Winchcombe is a Cotswold town in the local authority area of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. Its population according to the 2011 census was 4,538. Throughout 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 specific site of this is unknown;. It has been suggested nevertheless, that it was to the south of St Peter's Church. In the Restoration period, Winchcombe was noted for cattle rustling and other lawlessness, caused in part by hardship. In an effort to make money, regional individuals grew tobacco as a cash crop, regardless of this method having been outlawed given that the Commonwealth. Soldiers were sent out know at least one celebration to destroy the prohibited plant. In Winchcombe and the instant vicinity can be located Sudeley Castle as well as the remains of Hailes Abbey, which was just one of the major centres of trips in Britain as a result of a phial had by the monks claimed 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 town is noted for its grotesques.