St John the Baptist, Cirencester

St Mary, Kempley

Tewkesbury Abbey

St Leornard, Upton St Leonards

Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester's is one of the major cathedrals of England, and the resting place of Edward II.

The cathedral started life as an abbey in 678AD, although little is known about it before the Norman conquest. William the Conqueror appointed Serlo as Abbott in 1072, who set about the task of rebuilding, and creating the building we see today. Henry III was crowned here in 1272, and the 13th Century saw a number of building projects, including a new tower, tower and refectory. But the turning point came in 1327, when the deposed King Edward II died at nearby Berkeley castle (by tradition, in particularly grisly fashion), and was brought here for burial.

His son, Edward III, had a magnificent tomb erected in honour of his dead father, and it soon became a place of pilgrimage. This provided the funds for a major programme of rebuilding in the Perpendicular Gothic style, including the famous cloisters, south porch, west front, the tower, Lady Chapel and new vaults over the choir. The abbey survived the dissolution of the monasteries through its elevation to cathedral in 1541 - the presence of a royal tomb may have helped ensure its survival - a role it has performed ever since.

The interior reflects the contrast between the robust Romanesque architecture of the Norman period and the soaring fan vaults of the Perpendicular. The cloisters in particular - among the earliest examples of fan vaulting - are celebrated for their beauty. Its fittings are a match for the architecture: the great east window is partly filled with glass dating from 1350, and more 15th century glass is found in the Lady Chapel.

Notable tombs include the magnificent tomb of Edward II, with its extraordinary clusters of pinnacles; and the lovely wooden wooden effigy of Robert Curthose (1054-1134). he was the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy (1087-1106), and the unsuccessful claimant to the English throne. It is a perfect depiction of early Norman military dress, though it dates from a hundred years after his death.

Today, the cathedral is famous as one of the homes of the three choirs festival, one of the oldest classical festivals and dating from the early 18th century. It also has the usual cycle of services, festivals and events that characterise modern cathedral life.

College Green, Gloucester, GL1 2LX

St Mary's, Berkeley

Berkeley’s church is historic rather than pretty, but amply rewards a visit. It sits close to the famous castle, scene of the famously gruesome murder of Edward II in 1327. Most of the present church was constructed at that time, so he would probably have known it, and it would have borne witness to events...

History

There are records of a Saxon Abbey from the 8th to the 10th centuries, and it continued to be an important site in the early Norman period – Henry II visited in 1121. The remains of the Saxon church may lie where the bell tower is now.

There was a certainly a church on the present site in the Norman period, as the current building contains Norman features: most of the present fabric was, however, erected in 1225-50, including the present nave and west end of the chancel. The chancel was extended around 1300. The aisles were rebuilt in the 14th century, as were the lower stages of the porch and vestry, and the nave roof corbels date from this period too. The 15th century added the Priest’s room above the porch, the fine stone screen, the present nave roof and the Berkeley Memorial chapel.

The church played a role as part of the Castle’s defences in the English Civil war, and the tower was rebuilt on its 15th century base in 1753. The detached position to the north of the church is thought to have prevented it from being used to attack the castle.

An unusual Victorian restoration included repainting the original medieval decoration, found during repairs. This includes a very fragmentary Doom over the chancel arch. They were restored again in 1938.

The church

The church itself is a rather robust building; from the outside, only the detached tower, the porch (with a very fine ogee arch) and west front are what one could call attractive. However, before entering, wander around the graveyard: it has an unusually rich collection of tombs and memorials, in a dizzying variety of styles.

Inside, the only obviously Romanesque feature is the south door: pride of place architecturally goes to the fine west window of five stepped lancets. The nave arcades have clustered piers and capitals of stiff-leaf carving of the Early English Gothic style. An attractive Decorated Gothic Easter Sepulchre and the Perpendicular Berkeley Chapel are both found in the Chancel.

