A Trip To Tewkesbury

With violent storms forecast for later in the day, on Wednesday we were on the road at just after 9am arriving at our destination, Tewkesbury, forty minutes later. A Mediaeval market town in the county of Gloucestershire, Tewkesbury stands on the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Severn and was named after Theoc, a Saxon who formed a hermitage here in the 7th Century.

The town is probably best known for the Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471 and was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. Tewkesbury Abbey, which was built in the 12th Century, was unsuccessfully used as a sanctuary by some of the defeated Lancastrians following the battle but the victorious Yorkists, led by Edward IV, forced their way into the abbey and the subsequent bloodshed caused the building to be closed for a month until it could be purified and re-consecrated.

Originally part of a monastery, the Abbey was saved from Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries after being bought by the townspeople for the price of the lead on the roof to use for their parish church.

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The houses and shops throughout the town chart Tewkesbury’s prosperity through a variety of trades. Medieval cottages exist alongside Tudor townhouses and Georgian architecture. Famous for its mustard (Shakespeare’s Falstaff has the line “Wit as thick as Tewkesbury mustard”), other major industries over the years in Tewkesbury include brewing and malting, pin making and the knitting of stockings.

I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that there's a Wetherspoons in Tewkesbury, The Royal Hop Pole on Church Street is an amalgamation of a number of historic buildings dating between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries and even got mentioned in Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. 

During the refurbishment, the builders discovered a Medieval dining hall within the structure. The last time we visited was back in the height of the summer in 2019 when we sat in the beer garden overlooking the river and felt the heat of the sun prickling our scalps. We were indoors on this visit, partaking in their Deli Meal Deals, a cheese & tomato panini with a glass of Pinot Noir for me and a chicken and sweet chilli wrap and a lager shandy for Jon, who was driving.

The exterior is currently beneath scaffolding, so here's an interior shot instead. The Royal Hop Pole is also one of Wetherspoons' hotels with rooms starting at £44 per night.

 Over the River Avon, close to the former flour mill, King John's Bridge has its origins in the late 12th century. Another of the town’s entrances over the River Severn is the Mythe Bridge designed by Thomas Telford. A cast-iron structure with a 170-foot span, the bridge opened to traffic in 1826.

Who couldn't love a town with a cat sculpture? 

Longtime readers may remember this photo, taken on our last visit in Summer 2019. Taken outside 22, Church Street, the owners repaint their front door according to the season. 

And here's Winter.....

Needless to say, we had a look around Tewkesbury's charity shops when we were there. The quality of the stock was excellent but, like Cirencester, the clothes were all rather staid and conservative but we unearthed a few gems.

A 1980s tweed coat, a forest green felted wool hat by posh hatmaker, Nigel Rayment (his hats retail at upwards of £200), a rather fabulous English-made 1970s red wool cape, some handmade tartan trousers, a 1970s wool tunic by Jaeger and some Ankh earrings.

As with every place we visit I had to search for properties for sale in Tewkesbury. My favourite is this cosy & colourful one pictured above- a three-storey, mid-17th Century cottage a few yards walk from Tewkesbury Abbey, more details HERE.

We managed to get back before Storm Dudley reached the Midlands and thankfully, the house & garden escaped unscathed. We're now preparing for Storm Eunice which is predicted to be the worst one to hit the UK in over thirty years. 

See you soon (I hope!)