St Michael's Tower, Gloucester, stands at ''The Cross'', where the four main streets of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

(Northgate, Eastgate, Southgate and Westgate Streets) meet. ''The Cross'' is also the highest point in the city. The Tower is on the corner of Eastgate and Southgate Streets and the entrance is in Southgate Street. It was built in 1465 on the site of the previous ''St Michael the Archangel''.St Michael’s Tower at Gloucester Cross.

Gloucester Civic Trust Gloucester Civic Trust Limited is a registered charity (number 264719)Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building in 1952.

History

The tower was built in 1465 on the site of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the previous church of ''St Michael the Archangel''. There had been a church on the site since the 12th century and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

remains were found under the tower. In the 1840s the old church was demolished, apart from the tower, and a new church was constructed in 1851. The new ''St Michael’s Church'' was closed in 1940, however, and in 1952 the parish was united with St Mary de Crypt. The main part of the new church was demolished in 1956, but again the tower was spared. From 1976 until 1981, the upper floors were used as a bell museum and between 1985 and 1998 it was used as a tourist information centre. At one time the ground floor was an open walkway between Eastgate and Southgate Streets. Eventually it fell into disrepair and was used as storage space by Gloucester City Council.

Restoration

In 2009, Gloucester City Council granted a lease on the building to the

Gloucester Civic Trust Gloucester Civic Trust Limited is a registered charity (number 264719)Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and other donors. The Tower has since become the headquarters of the civic trust who aim to create "A tower of learning" devoted to the history of Gloucester. In August 2011 a campaign was launched by the Civic Trust to reinstate a bell in the tower. This has now been achieved.Keltek Trust web page
/ref>

Gallery

File:St Michael's Tower, Gloucester 04.JPG, Arms of Richard III, Eastgate Street. File:St Michael's Tower, Gloucester 08.JPG, Memorial plaque to the dead of the Gloucester volunteer Training Corps in the First World War, Southgate Street. File:St Michael's Tower, Gloucester 06.JPG, Mosaic, Southgate Street.

History

Restoration

Gallery

See also