Northleach Church
Northleach is a small market town on the Cotswold hills, and its church is the finest monument to the wool trade that made it rich. The merchants who paid for it in the fifteenth century lie inside, on brasses with their sheep and woolsacks at their feet. The church is light and spacious, with a beautiful porch and a wide window over the chancel arch, and it is seldom busy.
Built on wool
There has been a church here since at least the twelfth century, but the present building is almost entirely the work of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The tower was built in about 1400. In the middle of the fifteenth century the wool merchant John Fortey paid for the clerestory that floods the nave with light; when he died in 1458 he left money to finish the work. The south porch followed later in the century, and the Lady Chapel is dated 1489.
The church was restored by James Brooks in the 1870s and 1880s. In the early 1960s it was reordered, with oak chairs designed by Sir Basil Spence, and Christopher Webb made the east window, showing John Fortey offering the church to Christ.
The visitor's cheat sheet
| Where | Mill End, Northleach, Gloucestershire, GL54 3HL |
|---|---|
| Getting there | Off the A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford; X52 bus; Kingham and Kemble stations about 16 miles; street parking near the church |
| Opening hours | Daily; closes at dusk in winter |
| Admission | Free; donations welcome |
| How long | About 45 minutes |
| Best time | A sunny afternoon, when the light floods the clerestory |
| Dress code | None; it is a working church |
| Tours | Guided tours by arrangement; groups of more than ten should book ahead |
Hours and admission checked against the official site in October 2026. They change; the official site is always the last word.
Cotswold wool. In the fifteenth century Cotswold wool was the finest in Europe, and Northleach was one of the places where merchants bought it from the farmers before shipping it to the weavers of Flanders and Italy. Their profits paid for the great wool churches of Northleach, Cirencester and Chipping Campden.
What to see, in the order you meet it
The south porch
The two-storey porch has pinnacles, niches and a seated statue of the Virgin outside, and a vaulted ceiling within. Look on the left for the carved cat playing a fiddle. The room above, with its own fireplace, was later used as a schoolroom.
The nave and the Cotswold window
The nave is tall and light, with slender piers and the clerestory of John Fortey. Above the chancel arch is a great window, a feature of Cotswold churches. Against one pier is a fifteenth-century stone pulpit shaped like a wine glass, and at the west end the font of the late fourteenth century, carved with heads and angel musicians.
The brasses
Set into the floor are the brasses of the wool merchants and their families, from about 1400 to 1628. Among them are John Fortey, who died in 1458, and John Taylour with his wife and fifteen children. Many rest their feet on sheep or woolsacks.
Visiting
Free to visit
Entry is free. Guidebooks are on sale in the porch.
The hotel link goes to Booking.com. This site earns nothing from it at present — it is here because it is the quickest way to check what is actually available.
Don't miss
- The brasses Sheep and woolsacks at their feet.
- The cat and the fiddle Inside the south porch.
- The Cotswold window Over the chancel arch.
- The pulpit Fifteenth-century stone.
- The font Angels playing music.
- The east window Christopher Webb, 1960s.
Insider tips
Make a day of the Cotswold wool churches. Northleach sits between Cirencester, about ten miles south-west, and Burford, about nine miles east, and Chedworth Roman Villa is a few miles away. The town’s old prison on the Fosse Way houses a rural life collection and a café.
Common questions
Is Northleach church free to visit?
Yes. The church is free and donations are welcome; guidebooks are on sale in the porch. Groups of more than ten are asked to arrange their visit with the benefice office first, and guided tours can be booked in advance.
When is the church open?
It is open every day for visitors, closing at dusk in winter.
Why are the Northleach brasses famous?
The church has an unusually fine collection of brasses to the wool merchants who paid for it, dating from about 1400 to the seventeenth century. Many show the merchants with their feet on sheep or woolsacks, and with their merchants’ marks.
What is the cat with the fiddle?
Inside the south porch, on the left, is a carving of a cat playing a fiddle, with three rats. Local tradition links it to a satirical rhyme against Richard III’s ministers, but nobody knows for sure what it means.
How do you get to Northleach?
Northleach is just off the A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford, and the X52 bus between the two stops in the town. The nearest stations, Kingham and Kemble, are each about 16 miles away. There is street parking near the church.
Where to stay and eat nearby
Northleach has a couple of pubs and cafés around its market square; Cirencester, Burford and Bourton-on-the-Water have more choice.
More English churches
- Cirencester church — the cathedral of the Cotswolds
- Chipping Campden church — Grevel’s wool church
- Fairford church — a complete set of medieval glass