Tetbury - a very quick visit

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The Cotswolds are certainly an area we must explore in the future. We stopped overnight, at the Snooty Fox, and then travelled on next day. Too short - must come again!
Tetbury is an historic market town in the heart of the Cotswolds, featuring a 17th century market hall and some lovely Jacobean and Elizabethan buildings. The first written record of Tetbury occurs in 681 AD, when Ethelred of Mercia gave 15 acres of land near 'Tette's monastery' to the abbey of Malmesbury. Who Tette was, we do not know for certain, but we do know that a woman of that name was abbess of a monastic settlement at Wimborne around this time. It is possible that the current church of St Mary the Virgin was built on the site of an earlier Saxon monastic settlement.So, plenty of history for me to get my teeth into.. But for now just a few images.


In much the same way that Big Ben is an icon of London, or Arlington Row is an icon of Bibury, the Market Hall is the icon of Tetbury. Located in the centre of town at the confluence of several streets, the 2 storey Market Hall is an attractively restored pillared building which dates to 1655. Over the years it has seen service as a marketplace, fire station, and gaol. The cupola on top was added to mark Queen Victoria's Jubilee, but apart from that the Market Hall is much as it would have been over 350 years ago, and it is still the site of regular events.



The picturesque old cottages of Chipping Steps



The spire of St Mary the Virgin is the 4th highest in England. The earliest suggestion of a church on this site dates to a charter of Ethelred, King of Mercia, in 681 AD. Ethelred granted 15 acres of land near a place identified as 'Tette's monastery' to the abbey of Malmesbury. Of that first monastic church there is now no trace, but tradition suggests that it occupied the same site as the current church, on a level mound at the southern edge of the town.
The Saxon church was replaced around 1160, and a tower and spire added in the 14th century. The spire reaches 186 feet, making it the fourth highest in England. The medieval church was, in turn, damaged by storm in the late 17th century. The church fell into a state of severe disrepair that was only reversed when an act of Parliament allowed the church to be demolished, saving only the tower and spire, which were spared. 
The tower did eventually begin to list to one side, and in 1891 it was torn down and rebuilt using the same stones. The current building was built over the years 1777 - 1781 under the direction of Francis Hiorne of Warwick, who designed a lofty and spacious building incorporating a very tall nave with much shorter ambulatories to the north and south. 
So, quite a story to this magnificent building.


One of the gargoyles adorning the church. Plenty more to see here then!





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