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The Cotswolds are home to some iconic abbeys, cathedrals and churches

Left: Tewkesbury Abbey

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GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter (dissolved by Henry VIII).

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HAILES ABBEY

Once a Cistercian abbey, founded in 1246 by Richard of Cornwall and dissolved Christmas Eve 1539, Hailes never housed large numbers of monks but had extensive and elaborate buildings.

It was financed by pilgrims visiting its renowned relic, 'the Holy Blood of Hailes' - allegedly a phial of Christ's blood.

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TEWKESBURY ABBEY

Lying at the southern edge of the old town and consecrated in 11.21, the Abbey quietly dominates the land and skyline with its long nave and “probably the largest and finest Romanesque tower in England” (Pevsner). Vestiges of its social domination can be deduced from the layout of the streets and buildings, and the occasional relic; the Abbot’s gatehouse, the Abbey Mill, The vicarage and the Tudor-style dwellings in Church Street.