The Church House, No.1 Church Street,

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, is a prominent Grade II

listed building 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 ...

located on the corner of Church Street and Long Street. It is noted for its range of large handsome windows, porch and shop fronts to both Church Street and Long Street. Both

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s have a range of windows indicating its possible former use as a weaver's workshop.

History

The property, once owned by the Feoffees, was often used as a venue for fund raising. One of these was very popular and was known as 'Church Ales', when a barrel or two of weak

ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...

was provided and sold off at a party to raise money for a worthy cause. Around 1752 the property was sold for £250 to help pay for the rebuilding of the Parish Church of St Mary's. This came about apparently because the

tenant Tenant may refer to: Real estate *Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate *Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law *Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate *Tenant farmer *Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...

at the time forgot to take up his option to renew the

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

and occupation on the appropriate day and the Church snatched the opportunity to raise more money. The parish retained the right to hold 'Church Ales' on the ground floor of the building. During recent redevelopment of the cellar ancient, probably

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

, remains were uncovered. The shop is now used as a clothes and fashion retail outlet.

References

Buildings and structures in Gloucestershire Grade II listed buildings in Gloucestershire Tetbury {{UK-listed-building-stub