West country life
Alex Middleton heads to Gloucestershire to see what the medieval town and rolling countryside of Tewkesbury can offer your group.
Set on the edge of the beautiful Costwolds, Tewkesbury is easily one of the nation’s best preserved medieval towns. Its historic winding lanes are home to a range of attractions for your group to explore whilst its location makes an ideal base from which to discover the surrounding towns, villages and country.
Turning to Tewkesbury
Situated on the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, the ancient market town of Tewkesbury is both an ideal base from which to explore the area and home to a variety of historic attractions.
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s recently opened visitor attraction, Out of the Hat, situated in a former hatter’s shop in the town centre, is a good place for your group to begin its visit. Housed in a refurbished Tudor townhouse which presents a blend of modern and historic architecture, the ground floor features a tourist information centre whilst the upper stories are home to a visitor attraction where your group can explore the history of the building and the town through a combination of hand held audio guides and interactive exhibits. Groups receive a discount on entry and, featuring lifts and hearing loops, the attraction is fully accessible.
A short walk from here, you can find Tewkesbury Abbey. Founded in the 12th century on the site of an already 400-year old monastery, it houses a fascinating array of medieval sculpture such as the Cadaver Monument – a carved depiction of a decaying corpse replete with stone insects. You can learn more about the building’s artistic and historic features on a pre-booked guided tour, which can also take your group to the top of the Norman tower, one of the tallest in the UK. The Abbey is free to enter but a £3 donation per person is recommended.
This same small area of the town is also home to the Old Baptist Chapel. First erected as a home in the late Middle Ages, the building was converted into a place of worship in the 17th century and retains many original features from both periods such as the Tudor stucco ceiling and wood panelling. A free guided tour can be booked through Out of the Hat’s tourist information centre.
To explore the town’s rich history further, you can head to Tewkesbury Museum in the town centre. The Museum features an eclectic range of collections focusing on everything from Roman remains in the area to the Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the decisive battles of the 15th century Wars of the Roses.
At the John Moore Countryside Museum, meanwhile, your group can explore the natural history of the region through a number of exhibits looking at British woodland and wetland habitats. The Museum, which offers groups discounts on admission, was built to honour the Tewkesbury-born writer and naturalist, John Moore, and hosts frequent animal displays throughout the year.
Heading out of the town, a short drive south will take you to the Nature in Art Museum near Hatherley. Housed in an 18th century manor house, the Museum illustrates various naturalistic influences in fine art through a comprehensive collection that includes pieces by Reynolds and Bugatti as well as ethnic pieces from Africa and the Pacific and artifacts from the Greek and Roman world. A group visit, which is offered at a discount, can include an introductory talk and artist demonstrations.
Exploring Winchcombe
Located eight miles south east of Tewkesbury, the small Cotswold town of Winchcombe has been settled since prehistoric times and offers your group a wealth of history and culture to discover.
In the centre of the town, your group can visit the medieval St Peter’s Church, which features a bizarre collection of grotesques – contorted carved faces and figures. Entrance is free.
Not far from here, you will find the Victorian Town Hall. On the ground floor is the tourist information centre, whilst upstairs you can visit the Winchcombe Folk and Police Museum. The Museum explores various areas of local rural life with exhibits such as a Victorian Kitchen and agricultural displays.
For railway enthusiasts, the Winchcombe Railway Museum and Gardens is a fascinatingly eccentric attraction. Featuring a collection of locomotive paraphernalia, it is set in one and a half acres of park where you can work old signal levers and play with working model railways.
The railway theme continues just down the road, where your group can find the station of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. The heritage steam railway runs south to Cheltenham and north to the village of Toddington and offers groups discounts on fares as well as the option of pre-booked meals.
Moving about two miles north east of the town, your group can find the ruined Hailes Abbey. Founded by in the 13th century, the Abbey was one of the most important pilgrim sites in Britain before the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It now stands mostly in ruins apart from what is now Hailes Church. The building is one of the oldest parts of the Abbey and is decorated with various medieval wall paintings.
Heading into the countryside south of Winchcombe, your group can step even further back in time at the four and a half thousand year old Belas Knap Long Barrow. Constructed as a burial place by Neolithic Britons in 2,500BC, the Long Barrow was excavated in the late 19th century to reveal intricately constructed stone chambers. Now in the care of English Heritage, groups may explore the memorial for free.
Ancient stones, homes and gardens
The rolling Gloucestershire countryside around Tewkesbury is also packed with beautiful stately homes and fascinating historic buildings for your group to explore.
