Winchcombe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map sources for Winchcombe at grid reference SP0228

The busy main street

Winchcombe is a Cotswold town in the Local Authority District of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, England. Its 2001 census population was 4,379.

During the Anglo-Saxon period, it was a chief city of Mercia, the others being Lichfield and Tamworth. The Belas Knap long barrow is far older, having been constructed in about 3000 BC. St. Kenelm is supposed to be buried here. Notable buildings near the town include Sudeley Castle and the remains of Hailes Abbey. There is nothing left of the now-vanished Winchcombe Abbey. St Peter's church in the centre of the town is famous for its grotesque gargoyles.

For a while in the 11th century, the town was the county town of the county of Winchcombeshire.

Winchcombe was once served by a railway line, a relative latecomer in British railway history, opened in the early 1900s by the Great Western Railway and running from Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham, part of a main line from Birmingham to the South West and South Wales. Winchcombe railway station, along with almost all others on this section, was closed to passengers in 1960; through passenger services continued until 1968, and freight until 1976 when a derailment at Broadway damaged the line. It was decided not to bring the section back into use and by the early 1980s it had been dismantled. The stretch between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse, including Winchcombe, has since been reconstructed and reopened as a heritage railway called the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. A new station has been erected at Winchcombe, on its original site, the building being the former station at Monmouth (Troy). Nearby is the 693 yard Greet Tunnel, the second longest on any preserved line in Britain.

In terms of public transport, the town is pretty averagely served. There is a reasonable bus service, run by a company called Castleways Ltd which connects the town to Cheltenham, Broadway, Willersey and further afield on special services. Castleways also do coach tours around the country and on days out to cities like Oxford, London and Bristol.

Winchcombe is the home to five pubs. On North Street there is both The Old White Lion and The Sun Inn. On the High Street you can find The White Hart, a pub run by Swedes, and further up the road when the High Street becomes Abbey Terrace, you can find the Plasterer's Arms, which is known as a nice friendly pub with a large garden at the back. About a kilometer up the road on Gloucester street you can find The Old Corner Cupboard.

For the last forty years of his life, the noted soldier, educator and poet Sidney Fooks made his home at Corndean, one mile outside Winchcombe.

In April 2005, Winchcombe launched its very own community radio station (link at the bottom) and broadcasts for 4 days a year, with programmes being created during the spaces between broadcasts. Its 3rd and most recent broadcast was on the 21st and 22nd of April 2006, with the next one in October.