Tewkesbury Tales: From Tewkesbury Abbey to Victoria Gardens

(35 reviews)

Cotswolds audio tour: Tewkesbury Tales: From Tewkesbury Abbey to Victoria Gardens

This is a 1.6mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Cotswolds

The United Kingdom

$9.99

Access all 38 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

Saunter along the walkways of one of England’s best preserved medieval towns, Tewkesbury!

This walking tour takes you from the historical Tewkesbury Abbey which, in 2021, celebrated the 900th anniversary of its consecration, to the tranquil Victoria Gardens beside the River Avon. Along the way, I’ll tell you how the industrial revolution by-passed the town, leaving us with over 350 listed buildings of special architectural and historical interest today, many of them timber-framed Tudor houses. You’ll learn why Tewkesbury once was home to 101 pubs. Hear the fate of the Lancastrian lords who claimed sanctuary in the abbey after the Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the most decisive battles in the dynastic struggle for the English throne, now known as the Wars of the Roses. I’ll also share the turbulent religious history of England and how it ties into this lovely little medieval town.

You can look forward to:

Passing the Old Baptist Chapel, the oldest in southern England, where a baptismal pool for full-immersion baptisms remains
Hearing about 18th century ‘top shops’ where weavers housed their looms to make socks and stockings
Taking in a former tanner’s yard which used traditional leather-making techniques
Finding the Royal Hop Pole Hotel, the traditional coaching inn that appears in Charles Dickens’ ‘Pickwick Papers’
Walking through the rabbit warren of alleyways which run throughout the town
Learning about the stone bridge built by King John in 1197
Seeing a 19th century flour mill which, when built, was one of the most advanced in the world
Discovering a traditional water meadow, home to rare and endangered plants and birds
Learning where you can find the largest number of exquisitely decorated medieval tombs outside of London, and why Tewkesbury Abbey has been described as ‘the Westminster Abbey of the Feudal Baronage’

So come and join me on a walking tour of historic Tewkesbury, and find out how the town’s mustard balls became nationally famous!

Allow yourself at least 90 minutes to get the most out of the tour.

Tour Producer

Owen Bowles

6 tours

I'm a Blue Badge Tourist Guide for the Heart of England and Southern England, offering tours of the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in Shropshire, and the West Midlands' cities of Birmingham and Coventry, as well as Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire (including Stonehenge) and the Isle of Wight.

Preview Location

Location 3

Tewkesbury Abbey South Transept

Stop here for a moment.

Now take a look over the black iron fence to your left to the fields beyond.

This is the site of the Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the most decisive battles of the 15th century Wars of the Roses, the dynastic struggle for the throne of England be... Stop here for a moment.

Now take a look over the black iron fence to your left to the fields beyond.

This is the site of the Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the most decisive battles of the 15th century Wars of the Roses, the dynastic struggle for the throne of England between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Lancastrian King Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London, so his wife, Queen Margaret of Anjou raised an army and invaded from France, accompanied by her son, Edward, the Lancastrian Prince of Wales. The Yorkist king, Edward IV, rushed to intercept her before she could be reinforced with troops from Wales. The two armies clashed here on 4th May 1471. Both armies are believed to have been roughly equal size, numbering around 6,000 men each, but the Lancastrians were cornered as they could not cross the River Severn. The battle was a massacre which saw the best part of the Lancastrian army wiped out. Today, there is still a part of the battlefield known as Bloody Meadow. The 16-year-old Prince Edward died in the battle and the leaders of the Lancastrian army sought sanctuary in the Abbey and the protection of the Abbot and his monks. King Edward IV ignored the pleas of the Abbot and forcibly removed the Lancastrians from the Abbey and executed them by the town’s market cross. Shortly after the battle, King Henry VI died in custody, reputedly on the orders of Edward. The battle secured the throne for Edward, who was not seriously challenged until his death in 1483.

Now turn around to look at the abbey.

You are standing on the site of the abbey buildings which were destroyed on King Henry VIII’s orders in the 1540s. This is where the monks’ dormitories and refectory were located. Look up and see a blocked door in the south transept. This marks the night stair, where the monks would have entered the church from their dormitory.

Tewkesbury was a Benedictine Abbey, and the monks would have followed the strict rules of Saint Benedict. In the summer, this required monks to wake up at 1.30 am, attend the first church service at 2 am and then work and attend church services until bed-time at 8.15 pm. The rules were not always strictly followed however. The Bishop of Worcester was appalled when he visited the abbey in 1279 to find a monastery full of drunk and obese monks. He ordered that gluttony and drunkenness should cease; that the monks should eat to live and not live to eat; and that no drinking should take place except in the refectory.

Let’s move on. Carry on walking around the abbey and stop when you reach a stretch of wall with elaborate tracery on your right. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

Tewkesbury Abbey
Tewkesbury Old Baptist Chapel
The Royal Hop Pole - J D Wetherspoon
Tewkesbury Market
Town Hall
Tudor House Hotel
King John's Bridge
Healing's Mill
Severn Ham
Abbey Mill (Fletcher's Mill)

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
3 Gander Ln, Tewkesbury GL20 5PG, UK
Total distance

3km
Final location
Victoria Gardens, Gloucester Rd, Tewkesbury GL20 5SP, UK
Distance back to start location

228.74m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins in the Abbey Lawns Car Park. The entrance to the Abbey Lawns is through the iron gates, on the opposite side of the car park to the car park entrance.

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

A nice cup of tea and coffee and cake may be had at the Touching Souls Tea Rooms in the Abbey Grounds, close to the start of the walk. Good value food and drink may be found at the Royal Hop Pole pub, part of the Wetherspoon's pub chain. For a family-run Italian restaurant, try the Salerno in Church Street. There is also a plethora of good Indian restaurants in Tewkesbury, so you will be spoilt for choice!

Best time of day

From dawn to dusk (some gates on the walk close at dusk). Parts of the walk may not be passable if the rivers are in flood, which occurs frequently in winter.

Precautions

There are a number of pedestrian crossing points on this walk where pedestrians do not have priority. These crossing points are marked by lowered kerb stones and pink asphalt. Please remember that you do not have priority at these crossings and take special care and wait for a break in traffic before crossing the road.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

Scan the QR Code

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”