Why Meteoric fame for Winchcombe? ………Perhaps because Winchcombe has the historic and dynamic credentials to make it the perfect landing site for the meteorite to enter the ever-changing landscape that is human history!
Early history
Winchcombe nestles in a valley of the Cotswold Hills in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Its path into history began with the long barrow (3,000 BC) at Belas Knap. The town was put on the map by the Saxon King Coenwulf (Kenulf) who made it an important centre of the Anglo Saxon Kingdoms. He founded Winchcombe Abbey which attracted pilgrims to the town with its story of the child martyr, St. Kenelm, rumoured to have been murdered by a lover of his sister and would-be queen Quenthryth. Nearby Hailes Abbey also drew pilgrims when a phial of Christ’s blood was donated in 1270. The town prospered until the dissolution of both Abbeys in 1538 under Henry Vlll.
Royal connections
Sudeley Castle is the town’s largest tourist attraction and boasts the happy resting place of the only wife ever to have been lucky enough to outlive Henry VIII; Katharine Parr. She died in 1548 and her tomb attracts many visitors, there in St Mary’s Church in the grounds of the castle.
Wool power
In the medieval ages the Cotswold Lions brought great prosperity to the area…. and no these were not now extinct ferocious creatures scaring the local inhabitants but the name for the local sheep whose flowing fleeces were exported and bought by Florentine merchants who used the wool woven with gold to robe Kings and clergy alike. The local wool merchants brought great wealth to the Cotswolds and some used it to establish the great wool churches of Cirencester, Chipping Camden, Fairford, and Northleach.
St. Peter’s Church
Our own St Peter’s Church is the landmark for Winchcombe. Its origins go back to the Abbey, but the present building dates from around 1450 and is particularly popular for its grotesques ( carved stone heads, some of whom were caricatures of characters the stone mason didn’t like!) high on the outside walls protecting the church!
Grotesque 
St. Peter’s in springtime
Victorian benefactors left a legacy of recognisable buildings within the town as well as improvements for health and welfare of its inhabitants. The photo below shows Dent’s Terrace Almshouses, built in 1865.
Winchcombe today
Today Winchcombe is a thriving town, with most amenities (schools, medical centre, library, shops, restaurants, pubs, churches, museum) only a walk away. It hosts some wonderful festivals including a walking festival, a Country Fair and an Arts and Music festival, run by its enterprising inhabitants. Click here for more information on Winchcombe’s many attractions.
Tall tales from around the town…
Technology
As part of the Government’s “Rural up-levelling” programme, road signs around Winchcombe have been upgraded using state-of-the-art digital technology.
Keeping Winchcombe safe
Winchcombe has several pillboxes which help to defend the town from invaders from far-away places like Cheltenham, Bishops Cleeve, etc. To save money they are no longer manned, but (and this is the best part) the invaders don’t know that!
To deter unwanted guests carved men with stern faces, large sticks and fierce dogs have been placed at strategic sites around the town. As yet we have not decided on our strategy against intruders daring enough not to use designated public footpaths for their attack routes.
If the grim-faced men with dogs are not enough to keep Winchcombe safe we also have our secret weapon - a life-sized model of a young elephant which stands ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice.