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Winchcombe
Winchcombe shown within Gloucestershire
Population	4,379
OS grid reference	SP025285
District	Tewkesbury
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELTENHAM
Postcode district	GL5
Dialling code	01242
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	Great Western
UK Parliament	Tewkesbury
European Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire

Coordinates: 51°57′18″N 1°57′54″W / 51.9549, -1.965

The main street

Winchcombe is a Cotswold town in the Local Authority District of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, England. Its 2001 census population was 4,379.

The Belas Knap long barrow to be found near Winchcombe, was constructed in about 3000 BC. Later, during the Anglo-Saxon period, Winchcombe was a chief city of Mercia, the others being Lichfield and Tamworth. Subsequently, during the 11th century, the town was briefly the county town of Winchcombeshire. The Anglo Saxon Saint St. Kenelm is supposed to be buried in the town.

In Winchcombe and the immediate vicinity can be found Sudeley Castle and the remains of Hailes Abbey, which was one of the main centres of pilgimages in Britain due to a phial possessed by the monks said to contain the blood of Christ. There is nothing left of the now-vanished Winchcombe Abbey. St Peter's church in the centre of the town is famous for its grotesques.

Winchcombe was once served by a railway line, a relative latecomer in British railway history, which opened in the early 1900s by the Great Western Railway. The line ran from Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham and was part of a main line from Birmingham to the South West and South Wales. Winchcombe railway station, passenger services continued on this line until 1968, and freight until 1976 when a derailment at Broadway damaged the line. It was decided not to bring the section back into use and by the early 1980s it had been dismantled. The stretch between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse, including Winchcombe, has since been reconstructed and reopened as a heritage railway called the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. A new station has been erected at Winchcombe, on its original site, the building being the former station at Monmouth (Troy). Nearby is the 693 yard Greet Tunnel, the second longest on any preserved line in Britain.

A bus service, run by a company called Castleways Ltd [1], connects the town to Cheltenham, Broadway, Willersey and further afield on special services.

Winchcombe is the home to five pubs: The Old White Lion; The Sun Inn; The White Hart; The Plaisterer's Arms; and The Corner Cupboard.

In April 2005, Winchcombe launched its very own community radio station [2] which broadcasts for 6 days a year (3 days every 6 months).

• Winchcombe website - maintained by Winchcombe Business Forum
• Radio Winchcombe Community Radio for Winchcombe
• Winchcombe Info (photos, accommodation, etc)
• Winchcombe Parish (Church of England)
• Winchcombe Abbey Primary School
• Winchcombe School (secondary school, a Specialist Science School)