Abbey Gatehouse

Abbey Gatehouse is a late 15th or early 16th century gatehouse built as part of the Benedictine Abbey precincts in Tewkesbury, and later adapted for holiday use by the Landmark Trust in 1991. The structure is primarily Guiting stone ashlar and lias, with a lead roof. It is a large, square, two-story building, connected on the left to Abbey House and on the right to Abbey Barn.

The main, west front features a wide, pointed arch formed of two moulded orders, with a drip molding below. Flanking the arch are two two-light, cusped, hollow-chamfered stone casements, and a central statue niche with a decorative canopy. The top of the gatehouse is boldly crenellated, above a hollow-moulded cornice featuring a central angel and end gargoyles, along with three leaf decorations on each side. A mid-offset moulded string runs along the building, with diagonal buttresses set on two offsets, and a plinth at the base. Set back approximately 2.5 meters from the main archway is a doorway with a four-centred head in a double-chamfered surround, fitted with heavy 19th-century doors. To the left of this is a small four-centred opening with a door, also in a moulded surround. Above this doorway is a central ribbed vault with half-vaults on each side. The internal side walls are built of large, coursed lias blocks.

The inner, southeast front is similar to the west front, but lacks the central statue niche, and has a series of putlog holes flanking the opening, which has no doors. Internally, a vaulted roof spans the vestibule in a 1+2 half bay arrangement. Side walls, in lias, contain small four-centred doorways with plank doors, set in heavy flush quoin surrounds. A doorway on the southwest side leads to a spiral stone staircase contained within a projecting ashlar turret, which finishes below the main parapet level.

The first floor contains a large room with a 1950s reconstruction of a heavy, beamed compartmental roof structure, supported by a series of carved corbels; most are 19th century, but some are from the 16th century. A large dressed Guiting stone fireplace with a moulded four-centred arch, projecting from the main wall plane, is set into the northeast wall. At the time of survey, new oak partitions were being installed for the Landmark Trust. The Victoria County History records that the gatehouse was badly dilapidated by 1849 and restored by the architect John Medland, with masonry by Thomas Collins. The carved oak doors date to 1855.