A Pattern of Building
Written and presented by Alec Clifton-Taylor

'The appeal of Tewkesbury depends largely on local materials,' says Alec Clifton-Taylor, 'the right materials in the right place.'

Tewkesbury, close to the junction of the Severn and Avon, grew up to serve the monastery. Built of the local Cotswold limestone, the Abbey Church still contains some of the most beautiful monuments of the English Middle Ages 'the Westminster Abbey of the feudal baronage.' In contrast to the wealth of the monastery, the humbler dwellings of the towns-people were made of wood and plaster. One of the survivors is the House of the Nodding Gables - 'a faintly intoxicated-looking building with overhanging storeys making their obeisance to passers by.' Alec Clifton-Taylor explains the construction of these overhanging storeys and how, when brick became fashionable in the 18th century, many of these houses had a Georgian face-lift. 'But,' warns Alec Clifton-Taylor, 'the brick is only skin deep.'
Photography KEN WESTBURY
Film editor NORMAN CARR
Executive producer Bruce Norman
Producer DENIS MORIARTY
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