St Mary the Virgin, Tetbury

St Mary the Virgin is the parish church of Tetbury, on Church Street a short walk from the Market House. Francis Hiorn of Warwick rebuilt it in 1777 to 1781 as a tall, light Gothick hall under the old tower and spire, which were themselves rebuilt in the 1890s. It is listed Grade I, and its spire is the landmark of the town.

History

There was a priest at Tetbury by 1086, and the parish says Christians have worshipped on the site since at least 681. In about 1160 Reynold de St Valery gave the church to Eynsham Abbey. The medieval church, rededicated in 1315, was a rambling building of the fourteenth century with a west tower and a tall spire, two north aisles and a south aisle where the Breuse family's chantry of St Mary was founded in 1363. The parishioners built a new chancel shortly before 1467.

Hiorn's new church

An Act of Parliament for rebuilding the church was obtained in 1765. The vicar, John Wight, who died in 1777, was its chief promoter and gave a large sum from his own fortune, alongside subscriptions and the sale of church property. The body of the church was rebuilt from 1777 to the designs of Francis Hiorn and consecrated in 1781, keeping the medieval tower and spire.

The tower and spire

The old tower and spire were rebuilt in the 1890s, paid for by Hamilton Yatman of Highgrove in memory of his son. The listing names Waller as the architect of the tower, rebuilt in 1890 to 1891; the Victoria County History has the tower and spire rebuilt from 1890 to 1893. Some of the galleries and box pews were taken out in 1900.

What to see

Inside, St Mary's is one big room of seven bays, lit by tall windows, and the listing calls it elegant Gothic Revival. Look for:

• The rib vault, carried on slender clustered columns that are made of wood wrapped round a central wooden core
• The original box pews with carved, panelled doors, and the single-storey passages that run along each side, opening into the pews at the edges of the nave
• The U-shaped west gallery, on a smaller version of the same vault
• The altarpiece by Benjamin West, set in the original reredos, and two brass chandeliers of the time
• The marble wall monuments, grouped in the north-east corner and in the gallery, with the Paul family's in the tower and the Saunders family of Upton Grove's in the west passage

The side passages hold older survivors: a stone head that probably came from a Breuse effigy, a tomb of 1586 with effigies of a Gastrell and his wife, and a pair of weathered effigies in fifteenth-century dress that once lay in the churchyard. In the chancel, the monument to Sir William Romney, put up at John Wight's wish, tells the reader to "encourage no unnecessary suits at law among thy neighbours". Most of the glass is by Wailes, with one window by Clayton and Bell, and the bells were recast and increased to eight by Abraham Rudhall in 1722. The parish says seven of his bells still hang in the tower, with a treble cast by John Rudhall in 1803, and the ringers practise on Friday evenings.

Visiting

St Mary's is open every day from 9am to 5pm, and free. It is a working church with Sunday and midweek services, so come outside service times to see the interior quietly; a bright day shows the tall windows at their best. The churchyard has several separately listed memorials. A Church Near You lists a ramp, toilets and a hearing loop. The parish has opened the tower for tours at its summer fete and Christmas Fayre, with the bells to learn about and a climb to the top for the view over the town, and says the tower will be open again at the 2026 Christmas Fayre; its What's On page has the dates.

Getting there

The church is on Church Street (GL8 8JG), two minutes from the Market Place. Buses link Tetbury with Cirencester, Kemble station, Stroud and Bath on weekdays and Saturdays. The council's Church Street car park (pay and display) is by the church; the free Old Railyard car park by the Goods Shed, where the Tetbury town walk starts, and the Chipping car park off Chipping Street (charged Monday to Saturday, free on Sundays) are a few minutes' walk. The Tetbury town walk climbs Church Street past the church, and on the walk to Ashley its spire is the mark you head for across the last fields home.

Nearby

The Market House is up the street, and Bath Bridge carries the Bath road over the valley below the church. St Saviour's, the town's Victorian chapel of ease, is on New Church Street. The Snooty Fox, the Close Hotel and the Gilbertine Kitchen are a few minutes' walk. Out of town, St Mary's at Beverston and St James at Ashley are the medieval village churches round about.