Pipe and tabor player roof boss after restoration

Roof bosses on the Abbey ceiling

Tewkesbury's fortunes depended on the wool industry as the Abbey owned land and sheep all over the Cotswolds. The Abbey was consecrated in 1121 and when it was dissolved after 1539 the townspeople bought the building for £453. Insisting it was their parish church, which they had the right to keep, they bought it from King Henry VIII for the value of its bells and lead roof which would have been salvaged and melted down, leaving the structure a roofless ruin.

Embellishments to the long nave roof were made 1320-40 in the Decorated style.

 

Tewkesbury Abbey 23rd July 2007