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Tewkesbury is a historic town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook. It gives its name to the district of Tewkesbury. The name Tewkesbury comes from the name of a Saxon who founded a hermitage there in the seventh century, Theoc, and in the Saxon tongue was called Theocsbury. Tewkesbury is named after the Saxon hermit, Theoc, who is thought to have founded an hermitage here in the seventh century. Evidence of a church predating the abbey suggests that a considerable settlement rose up on the site previous to the Norman Conquest. Evidence of monastic buildings from the years immediately following the conquest can still be seen surrounding the abbey, which was begun in 1090 and consecrated on 23rd October 1121. Tewkesbury was the site of the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4th May 1471. At the “Bloody Meadow,” south of the town, Edward IV's Yorkist forces defeated the House of Lancaster in an historic battle of the Wars of the Roses with a bloody aftermath. Tewkesbury was incorporated during the reign of Elizabeth I. Historically, Tewkesbury is a market town, serving the local rural area. It underwent some expansion in the period following World War II, and today has a small but significant high technology industry. Tewkesbury has also been a centre for flour milling for many centuries, and the older Abbey Mill still stands though it has now been converted for residential use. Flour is still milled at a more modern mill a short way upriver on the site of the town quay; parts of the mill date to 1865 when it was built for Healings and it was once thought to be the largest and most modern flour mill in the world. Recent announcements suggest that milling will end on this site in December 2006, ending at least 800 years of milling in Tewkesbury. The town also hosts a large Army supply depot at nearby Ashchurch. The town suffered from some decline in the early 1990s, with a few local shops and businesses closing, but now appears to be on the up again.
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