The remains of the stairway to the rood loft can clearly be seen, and a strange staircase high up on the west end has three heads as corbels. It is thought this may have been part of a pulpit. Indeed, corbels abound all around the church, a gallery of late mediaeval physiognomy.

The church is packed with furnishings of interest: the floor is covered in 17th and 18th century stones, but it is the Berkeley tombs which steal the show. In the nave lies the magnificent and beautifully preserved tomb to the 8th Lord Berkeley (1292-1361) and his wife Katherine (d. 1385). He fought at Crecy in 1346, and it was during his ownership that Edward II was murdered in the castle. Their effigies are exquisitely executed in alabaster, he in full armour.

The 11th Lord (d. 1463) is buried in under the arch from the Chancel into the Berkeley Chapel, alongside his younger son, who died on campaign in France. Both are in full armour. Through the window can be seen tombs to later Berkeleys (though the chapel is not open to visitors).

Another memorial worth a look is that to Edward Jenner, the pioneer vaccination (1749-1823), whose house nearby is now a museum. His family are recorded in a floor memorial next to the altar.

The fine stone screen is a rare 14th century survival, and now brilliantly coloured as it would have been originally. The reredos behind the High Altar is by Comper and installed in 1918. Back by the south door, is a large square Norman font, with 4 smaller columns around a central round pier and scalloped lower edge.

The church is the focus of a busy parish life. A visit here can easily be combined with one to the adjacent castle and the Jenner museum.

The Lord Mayor's Chapel, Bristol

The Lord Mayor’s Chapel is often overlooked by those visiting the nearby Cathedral, which it faces across College Green. But this small, Grade I Listed chapel contains a wealth of history, including an impressive collection of tombs and stained glass behind its modest but attractive west front.

History

The chapel was established to serve a religious hospital foundation in 1230, to care for the sick, feed the poor and educate 12 poor boys. Originally administered by the Cathedral, it became a separate institution in the late 13th century. It was endowed with lands by wealthy Bristol merchants until it was dissolved, along with other such religious foundations, in 1539.

Fortunately, it was purchased by Bristol Corporation in 1541, and has remained in their possession ever since: it is now the country’s only functioning chapel in civic ownership. Most of the foundation’s other buildings have long-since disappeared.

The building

The nave was erected around 1230, followed by the south aisle around 1280. The tower – visible from the passage at the side – was erected in 1487, and the chancel was rebuilt and the south aisle chapel added in 1500. In 1523, Sir Robert Poyntz, a close associate of Henry VII and Henry VIII, built a chantry chapel south of the chancel. The church underwent a major restoration in 1889, undertaken by the renowned church architect J L Pearson, who rebuilt the West Front (albeit retaining the window design) and North Transept. The original west window now resides in a garden, as a romantic ruin, in the Bristol suburbs.

Although the chapel has some fine Tudor architecture – the nave roof, the fan vaulting of the Poyntz Chapel and the East Window are all impressive – the church is chiefly known for its rich stained glass and fittings.

Pride of place must go to the tombs, dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Most of these were moved to the south aisle and south aisle chapel in the 18th century. There are simply too many to describe in detail, but as a collection they would flatter any cathedral.

The earliest are two crusader tombs in the South Aisle Chapel, with effigies in full chain mail armour, believed to be of the co-founders, Maurice de Gaunt (d. 1230) and his nephew Robert de Gournay (d. 1269). In the south aisle is a very rare merchant’s tomb from around 1360, wearing civilian dress, including short ‘pixie’ boots, stockings and a full-length cloak. Most poignant is that of John Cookin, dated 1627, who died aged 11. He is depicted, life-size, on one knee, carrying his schoolbooks, under a fine classical canopy.

But the stained and painted glass is also impressive: although some is original, most came from the Abbey of Fonthill in 1823, and dates from the late mediaeval period. Made in England, France and Cologne, much of it was inserted in the East Window, but the south aisle chapel also has 23 roundels of German and Flemish glass from the 16th and 17th centuries, and the Poyntz Chapel roundels from the 15th century.

