Winchcombe is a Cotswold community in the neighborhood authority area 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, 2nd Earl of Hereford for the Empress Matilda, although the exact site of this is unknown;. It has 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 various other lawlessness, created partially by destitution. In an attempt to make money, regional people grew cigarette as a cash crop, in spite of this technique having been disallowed since the Commonwealth. Soldiers were sent know at the very least one event to ruin the unlawful crop. In Winchcombe and also the instant location can be discovered Sudeley Castle as well as the remains of Hailes Abbey, which was just one of the major centres of pilgrimages in Britain because of a phial had by the monks claimed to consist of the Blood of Christ. There is nothing left of the former Winchcombe Abbey. St Peter's Church in the centre of the community is kept in mind for its grotesques.