CHURCH.
The minster church mentioned in 681 (fn. 39)
is not otherwise recorded, but there was presumably
a church at Tetbury in 1086 when a priest was
recorded on the manor. (fn. 40) Reynold de St. Valery
granted Tetbury church to Eynsham Abbey c. 1160. (fn. 41)
In 1273 the living was a rectory in the patronage of
the abbey, (fn. 42) which appropriated the benefice in
1332; a vicarage was created then (fn. 43) and the living has
remained a vicarage, forming a united benefice with
Beverstone from 1951. (fn. 44)
Eynsham Abbey held the rectory and the advowson of the vicarage until the Dissolution, and in 1546
the Crown granted them to the dean and chapter of
Oxford cathedral, (fn. 45) who remained owners of the
rectory, usually leasing it. (fn. 46) The advowson was
exercised by assignees of the abbey at the first two
vacancies after the Dissolution, and at the third, in
1556, by Richard Archdale under assignment from
the dean and chapter. (fn. 47) In 1561 the dean and chapter
granted the advowson to Lord Berkeley in settlement
of a dispute over the rectory of Wotton under Edge, (fn. 48)
and it was sold to the townspeople in 1633. (fn. 49) From
that date the town feoffees exercised it, a vote among
the feoffees deciding the candidate for presentation. (fn. 50)
The feoffees sold the advowson in 1840 to John
Stanton, (fn. 51) whose son Charles owned it in 1856. By
1885 it belonged to the incumbent George Horwood,
passing to his successor William Thompson, who
sold it c. 1930 to Sir Walter Reuben Preston, M.P.,
of Hillsome Farm (fn. 52) (d. 1946). Sir Walter's widow
Ella (fn. 53) sold it c. 1964 to Maj. J. E. B. Pope of Upton
Grove, who shared the advowson of the united
benefice with the Crown. (fn. 54)
In 1291 the rectory was valued at £24 over and
above a portion of £2 paid to Eynsham Abbey. (fn. 55)
Payment of a portion to Oseney Abbey in respect of
tithes settled by Robert Doyley on the chapel in
Oxford castle had apparently lapsed by then,
although Oseney still laid claim to a portion of the
tithes in 1389. (fn. 56) After the appropriation of the
rectory Eynsham Abbey-apparently made difficulties
over payment of a portion to the vicar; it owed him
£50 in 1334, (fn. 57) and in 1340 the vicar tried to enforce
his claim to £100 by using violence against the
abbey's property in the town. (fn. 58) In 1374, however, a
generous portion was confirmed to the vicar: he was
to have the small tithes, the hay tithes, 12 quarters of
corn as church-scot, rents from houses in the town,
90 a. of arable land, 4 a. of meadow, pasture for 6
bulls, and the use of the former rectory house and its
buildings except for two barns which the abbey was
to retain for its tithes. (fn. 59)
In 1572 the vicar's glebe was extended at 80 a. of
arable and c. 5 a. of meadow and he owned the
vicarage house and a burgage in the town; (fn. 60) in 1635,
however, several tenements in the town belonged to
the vicar. In the early 17th century and later his
share of the tithes included all the small tithes, the
corn tithes from Doughton, and all the hay tithes,
although a composition of 5s. 1d. was fixed for the
hay of Upton. (fn. 61) The Grange estate, formerly
Kingswood Abbey's, was tithe free, (fn. 62) and its exemption was presumably the underlying cause of disputes between its owners, the Gastrells, and the
parish over parochial rights during the 17th
century. (fn. 63) The vicar was awarded a corn-rent charge
of £800 for his tithes in 1838, compared with £240
awarded for the rectory tithes. (fn. 64) The vicarage was
said to be worth 40 marks in 1374 (fn. 65) and £35 1s. 3d. in
1535. (fn. 66) It was valued at £60 in 1650, (fn. 67) rising to £200
by 1750 (fn. 68) and £903 by 1856. (fn. 69)
The vicarage house, standing north of the church,
incorporates in its service range what may be a
fragment of a 16th-century house. In 1771 John
Wight (fn. 70) remodelled that range and added new
principal rooms to create a south front. The house
was again extended shortly before 1839. (fn. 71) In the mid
19th century it was occupied by one of the curates,
while the vicar John Frampton lived at his own
house, the Priory. (fn. 72)
Gregory of Caerwent, rector of Tetbury, died at
the papal court in 1279 and his successor was presented by the archbishop of Canterbury by delegation of the Pope. (fn. 73) A later rector, Simon de Prewes,
incurred numerous debts (fn. 74) and in 1303 was said to
neglect the cure, squandering the profits on his own
pleasures. (fn. 75) In 1306 he was instructed to put his
church to farm for 5 years to pay his debts. (fn. 76) The
vicar Richard Brill surrendered himself to the Fleet
prison over a debt in 1372. (fn. 77) Thomas Holford, vicar
