clients, supervise architectural work and other projects on site, and provide reports and case notes for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
His social life revolved around the local community. Norman Jewson recalled Gimson’s love of good music, singing and country dancing. There was a constant stream of visitors, particularly old friends and architectural colleagues from London such as Robert Weir Schultz, Francis Troup, Emery Walker and Sidney Cockerell. Cecil Sharp and Arnold Dolmetch, both part of the folk song revival in the early 20th century, visited regularly. Alfred Powell, who first came to the Cotswolds in 1901 to convalesce with the Gimsons, settled locally in about 1903 with his wife Louise and became an important part of their circle. Fred Griggs, one of his closest friends towards the end of his life, recalled that Gimson and his wife, ‘taught Sapperton to enjoy itself.’
