Tewkesbury, town and borough in Gloucestershire, western England, at the confluence of the Severn and Upper Avon rivers. It is a residential town, popular for boating and angling, with some light industry. In Tewkesbury are the Abbey Church (largely 11th and 12th century) and numerous half-timbered Tudor houses. A Benedictine abbey was founded there in 715. A decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses was fought near the town in 1471 and marked the final victory of the Yorkists (under Edward IV) over the Lancastrians. Population 76,394 (2001).