in 1498, was assisted by five stipendiary chaplains,
two or three of whom were probably the chantry
priests. (fn. 78) Thomas Powell held the living together
with Minchinhampton in the 1540s, (fn. 79) and his
successor Thomas Bolt was also vicar of Dunchurch
(Warws.); (fn. 80) Bolt was found satisfactory at the
visitation of 1551 as was his curate William
Lightfoot, (fn. 81) a former friar. (fn. 82) Humphrey Horton,
instituted in 1556, (fn. 83) held the vicarage together with
the rectories of Rendcomb and Colesbourne in
1576. (fn. 84) William Edwards became vicar in 1614 (fn. 85) and
held the living until at least 1650; (fn. 86) he signed the
Gloucestershire Ministers' Testimony in 1648. (fn. 87) Daniel
Norris, who was instituted in 1658, subscribed and
remained vicar until his death in 1687. (fn. 88)
Miles Gastrell, vicar 1728-39, was from a leading
local family. His successor, John Turner, also vicar
of Somerford Keynes, died in 1742 (fn. 89) when John
Wight (d. 1777), chief promoter of the rebuilding of
the church, became vicar. Wight was succeeded by
Thomas Croome Wickes (d. 1786), (fn. 90) who was a
member of a leading Tetbury family, (fn. 91) as was
Samuel Paul Paul, vicar 1825-8. During the incumbency of Paul's successor, John Frampton, (fn. 92) a
chapel of ease dedicated to St. Saviour was built on
the west side of the town, partly financed by the sale
of the advowson. (fn. 93) Consecrated in 1848 (fn. 94) and
designed by S. W. Daukes and J. R. Hamilton, (fn. 95) it is
in Decorated Gothic style and comprises sanctuary
and aisled nave. It was declared redundant in 1974. (fn. 96)
A chantry dedicated to St. Mary was founded in
Tetbury church in 1363 when trustees, apparently
acting for Thomas de Breuse, granted it 24 houses
and 60 a. of land. (fn. 97) The priests were presented by
the proctors of the goods and fabric of the church. (fn. 98)
Thomas Gilmyn (d. c. 1457) left lands in remainder
for the foundation of a chantry of Holy Trinity, (fn. 99)
and it was apparently in pursuance of that grant that
property was conveyed for the foundation of a
chantry of Holy Trinity and St. Thomas and St.
George in 1480. (fn. 1) In 1490 another Thomas Gilmyn
and four other men gave a total of 13 houses and
39¼ a. land to the chantry, (fn. 2) and Thomas Whittington
of Lypiatt left property in the town to the two
chantries in Tetbury church at his death in 1491. (fn. 3)
Later a third chantry, dedicated to St. George, was
founded by Thomas Herne. At the dissolution of the
chantries each of the three had its separate priest
with an income of £9-14 from property, (fn. 4) which
included a large proportion of the houses in the
town. Thomas Estcourt of Shipton Moyne bought
the former property of St. Mary's chantry in 1582 (fn. 5)
and his son, Sir Thomas, that of Holy Trinity in
1609, (fn. 6) and it was retained by the family until the
19th century. (fn. 7) The property of the third chantry was
retained by the Crown until the mid 17th century or
later. (fn. 8)
Sir William Romney's trust provided for a salary
of £6 (raised to £10 in 1622) for a lecturer. (fn. 9) The
tripartite deed of 1633 assigned the choice of the
lecturer to the feoffees. The vicar William Edwards
undertook to perform the duty, a lecture each
Thursday, without payment while the purchase
price of the manor was being met. (fn. 10) By 1691 and
until the late 18th century the duty and the salary
were shared each year by five neighbouring clergy. (fn. 11)
The decline of the trust revenues led to the suspension of the lecture in 1800 (fn. 12) and it was not resumed
until 1837 when the feoffees put into effect a provision of the Scheme of 1830 for a lecturer to preach
each Sunday between April and September; they
reduced the salary the Scheme assigned from £30 to
£22 10s. The revived lectureship met with obstruction from the vicar John Frampton who was unwilling to let the lecturer use the pulpit and claimed
a voice in his appointment. A local clergyman was
appointed to the post each year (fn. 13) but continuing
friction between the feoffees and Frampton and his
successor had the result that the lectureship lapsed
in the early 1880s, and it was apparently not revived
until the 1920s. (fn. 14) Later the duty was usually performed by the curate (fn. 15) but in 1974 the vicar received
the salary and preached sermons for it. (fn. 16)
Charities founded by Sir Thomas Estcourt, John
Veizey, Charles Elton, Jonathan Shipton, John
Avery, Thomas Talboys, and Gilbert Gastrell in the
17th and early 18th centuries provided for payments
for annual sermons, and the vicar received a total of
£5 10s. for preaching them. (fn. 17) The payments were
reserved to him at the amalgamation of the charities
