During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn. The Tetbury Woolsack Races take place on the "late May Bank Holiday", the last Monday in May each year.

Notable buildings in the town include the Church House, Market House, built in 1655 and the late-eighteenth century Gothic revival parish church of St Mary the Virgin and St Mary Magdalene and much of the rest of the town centre, dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Market House is a fine example of a Cotswold pillared market house and is still in use as a meeting place and market.