Winchcombe is a Cotswold community in the regional 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, second Earl of Hereford for the Empress Matilda, although the specific site of this is unidentified;. It has been recommended however, 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, triggered partially by hardship. In an effort to make money, regional individuals expanded tobacco as a cash crop, regardless of this method having been outlawed given that the Commonwealth. Soldiers were sent know a minimum of one celebration to destroy the illegal plant. In Winchcombe and the immediate vicinity can be found Sudeley Castle and the remains of Hailes Abbey, which was one of the major centres of trips in Britain due to a phial possessed by the monks stated to include the Blood of Christ. There is nothing left of the former Winchcombe Abbey. St Peter's Church in the centre of the town is kept in mind for its grotesques.