Winchcombe is a Cotswold community in the neighborhood authority district of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. Its population according to the 2011 census was 4,538. During the Anarchy of the 12th century, a motte-and-bailey castle was erected in the early 1140s by Roger Fitzmiles, second Earl of Hereford for the Empress Matilda, although the specific site of this is unknown;. It has actually been suggested nonetheless, that it was to the south of St Peter's Church. In the Restoration period, Winchcombe was noted for livestock rustling and also other lawlessness, created partially by poverty. In an effort to make money, local people grew cigarette as a cash crop, regardless of this method having actually been forbidden given that the Commonwealth. Soldiers were sent out in on at least one occasion to destroy the unlawful crop. In Winchcombe as well as the instant area can be discovered Sudeley Castle and the remains of Hailes Abbey, which was one of the main centres of expeditions in Britain due to a phial possessed by the monks stated to consist of the Blood of Christ. There is absolutely nothing left of the former Winchcombe Abbey. St Peter's Church in the centre of the community is kept in mind for its grotesques.