Abbey Lawn Cottages

Abbey Lawn Cottages form a terrace of town houses located on Church Street, Tewkesbury. Dating from the 15th or early 16th century, they underwent substantial restoration from 1967 onwards. Originally part of a much longer row of late medieval cottages, the terrace now extends between numbers 41 and 48. The construction is braced box timber-framing with tile roofs. The houses have a narrow frontage, with jetties to Church Street and varying gables and rear extensions. They are two storeys and attics, comprising eight bays in total. Number 41, which now serves as the John Moore Museum, is set gable to the street, featuring two jettied storeys. The remaining cottages have eaves to the street. Each unit originally contained a single room, with most having a single window. First-floor windows are small, two-light wood-mullioned casements. Shutters are present on the first floor of number 45, while ground-floor windows at number 41 are plate-glass display windows. The remaining ground-floor windows incorporate two-light wood mullion and transom casements flanked by painted vertical boarding, all set above a cill. Each unit features a plank door with a cusped, flat, ogee head, and a bracket to the jetty. The rear has a significant sloped roof, incorporating a series of two-light dormers in two ranges, all under long raking tiled roofs. The interior of number 41 showcases a two-bay roof with a single purlin and wind-braced construction. It also includes a collar and tie truss to the clasped purlin, heavy chamfered and stopped spine beams, and braced panel walls, all heavily restored. Number 45, known as Merchant's House and open to the public, features a small partitioned front room, followed by a lofty open hall with a hearth beneath a smoke-blackened "hood" within the roof slope. A winding staircase leads to the upper floors, with some treads appearing original. An open three-light casement window is located on the staircase, leading to a lean-to section with a four-light shuttered casement and rear access door. The main frontage contains wooden shop shutters. The reconstruction of the cottages aimed to reflect their original layout, with a shop fronting a heated hall that provided access to an upper chamber. These cottages were built as a speculative development for the Abbey. A threat to the property in the 1930s prompted their acquisition by the Abbey Lawn Trustees. Prior to the 1967 restoration, the frontages and interiors had been significantly altered and were unrecognizable as a coherent terrace. A planned demolition was averted thanks to an inspection by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), leading to their substantial refurbishment. Photographs documenting the pre- and post-restoration condition are on display in number 45. John Moore, a local author, documented Tewkesbury's social life in his book 'Portrait of Elmbury' (1947), and the museum focuses on country life in the area.