Also of note are the fine 15th century reredos, and a large number of mediaeval piscinas and carved heads (mostly corbels) - don't miss the wonderful grotesque face in the south transept. Finally, the Poyntz Chapel floor is laid with 16th century floor tiles from Spain - said to be the largest such collection outside the Iberian Peninsular.

College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TB

All Saints, Newland

Newland is a tiny village on the western edge of the Forest of Dean, its valley winding gently down to the River Wye. The village is both in a Conservation Area, with notable Almshouses and other domestic buildings, and situated in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is a lovely place to visit.

The village might be tiny, but the church is not: known as the 'Cathedral of the Forest', by virtue both of its impressive size, and its foundation as a mission church (at a point when the authorities had not really penetrated the Forest of Dean itself), it dominates the little settlement.

Established around 1200, All Saints predated its settlement. King John appointed Robert of Wakering as its Rector in 1216, and this link with the establishment was maintained: subsequent building in the 14th and 15th centuries greatly enlarged the church, including a chantry chapel donated by Edward I in 1305. Unfortunately, the church had decayed substantially by the 19th century, and a major restoration in the 1860's saw the roof rebuilt at a higher level, and the chancel arch enlarged. What we see to-day, therefore, is a Victorian re-working of a mediaeval church.

Apart from its obvious grandeur, its chief interest lies in its collection of tombs: these include those of the Forester, Jenkyn (John) Wyrall, dated 1457; the 14th century tomb of Sir John and Lady Joce of Clearwell Castle, with Sir John resplendent in his armour; a wonderful incised figure of a 17th century bowman; and several priors and clerics and a headless effigy of a woman.

The most famous memorial, however, is a funerary brass of a knight and his lady, surmounted by the heraldic brass of the Baynham family, commonly known as the 'Miner's Brass'. This shows a coat of arms with a miner, with his hod over his shoulder and his pick in hand, grasping a candle-holder, complete with candle, in his mouth. This delightful character demonstrates the importance of mining to the mediaeval economy of the Forest.

Beyond that, the church has a fine Perpendicular window in the north aisle Lady Chapel, and Victorian stained glass of good quality, alongside interesting modern embroidery.

However, it is clear that the village of Newland, with a population of only 130, is unable to sustain its church at the present time. On my last visit, there was talk of closure, and it is evident that the interior is nothing like as carefully tended as in the brochure written in 1998. An appeal has begun to save it as a place of worship, and restore it for future visitors. One must wish them every success.

Newland , Gloucestershire , GL16 8NW

St Mary, St Peter & St Paul, Westbury-on-Severn

Westbury-on-Severn is a small village known primarily for its famed Dutch Water Gardens, now in the care of the National Trust. But adjacent to the gardens is the distinctive spire and grounds of the lovely church of St Mary, St Peter & St Paul.

Although there has been a church here since about 1100, the porch and north aisle of the present structure date back to 1290. The rest of the church is basically 14th century, although much restored by the Victorians between 1862 and 1878. The nave is high and spacious, with seven bays of alternating round and quatrefoil piers, but apart from two surviving windows in the decorated style, either side of the chancel, the main interest comes from its fittings and the separate bell tower.

The pews date from the 16th century, with linen-fold carvings at the ends, and there is a fine window by Kempe depicting Saints Elizabeth, Mary and Anne. Further along is an interesting font, with a supposedly Norman bowl set on a plinth carved with the Arms of Elizabeth I, and dated 1583. Best of all are the rose-bowl piscina below the south chancel window and delicate 13th-century crusader crosses carved into the main porch arch, in excellent condition.

