Visit Tewkesbury by Mouse
Tewkesbury, located where the Severn and the Avon rivers join, in Gloucestershire, is another of the towns
that have many half-timbered buildings, called black and whites, that have a long history and are so pretty. It is 120 miles
northwest of London, 15 miles north of Gloucester and 18 miles east of Ledbury.
In the summer of 2007, its location
became a problem, because it was flooded during the period of heavy rains. The Wikipedia article in the Tewkesbury link above
includes a paragraph about the flood. On the photos page you will see how it looked when we visited in 2006, and also an aerial
photo that appeared in many US newspapers showing how it looked flooded. That photo shows Tewkesbury Abbey on
an island. In the right foreground, where there is mostly water, is where our campground was. One of Ron's photos shows
the Abbey as we saw it from that campground. You can see that it was just a short walk to the main street. We fear
that some of the beautiful Tudor black and whites that have survived from the 15th and 16th centuries, particularly those near one
of the rivers, which you will see in the photographs, were at least partially under water. We do not know the fate of one
of the most historic, the Royal Hop Pole Inn. It was mentioned in Dickens' "Pickwick Papers". The photos page shows that
inn as well as a placque on its front that has the quote from the book. The Wikipedia article reports that the inn was recently
bought by the Wetherspoon Pub chain and it will become part of the chain.
Tewkesbury is a market town and had an open-air market
behind the buildings on the main shopping street about a half-mile or so from the Abbey. We walked there and visited a small
museum that afternoon. The next morning we took a liesurely walk down the main street, turned left to the river or perhaps
only a channel off the river, and walked back along it, taking photos. Then we took the bus to Gloucester, only 15 miles
away. Gloucester also was flooded in 2007.
The Abbey dates from the early 12th century and is one of the largest churches
that are not cathedrals. Indeed , fourteen of England's cathedrals are smaller than this Abbey. When Henry VIII dissolved
the monasteries in 1539 this one was saved by the townspeople who bought it. The price they paid was estimated from the value
of the lead on its roof, and its bells. Dissolution would have torn these out and sold them, with proceeds going to
the king.
