Northleach is a small Cotswold market town in Gloucestershire. It is close to the A40 main road, and the Fosseway, the A429. The town was made wealthy by the wool trade of the fifteenth century, and the main church is of impressive size and quality in reflection of this fact.
The road which became the A40 ran through the town, and as the main road between Oxford and Cheltenham it contributed greatly to the town’s development. The town was bypassed in the mid 1980s, only after vibration damage had been detected in some of the fine 15th – 18th century houses on the main road.
The Church of St Peter and St Paul in Northleach is known as The Cathedral of the Cotswolds. The church dates from the early 12th century, and was built on top on an earlier building, also believed to have been a church.