A few miles south of Tewkesbury in the village of Deerhurst you will find one of the few remaining Anglo-Saxon buildings in Britain, Odda’s Chapel. Maintained by English Heritage, the Chapel, which is free to enter, will give your group a chance to see a building that is almost unaltered since it was built 10 years before the Norman Invasion.
A short walk from here, your group can explore another fragment of Saxon England at the 1,000-year old Deerhurst Church. The church is home to a range of original features including unusual Saxon carvings of an angel and Madonna and child. A pre-booked guided tour is complimentary although a £3 donation per person is suggested.
Continuing southward, your group can see the remains of an even older piece of ancient Britain at The National Trust’s Chedworth Roman Villa. The ruined Villa still features a bathhouse and mosaic floors as well as a shrine to the local water god. Groups can pre-book both guided tours and lunch at the property’s refreshment tent.
Not far from Chedworth is the 17th century ‘grandstand’ of Lodge Park. Also run by The National Trust, it was originally built to provide accommodation and banqueting rooms overlooking Sherborne Estate’s deer coursing track. The site was restored to its original appearance in 1983 and offers groups guided tours of both the building and grounds.
To the east of Tewkesbury, meanwhile, your group can visit Sudeley Castle. Once home to Catherine Parr, the Castle was founded before 1066 although most of the areas still used as a family home are Elizabethan. You can learn more about the Castle’s heritage by pre-booking one of its guided tours, which include a History Tour and Historical Gardens Tour.
A short drive north from Sudeley will bring your group to Stanway House, the Jacobean home of the Earls of Wemyss. The House still features much of its original 17th century furniture and is surrounded by a series of water gardens. Groups of 10 or more are offered a discount on entry.
A little east of here is The National Trust property of Snowshill Manor, the former home of the poet and arts and craft collector, Charles Paget Wade. The Manor still houses his international collection, which includes pieces ranging from 17th century Samurai armour to antique toys and is surrounded by landscaped gardens. Groups are offered a discount on entry and a variety of guided tours.
Year round festivities
Tewkesbury’s broad range of events give groups a number of interesting activities to choose from throughout the year. The following are a taste of what the area has to offer.
For groups keen on traditional British drink, the Tewkesbury Winter Ale Festival takes place at Watson Hall each February. The Festival gives your group a chance to sample over 60 ales, stouts and porters from across the UK as well as various local ciders.
Traditional fare is also on the menu in May at the Tewkesbury Food and Drink Festival, held annually on the Vineyards fields next to the Abbey. The Festival features over 60 local traders in its Food Hall selling everything from organic sausages to ciders. There is also a Cookery Theatre where your group can take in classes given by local and celebrity chefs and various living history events. The festival is free to visit.
For two days each July, meanwhile, the town is packed with period bands, jesters, magicians and dancers during the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival. Visiting the event, your group will be able to enjoy various other medieval-themed events such as jousting and falconry displays as well as the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury – one of the most important battles of the Wars of the Roses. The event takes place at various locations in the town and is free to enter.
Each spring/summer, the town also hosts the Tewkesbury Awaken Your Senses Festival, a four-day cultural celebration featuring a range of musical and theatrical performances as well as free art exhibitons and classes at venues across the town. These include classical concerts at Tewkesbury Abbey and a variety of performances by traditional and fringe companies and performers at the town’s Roses Theatre. For groups interested in going, the date for the 2009 Festival will be announced later this year.
Not far from Tewkesbury in Winchcombe, July is also the month of the annual Cotswold Beer Festival. Hosted for two days at Postlip Hall, the Festival brings together over 80 varieties of ales, beers and ciders from across the country and features an eclectic programme of jazz, blues and brass bands as well as morris dancing. Groups should pre-book tickets.
A little later in the year in September, your group can visit Battle at Sudeley Castle, a annual two-day medieval celebration featuring jousting, archery competitions and displays of hand to hand combat. Your group can also take medieval dancing lessons and learn more about medieval weaponry with historic recreationists. Discounts on entry are available for groups of 20 or more.
Our thanks to Tewkesbury Borough Council, Hilton Puckrup Hall Hotel and Hatherley Manor Hotel for their hospitality to Alex Middleton during his visit.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Visit Tewkesbury Tourist Information Centre
Out of the Hat
100 Church Street
Tewkesbury
GL20 5AB
Telephone: +44 (0)1684 855040
Fax: +44 (0)1684 290587
Email: tewkesburytic@tewkesbury.gov.uk
Web: www.visitcotswoldsandsevernvale.gov.uk