Historic Churches in Gloucestershire

A small Cotswold church dating to the 12th century, with associations to the Knights Templar. St Mary's is well worth visiting for its idyllic setting above the River Windrush, its collection of carved medieval corbel heads, and its restored 18th-century decalogue.
Temple Guiting, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Heritage Highlight: Carved corbel heads
Photos of Temple Guiting, St Mary's
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St Mary's church in the market town of Tetbury may be the oldest site of Christian worship in Gloucestershire. The Georgian Gothic building may stand atop a 7th-century Saxon monastery. Inside the church is the 13th-century effigy of William de Braose and two painted 16th-century effigies of Gastrell family members.
Church Street, Tetbury, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Heritage Highlight: The 13th century De Braose memorial
Photos of Tetbury, St Mary the Virgin
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During the mid-Victorian period, it was customary for families to pay a rental fee for their church pew. Naturally, those wealthy enough usually paid for the best (usually meaning the most prominent and easily visible) seating. However, this left poor families at an enormous disadvantage as the increasingly large box pews were taken by the wealthy parishioners.
New Church Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England, GL8 8DS

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Heritage Highlight: Intact Victorian gas lighting
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The pride of Tewkesbury is the superb abbey church of St Mary the Virgin. The church dates to the 12th century and is known for its marvellous collection of ornate medieval chantry chapels. The sacristy door is studded with bits of armour found on the battlefield after the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. The battle spilled over into the abbey itself when the victorious Yorkists under Edward IV chased defeated Lancastrian soldiers into the abbey and slew them.
Abbey Office, Church Street, Tewkesbury, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England, GL20 5RZ

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Photos of Tewkesbury Abbey
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A lovely 12th century church with a striking timber tower. St John's boasts a Norman tympanum over the blocked north doorway, and the fossil of an ichthyosaurus embedded in the floor of the porch. Look for 14th century glass depicting Edward II, a 14th century churchyard cross, and a Saxon pillar flanking the south door.
Stoke Road, Tredington, Gloucestershire, England, GL20 7AB

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Heritage Highlight: 12th century tympanum
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A 13th/15th-century church in an attractive Cotswold village. There are Norman carvings set in the exterior walls and a faded 14th-century wall painting on the nave arcade. There is a Perpendicular tower and north porch with worn headstops of the same age. Look for humorous grotesques on the north tower wall.
Turkdean, Gloucestershire, England, GL54 3NT

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Heritage Highlight: Norman carvings in the south chancel exterior wall
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St Peter's Church in the idyllic village of Upper Slaughter dates to the Saxon period, though the present building is primarily 12th-century with much Victorian remodelling. Look for the outstanding tower arch, carved with chevrons, Tudor brasses of the Slaughter family, and the 14th-century niche for an Easter Sepulchre.
The Square, Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England, GL54 2JE

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Heritage Highlight: 12th-century tower arch
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A 13th-century church located directly beside the National Trust property of Westbury Court Garden. The church features a detached bell tower, brass chandeliers dating from 1730, and crusader crosses carved into the door of the porch.
Bell Lane, Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire, England

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One of the great medieval wool churches in the Cotswolds, St Peter's stands on a rise of ground overlooking the B4632 in the heart of Winchcombe, almost within view of historic Sudeley Castle. The church is known for its collection of amusing gargoyles, one of which is said to be the model for the Mad Hatter in Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland stories. Within the church is an altar frontal made up of 14th-century vestments, stitched together by Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first queen, and ancient coffins thought to have been used to bury King Kenelm, a 9th-century Saxon ruler, and St Kenelm, his son.
Gloucester Street, Winchcombe, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England, GL54 5LU

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Heritage Highlight: Altar frontal stitched by Queen Catherine of Aragon
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The delightful country church of St Michael's Church in Winson began as a chapel to nearby Bibury. the oldest part of the church is 12th century, with a Norman doorway, 14th-century porch, and a 12th-century chancel arch. There is a restored late medieval stone pulpit and a Norman font, as well as a very large number of attractive 17th and 18th-century table tombs outside the porch. The chancel is decorated in Victorian Revival style.
Ditch Lane, Winson, Gloucestershire, England, GL7 5ER

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