nlike many country towns in which the parish church, market place and principal buildings lie close to one another, Wotton has no recognised centre point. Its church and the Chipping, or old market place, are nearly half a mile apart and separated by the busy Long Street and High Street.

The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin is the town's most important architectural feature.   Photo: George Way

With exceptionally wide aisles and only a few stained glass windows, together with clean white walls, the interior of the church gives an immediate impression of size and lightness. In 1838, a former Vicar, the Rev. Benjamin Perkins, caused the nave to be extended by two bays and the sanctuary modified and reduced to its present form. Several roof levels can be seen on the west wall.

The organ was originally in St. Martin in the Fields and played regularly by Handel.

At the east end of the south aisle is the organ built by Christopher (Kit) Schrider and given to St. Martin in the Fields by King George I in 1726. It was regularly played there by Handel. In 1799 the churchwardens sold it to the Vicar, the Rev. William Tattersall, for £200, the King having paid £1500 for it. Tattersall set it up in 1800 in a gallery at the west end and it was moved to its present location in 1881 when the galleries at the west end were removed. It was beautifully restored in the 1990s.

At the east end of the north aisle, just outside the vestry is an early 15^th century table tomb, the famous Berkeley Tomb, bearing life sized brasses of Thomas, 10^th Baron de Berkeley (1352-1417), and his wife, Margaret. These are among the best brasses of their period in the country and so, in order to protect them, rubbing may now only be done (for a small fee) from facsimiles placed conveniently near.

The Perry and Dawes Almshouses in Church Street.   Photo: Gloucestershire County Council Environment Department

There are three groups of Almshouses, evidence of Wotton.s concern for the aged, and all of which continue in use today. The earliest of these is one of the most notable examples in the town of traditional Cotswold stone building. Hugh Perry in the 17^th century and Thomas Dawes in the 18^th were responsible for the Almshouses which bear their names in Church Street. The first buildings were erected in 1638 as a result of a bequest by Hugh Perry, with accommodation for six poor men and six poor women. The building has six gables facing the street and a central domed wooden cupola. A flat-arched passageway leads into a courtyard in which is situated a beautiful, tiny 17^th century chapel. The Dawes hospital of 1720 completes the rectangle on the east side. Visitors are welcome to enter this quiet enclosure, which "seems like an Oxford college in miniature" (David Verey).

A stained glass window in the Perry and Dawes Almshouses Chapel.   Photo: Gloucestershire County Council Environment Department

The second row of almshouses was founded by Miss Ann Bearpacker in 1837. They stand in two groups of five opposite the parish church, next to Parklands. An extensive programme of restoration and modernisation has just been completed, making them suitable for continued use into the 21^st century but without losing anything of their traditional appearance. The Rowland Hill Almshouses, with their wooden verandas, founded in 1887 in memory of the Rev. Rowland Hill, may be seen just below the Tabernacle in Tabernacle Pitch at the top of Old Town.

The Ann Bearpacker Almshouses opposite the church.   Photo: George Way

Another important focal point in Wotton is the Tolsey House, at the corner of High Street and Market Street. This building, with its well known Victoria Jubilee clock, is much older than it appears to be as the 18^th century brick facade conceals a late 16^th century house with projecting upper floors. It possesses a Cotswold stone tiled roof, capped by a fine bell turret and a dragon weather vane. It was given to the town by Anne, Countess of Warwick, in 1595, originally for the poor aged and impotent, but it soon served as the Court of Piepowder with a courtroom on the ground floor and a common prison or blind house in the cellar. It is now in private ownership although the clock belongs to the Town Council. A new clock was provided in 1683 and there was a dial set on a post until Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887.

The Town Hall was originally built as a market house rising on fifteen Doric stone columns, similar to those in Tetbury and Dursley.   Photo: George Way