The separate bell-tower is the equal of the church: built in 1290, it is a robust structure, used as a defensive tower against raids by the Welsh. In the 14th century, its fine wooden spire was added: standing at over 150ft (49m) and covered with over 35,000 wooden shingles, it has a silvery glow which can be seen for miles around. When it was damaged by storms in the 17th century, it was repaired using the wood from cider casks!

Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, GL14 1PD

Bristol Cathedral

For much of England's history, Bristol was the second city after London, and despite extensive bomb damage in 1940-41, traces still remain of its mediaeval past.

One of the best surviving buildings is its Cathedral. Once an Augustinian Abbey, the Cathedral is an excellent example of a former abbey church given a new use after the reformation. Its location - despite being fairly central - gives it a tranquil, undiscovered quality: a meditative calm, with few tourists to disturb the peace.

The building itself was founded in 1140. The Chapter House, which dates from 1165, is the main survivor of this period, and this superb, richly decorated room is one of most important pieces of Norman architecture in England. Most of the rest of the church dates from a programme of rebuilding begun in 1298 and completed in the 1480s.

This rebuilding introduced some important architectural innovations. The first is the nave itself: the aisles are the same height as the nave, effectively creating a large pillared hall. This design, now known as a 'hall church', became the prototype for many similar buildings in mainland Europe.

In 1330, work on the Choir was begun, and here another innovation can be seen: the arches of the aisles have no capitals, and so sweep uninterrupted from floor to the apex of ceiling vault. The effect is to give an unusual feeling of space and gracefulness.

The Abbey was dissolved in 1539, and it became the city's cathedral in 1542. Much of the original nave was damaged at this time, and it had to wait for a Victorian restoration in 1877 and the completion of the west towers in 1888 for the building to attain its present shape.

The cathedral has a number of items of interest besides its architecture: there is a rare Saxon sculpture depicting Christ in the Harrowing of Hell (when the newly risen Christ descends to hell to assert his victory over evil, and release the souls of those who have not heard the Gospel), mediaeval glass in the Lady Chapel windows, interesting carved misericords (choir seats) from 1520, and an extensive set of tombs, including some spectacular ones of former Bishops.

After visiting the Cathedral, it's a pleasant walk around the harbour to the church of St Mary, Redcliffe, one of England's finest and most famous late mediaeval buildings.

College Green, Bristol BS1 5TJ Web: www.bristol-cathedral.co.uk

St Mary, Redcliffe, Bristol

In 1574, no less a person than Queen Elizabeth I is reputed to have declared this church to be the "fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England." Who can argue with that?

St Mary's owes its existence to the merchants who made Bristol a major mediaeval trading centre. Here, wines from France, sherry from Spain and port from Portugal were imported. Later, it was a major port for the New world, with tobacco and - less happily - the slave trade adding to its wealth.

Although begun in the 12th century, the merchants paid for the church to be rebuilt in the Perpendicular Gothic style in the 15th century, delivering a series of lofty stone vaults, filled with light from huge panel windows. Even the transepts have vaulted aisles. The result is a church of larger and more impressive proportions than many a cathedral.

Seen from outside, the tower (at 292ft, the second highest parish tower in England) soars among the modern offices that surround it. The double porch, dating from the mid-14th century, is a marvel of Decorated Gothic architecture. The outer porch, with its seven-pointed arch, has a distinctly Moorish feel, doubtless reflecting the travels of its benefactors abroad.

Besides the architecture, the interior also has much of interest, particularly the various tombs, brasses and memorials. These include a number connected with the New World: Sir William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania is buried here; and a whalebone, presented by John Cabot, after returning from his voyage to Newfoundland in 1497, hangs on a wall. Part of its glory is found by looking upwards: the roof contains over 1,200 decorated bosses where the ribs cross and intersect.

The church has a cafe in the crypt, open 10am-4pm, serving snacks and lunches. Music is also important to the church, whose impressive choir produces its own CDs. The website has German, French and Dutch language versions.

Redcliffe Way, Bristol BS1 6RA www.stmaryredcliffe.co.uk