St Mary

Known as Gloucestershire's mini cathedral, the current church on our site was dedicated in 1847 and was built of a warm brown Stinchcombe sandstone with Bath dressings in the late Decorated style by local architect Francis Niblett of Haresfield, with additions by the Oxford architect JW Hugall (who at one time had offices in Cheltenham) in 1857-9 and 1866. Francis Niblett was a great admirer of August Pugin who is famous for his work on the Houses of Parliament.

The walls are generally surmounted by parapets decorated with ornate pinnacles and there is much carving. The steeply pitched roofs and their related gables are an important feature of the church and are heightened by the decorative clay tiles on the north facing slopes of the north aisle and chancel.

Most of our windows are in stained glass by George Rogers of Worcester, some of it regarded as his best work. The inside of the roof is decoratively finished and all the surfaces are painted. The paintwork in the chancel is particularly interesting. The organ at the east end of the south aisle has a particularly decorative casing and on the wall of the organ chamber visible from the south aisle is a wall painting of three angels.

The site itself has had a church building on it for over 700 years, records indicate that the current church is the third to be built on the site.