Tewkesbury Walk: Town Centre【4K】

Located in the county of Gloucestershire, and around eight miles northwest of Cheltenham, is the town of Tewkesbury.

The name 'Tewkesbury' is derived from Old English for 'Theoc's fortification'. Theoc is the name of the Northumbrian hermit who settled at the confluence of the River Severn and River Avon (n.b. the River Avon being the one that flows through Stratford and Warwick, not to be confused with the one that flows through Bristol and Bath, or the other one that flows through Salisbury!) in the 7th century.

In circa 715 a monastery was founded in Tewkesbury. No trace of it remains, though it is believed to have occupied the same spot as Tewkesbury Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1087 by Robert Fitzhamon, cousin of William the Conqueror. Construction did not begin until 1102, and it was consecrated in 1121. The central tower dates from the 12th century, and is said to be the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe. A wooden spire was situated on top of the tower until 1559, but was blown off in a heavy storm. The abbey was spared from destruction during the Dissolution of the Monasteries when the townsfolk claimed it was actually a parish church. They then collected £453 to purchase it from Henry VIII.

On the 4th of May, 1471, the Battle of Tewkesbury took place during the Wars of the Roses. Three weeks earlier, the Yorkists were victorious at the Battle of Barnet. Concurrently, Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of the recently deposed Henry VI, landed from France into Weymouth. Upon learning of the Yorkists' victory she headed towards Wales where many Lancastrian forces were located. King Edward IV, fresh off the battlefield at Barnet, sent a messenger ahead to Gloucester to order the closure of the city gates. As such, Margaret was unable to cross the Severn into Wales and had to proceed to the next available bridge, located at Upton upon Severn. The Yorkists intercepted the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury.

The Lancastrians took up a defensive position a mile south of the town. On either side were around 6,000 men. On the Yorkist side, King Edward IV was accompanied by his youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (who would later become Richard III). The battlefield became known as "The Bloody Meadow". The Yorkists were victorious, and three of the four Lancastrian commanders were killed in battle. The fourth was Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. He attempted to hide, along with various other survivors, in Tewkesbury Abbey. The Yorkists forced their way in and captured those inside. Beaufort was brought to Tewkesbury Cross (first seen just before the 12-minute mark, now a war memorial) and was beheaded. One of the three Lancastrian commanders killed in battle was Edward of Westminster, son of Henry VI. He was just 17 years old, and was the only Prince of Wales ever to die in battle. His body was laid to rest at Tewkesbury Abbey.

In 1840 a railway station opened in Tewkesbury. It formed part of the Tewkesbury and Malvern Railway which ran from Ashchurch to Great Malvern. The station closed to passengers in 1961, and to freight in 1964. The neighbouring village of Ashchurch, two miles to the east, lost its station in 1971. This was reopened in 1997 as Ashchurch for Tewkesbury, and is the nearest station to the town today. There are also regular buses to and from Cheltenham.

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Filmed: 19th February 2023

Link to the walk on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/rKa8d4zFh9rV6nHi6

Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 River Avon
1:56 Mill Street
3:14 Tewkesbury Abbey
4:51 Church Street
6:09 Abbey Lawn Cottages (dating from 1410)
6:36 Church Street
7:08 Tewkesbury Abbey
8:35 Church Street
11:58 Barton Street
18:21 High Street
24:36 Mythe Road
25:16 River Avon
25:47 Mythe Road
26:06 River Avon