Editing Cheltenham (section)

==Churches==
{{main|List of churches in Cheltenham}}

The first [[parish church]] is [[Cheltenham Minster, St Mary's]], which is the only surviving medieval building in the town. As a result of expansion of the population, absorption of surrounding villages, and the efforts of both evangelical and Anglo-Catholic missions, the town has a large number of other parish churches,<ref>{{cite web |title=Cheltenham |url=https://www.findachurch.co.uk/search/?address=Cheltenham |publisher=Find a Church |access-date=26 October 2019}}</ref> including [[Trinity Cheltenham|Trinity Church]] and All Saints', [[Pittville]], where the composer [[Gustav Holst]]'s father was the organist.

[[St Gregory's Church, Cheltenham|St Gregory's]] [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] church is an example of the work of the architect [[Charles Francis Hansom|Charles Hansom]].<ref name=Verey128>{{cite book |last=Verey |first=David |series=[[The Buildings of England]] |title=Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean |volume=2 |year=1970 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |page=128}}</ref> The [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] building was built 1854–57, the porch was added in 1859, the tower and spire were completed in 1861 and the [[nave]] was extended to join the tower in 1877.<ref name=Verey128/> The church's [[stained glass]] is by [[Hardman & Co.]]<ref name=Verey128/>

===Bell ringing===
The town has three rings of bells hung for [[change ringing]]. One is located in St Mark's Church – a ring of 8 bells, with the heaviest being some 16cwt. These were originally a ring of 5 bells cast at John Taylor of Loughborough in 1885, extensively overhauled and augmented in 8 in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stmarkschelt.co.uk/|title=St Mark's Church}}</ref> Another is at [[St Christopher's - Warden Hill|St. Christopher's (Warden Hill)]], the lightest ring of church bells in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tciwh.org.uk/index.php?page=bell_ringers#bell_ringers_general |title=St. Christopher's Church |publisher=Tciwh.org.uk |date=13 July 2001 |access-date=26 March 2013}}</ref> The other is a ring of 12 bells hung in [[Cheltenham Minster, St Mary's|St. Mary's Church]] (the Minster). These were the venue in 2008 for the eliminators of the National 12 Bell Striking contest, in which teams of [[Campanology|campanologists]] from around the world compete to win the Taylor Trophy. In 2017 the old ring of 12 was completely replaced with [http://www.cheltminsterbells.org.uk/ new bells] cast by [[John Taylor & Co]]. The tenor bell is just over a ton in weight, and the new ring also includes a thirteenth bell, a sharp 2nd, to provide a lighter 8. The towers in the locality of Cheltenham belong to the Cheltenham branch of the Gloucester & Bristol Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers.