Interactive Map
Before you make a visit you might like to take a brief spiritual or historical tour of the Abbey.
Hovering over a numbered or lettered square will tell you what you will see on your journey, clicking will give you more information.
Before you make a visit you might like to take a brief spiritual or historical tour of the Abbey.
Hovering over a numbered or lettered square will tell you what you will see on your journey, clicking will give you more information.
The Shop is situated inside the Abbey. We sell a wide range of interesting crafts, gifts, cards, jewellery and music.
The Abbey was consecrated in 1121 as the church to the Benedictine Abbey of Tewkesbury, commemorated by this cross in the North Porch.
This small chapel was for the private worship of the Abbot. It is thought that he could enter it via a covered walkway from his lodgings in what is now Abbey House.
Our roof bosses are unique. The fifteen in the centre of the roof represent the life of Jesus, he is surrounded on both sides by angels playing medieval instruments. You can find a book that will tell you much more about our bossesin the Abbey Shop.
The abbey was divided just before the pulpit, reserving one half for the monastery and the other for community life.
The Milton Organ, built in 1631 for Magdalen College, Oxford and sold to the abbey in 1736. It is reputed to have been played by the poet John Milton. Restored in 1997 it has 68 speaking stops and 4,611 pipes.
The beautiful vaulted roof, with its gilded Suns of York. Set in the roof by Edward IV after the Yorkist victory in 1471.
O gracious and Holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive thee,
intelligence to understand thee,
diligence to see thee,
eyes to behold thee,
a heart to meditate upon thee and a like to proclaim thee through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord
A prayer of St Benedict, under whose leadership monks worked, lived and worshipped in Tewkesbury Abbey for more than 400 years.
Alec Miller
Carver and sculptor (1879-1961)
Alec Miller trained as a woodcarver in Glasgow. He joined the Guild of Handicraft in 1902, just as it was moving to Chipping Campden.
He stayed in Campden after the failure of the Guild, broadening his work to become both carver and sculptor, craftsman and artist. He specialised in portrait sculpture and made telling studies of children. In 1939 he emigrated to California, where he had a successful career.
Two modern windows, designed and made by Tom Denny in 2002, mark the 900th anniversary of the Benedictines coming to Tewkesbury.
A colourful life-size kneeling effigy of Lord Edward Le Despenser in full armour adorning the top of the Despenser Chantry Chapel. It is the only surviving example of a type of memorial which would probably have looked far less curious to the medieval eye.
This beautiful Elizabethan cope is worn by the vicar and is kept in a specially designed (and award winning) cope chest. The drawers swing out to allow the cope to lie flat, without folding.
Statue by Anthony Robinson
Our Lady, Queen of Peace faces the site of the pre-Reformation Lady Chapel which was destroyed in 1540.
A grisly memento mori to the last Abbot, look for the worm, a frog, a mouse and a snail devouring his corpse.
The resting ledges in the choir stalls are usually carved with secular themes, some surprisingly crude. Look out for the man pointing to his bottom!
Imagine the thousands of people who have walked here before and the significant moments in their life stories that have played across this space – moments that humanity and God shared together.
There may not be anyone speaking from there now, but God’s voice can still be heard in the stillness and the beauty of this place.
Often the floor plan of a church is in the shape of a cross. Maybe God is central to who you are and the choices you make, or maybe he rarely crosses your mind.
It is here that the bread and the wine are shared, the defining symbols of church life. These symbols speak to us of the sacrifice Jesus made at the cross, where his blood was shed and his body was broken.
The windows fill the Abbey with light. Light that reveals beauty and colour, and allows us to see. It shows us the pitfalls and helps us to move forward.