Winchcombe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Winchcombe
From top to bottom: Sudeley Castle; Railway Station; High Street; Saint Peter's Church; Hailes Abbey
Winchcombe
Population	4,538
OS grid reference	SP025285
District	Tewkesbury
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELTENHAM
Postcode district	GL54
Dialling code	01242
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	Great Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Tewkesbury
List of places UK England Gloucestershire 51°57′18″N 1°57′54″W / 51.955°N 1.965°W / 51.955; -1.965

Winchcombe is a market town of early medieval origin, in the Cotswold hills of Gloucestershire, England, 6.2 mi (10 km) north-east of Cheltenham. The population recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census was estimated at 5,347 in 2019. Fragments of the Winchcombe meteorite, originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, landed in the town on 28 February 2021.

Early history

Part of the main street

The Belas Knap Neolithic long barrow on a hilltop above Winchcombe, was constructed from about 3000 BC favoured by Coenwulf; the others being Lichfield and Tamworth. Subsequently, during the 11th century, the town was briefly the county town of Winchcombeshire. The Anglo-Saxon saint St. Kenelm is believed to be buried in the town.

During the Anarchy of the 12th century, a motte-and-bailey castle was erected in the early 1140s by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford for the Empress Matilda, although the exact site of this is unknown;. It has been suggested however, that it was to the south of St Peter's Church.

In the Restoration period, Winchcombe was noted for cattle rustling and other lawlessness, caused in part by poverty. In an attempt to earn a living, local people grew tobacco as a cash crop, despite this practice having been outlawed since the Commonwealth. Soldiers were sent in on at least one occasion to destroy the illegal crop.

Notable people

In birth order:

• King Coenwulf of Mercia, reigned 796–821, buried in Winchcombe Abbey
• Saint Kenelm (c. 786–811), a martyred boy-king of Mercia, was interred at Winchcombe, which became a major centre for his medieval cult.
• Robert Tideman of Winchcombe (died 1341) was consecrated Bishop of Llandaff in 1393 and translated to the see of Worcester in 1395.
• Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley (c. 1394–1473), Lord High Treasurer of England and builder of Sudeley Castle and St. Peter's Church in Winchcombe.
• Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Chandos (c. 1548–1594), an English courtier in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, was born and was buried at Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe.
• Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos (c. 1580–1621), remembered as "King of the Cotswolds" for his wealth
• Clement Barksdale (1609–1687), born in Winchcombe, became a religious author, polymath and Anglican priest.
• Christopher Merret (1614/1615–1695), born in Winchcombe, a naturalist, produced the first lists of British birds and butterflies.
• Richard Eedes (died 1686), a Presbyterian minister and religious author with royalist sympathies, died at Winchcombe.
• Emma Dent (1823–1900), antiquarian, collector and author of The Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley, restored Sudeley Castle with her husband and built or improved many houses in the town, including the Dent Almshouses.
• George Backhouse Witts (1846–1912), a civil engineer and archaeologist who specialized in the barrows of Gloucestershire, was born in Winchcombe.
• Edward Griffiths (1862–1893) played cricket for Gloucestershire in 1885–1889.
• William Yiend (1865–1939), born in Winchcombe, was an international rugby union forward.
• John Alfred Valentine Butler (1899–1977), born in Winchcombe, was a physical chemist who contributed to electrode kinetics through the Butler–Volmer equation.
• Michael Cardew (1901–1983), master potter, moved to Winchcombe to revive a derelict pottery and 17th-century English slipware tradition.
• John Kingsley Cook (1911–1994), a prominent wood engraver, was born in Winchcombe.
• Ray Finch (1914–2012), master potter, bought Michael Cardew's pottery in 1939, and after the Second World War worked there for the rest of his life making stoneware.
• Colin Pearson (1923–2007), master potter, worked at Winchcombe under Ray Finch until 1954.
• Seth Cardew (1934–2016), a master potter born in Winchcombe, was the son of Michael Cardew and brother of the composer Cornelius Cardew.
• Cornelius Cardew (1936–1981), composer, was born in Winchcombe, the son of Michael Cardew.

Walks

Winchcombe sits on six long-distance footpaths: The Cotswold Way, the Gloucestershire Way, the Wychavon Way, St Kenelm's Trail, St Kenelm's Way, the Warden's Way and the Windrush Way. Winchcombe became a member of the Walkers are Welcome network of towns in July 2009 and now holds a walking festival every May.

Public transport

The town has bus services to Cheltenham, Broadway, Willersey.

Winchcombe railway station

Winchcombe had a railway opened in 1906 by the Great Western Railway from Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham as part of a main line from Birmingham to the South West and South Wales. Winchcombe railway station and most others on the section closed in March 1960. Through passenger trains continued until March 1968 and goods until 1976, when a derailment caused damage and it was decided to close the section. By the early 1980s it had been dismantled. The length between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse via Winchcombe has been reconstructed as the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. It was extended to Broadway in spring 2018. The new station building that opened at Winchcombe on its original site was brought from the former Monmouth Troy railway station. Nearby is the 693-yard/634 m Greet Tunnel, the second longest on a British preserved line.

Community

A community radio station called Radio Winchcombe launched in April 2005 which currently broadcasts for 20 days a year (10 days every 6 months). In December 2011 it was announced that Radio Winchcombe's application to switch to broadcasting full-time had been approved by Ofcom.

Winchcombe Town F.C. currently play in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League.

See also

In Spanish: Winchcombe para niños