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Grade I listed building
There was a church mentioned here in the Domesday book in 1086, although a monastery was founded around 715. The first Abbott was in 1102. The abbey was consecrated in 1121 and had serious fire damage in 1178.
It is a great example of a Norman church, and the tower, which dates from 12th C. is one of the largest and finest examples in Europe. It originally had a wooden spire which was blown down in 1559.
The original nave roof was higher than its present form, its roof marks are visible on the tower. In the nave there are 14 enormous pillars surmounted by Romanesque arches. Each of the pillars is more than 30 feet high and well over 6 1/2 feet in diameter. In mediaeval times, the interior of the abbey would have been brightly painted with vivid biblical scenes and bold patterns.
In the 14th century the ceiling was replaced by stone vaulting. The choir and eastern chapels were rebuilt, and several chantries were constructed.
The Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. Some of the monastic buildings were dismantled, but the townsfolk of Tewkesbury were allowed to buy the church building. The price paid was £483.
There is a fine selection of mediaeval stained-glass in the Abbey.
The Abbey was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott from 1875 to 1879. In the quire is the renown Jacobean Milton organ, regarded by organists as a national treasure. There is also another fine Victorian organ in the north transept called the Grove organ.