Exterior of Tewkesbury Abbey tower dating from 1150 rated "probably the largest and finest Romanesque tower in England" by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner. Photo: Quintin Lake

The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery. In 1471 during  Battle of Tewkesbury, one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses, bloodshed within church so great that it is closed. The tower is a particularly fine example of Romanesque architecture characterised by semi-circular arches.

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