in 1970. (fn. 18) He also had a guinea for a sermon under
the will of Thomas Alexander dated 1805; Alexander's will also provided bibles for couples married
in the church, who were given prayer books under
the will of Mary Summers dated 1826. (fn. 19)
The church of ST. MARY (fn. 20) comprises chancel,
aisled nave with side passages or cloisters, and west
tower and spire. Its medieval predecessor was a
rambling building, apparently dating largely from
the 14th century; (fn. 21) it was re-dedicated in 1315. (fn. 22)
The nave had a tower and tall spire at the west end
and had two aisles on the north side and one on the
south. The south aisle, which had a groined vault,
was named from and probably built by the Breuse
family, (fn. 23) and it housed St. Mary's chantry chapel
founded in 1363; (fn. 24) the outer north aisle, which was
presumably really a private chapel, belonged to the
Savage family in post-medieval times. (fn. 25) Shortly
before 1467 the parishioners built a new chancel
which was described as having St. Mary's chantry on
the south and the 'old chancel' on the north,
suggesting that the inner north aisle was the original
nave. Eynsham Abbey accepted the new chancel as
the principal one and undertook to keep it in repair, (fn. 26)
and the old chancel appears to have later been used
as a vestry. (fn. 27) Apart from the three chantries, (fn. 28) the
church housed several other chapels: those dedicated
to St. Thomas the Martyr, St. Nicholas, and Christ
were mentioned in the late 15th and early 16th
centuries. (fn. 29)
The church was badly damaged by a storm in
1662 and was repaired with a grant from the
feoffees. (fn. 30) In 1729 its decayed condition prompted a
group of townsfolk, led by the feoffees, to advocate
rebuilding. A brief that was circulated produced a
disappointing return and it was proposed to raise
money by the sale of the advowson, but the scheme
met much opposition and prolonged litigation
followed. Repairs and alterations carried out on the
chancel and Breuse's aisle in 1741 fuelled the controversy and when the architects retained by the
rival parties failed to agree on the quality of the new
work James Gibbs was called in to assess it. (fn. 31)
Rebuilding plans were revived in 1753 by an
accession of funds from the sale of church property
and by the enthusiasm of the vicar John Wight, who
gave a large sum from his private fortune. Further
funds were added by subscription and an Act for
rebuilding was obtained in 1765. (fn. 32) It was not until
1777 that work was started (fn. 33) and the new church was
completed and consecrated in 1781. (fn. 34)
The tower and spire were kept and the body of the
church was rebuilt in Gothick style to the designs of
Francis Hiorn of Warwick. (fn. 35) The lofty nave and
aisles are of equal height and have a plaster vault
supported by slender columns and large windows
occupying most of the wall space. On the outside of
the aisles low side passages gave access by a series of
doors to the proprietary pews. The contemporary
interior fittings, including galleries and box-pews,
are largely undisturbed, although some were removed in 1900 and a chancel screen was inserted in
1916. (fn. 36) The tower and spire were rebuilt between
1890 and 1893, paid for by Hamilton Yatman of
Highgrove as a memorial to his son. (fn. 37)
A stone head in the cloisters is apparently all that
survives from an effigy of one of the Breuse family
which was in the south aisle of the old church. Also
preserved in the cloisters are a tomb with effigies of a
member of the Gastrell family and his wife, dated
1586, and a pair of weathered effigies in 15th-century
costume, (fn. 38) formerly in the churchyard. (fn. 39) A monument in the chancel to Sir William Romney was put
up at the wish of John Wight who chose the
inscription with its appropriate warning to 'encourage no unnecessary suits at law among thy neighbours'. (fn. 40) The church organ, presumably acquired at
the rebuilding, was replaced in 1805 when the organ
from the concert hall in Ranelagh Gardens, Chelsea,
was bought by subscription. A new organ was built
for the church by Nicholson of Worcester in 1863
and rebuilt in 1912. (fn. 41) A pair of large brass chandeliers
acquired at the rebuilding was restored and rehung
in 1952 after being absent from the church for some
years. (fn. 42) The bells were recast and their number
increased to eight by Abraham Rudhall in 1722; the
treble was recast by John Rudhall in 1803. (fn. 43) The
bulk of the plate dates from 1769 when Mary Deacon
of Elmestree gave a pair of chalices and patens and
John Wight gave a pair of flagons. (fn. 44) The registers
survive from 1631. (fn. 45)