Gloucestershire

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"County of Gloucester" redirects here. For other uses, see Gloucester County.
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Gloucestershire
EnglandGloucestershire.png
Geography
Status Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Origin Historic
Region: South West England
Area
- Total
- Admin. council
- Admin. area		 Ranked 16th
3,150 km²
Ranked 17th
2,653 km²
Admin HQ: Gloucester
ISO 3166-2: GB-GLS
ONS code: 23
NUTS 3: UKK13
Demographics
Population
- Total (2008 est.)
- Density
- Admin. council
- Admin. pop.		 Ranked 25th
840,200
267 / km²
Ranked 20th
582,500
Ethnicity: 97.3% White
Politics
Arms of Gloucestershire County Council
Gloucestershire County Council
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/
Executive Conservative
Members of Parliament
Districts
Gloucestershire Ceremonial Numbered.png
  1. Gloucester
  2. Tewkesbury
  3. Cheltenham
  4. Cotswold
  5. Stroud
  6. Forest of Dean
  7. South Gloucestershire (Unitary)

Gloucestershire (pronounced /ˈɡlɒstərʃər/ ( listen) GLOSS-tər-shər) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.

The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham, Stroud, Cirencester, and Tewkesbury.

When considered as a ceremonial county, Gloucestershire borders the preserved county of Gwent in Wales (now Monmouthshire), and in England the ceremonial counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Bristol. As an administrative county, it excludes the area covered by the South Gloucestershire unitary authority.

According to a 2002 campaign by the charity Plantlife, the county flower of Gloucestershire is the Wild Daffodil.[1]

Contents

History

Main article: History of Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe and the Forest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century. Gloucestershire originally included the "small town" of Bristol. The "local" rural community moved to the port city, (as Bristol was to become) and Bristol's population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became part of the administrative County of Avon in 1974.

Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the region north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire.

The official former postal county abbreviation was "Glos.", rather than the frequently used but erroneous "Gloucs." or "Glouc.".

In July 2007, Gloucestershire had the worst flooding in recorded British history, with tens of thousands of residents affected. The RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage has been estimated at over 2 billion pounds.[2]

The county is recovering rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year Regional Gross Value Added[3] Agriculture[4] Industry[5] Services[6]
1995 5,771 196 1,877 3,698
2000 8,163 148 2,677 5,338
2003 10,617 166 2,933 7,517

Education

Secondary Schools

See List of schools in Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven selective schools; two are in Stroud (Stroud High School and Marling School), one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 41 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, and 12 independent schools, including the renowned Cheltenham Ladies' College. All but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms.

Higher and Further Education

Gloucestershire has one university, the University of Gloucestershire and four higher and further education colleges, Gloucestershire College, Cirencester College, Stroud College and The Royal Forest of Dean College. Each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county.

Towns and villages

Main article: list of places in Gloucestershire

Antiquities and other places of interest

The cathedral of Gloucester, the magnificent abbey church of Tewkesbury, and the church of Cirencester with its great Perpendicular porch, are described under their separate headings. Of the abbey of Hailes near Winchcombe, founded by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in 1246, little more than the foundations are left, but these have been excavated with great care,[Neutrality is disputed] and interesting fragments have been brought to light.

Most of the old market towns have fine parish churches.[Neutrality is disputed] At Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. The Perpendicular church at Lechlade is unusually perfect; and that at Fairford was built (c. 1500), according to tradition, to contain the remarkable series of stained-glass windows which are said to have been brought from the Netherlands. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, and are one of the finest series in the country.

Calcot Barn is an interesting relic of the abbey of Kingswood. Thornbury Castle is a fine Tudor ruin,[Neutrality is disputed] the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham is the fine 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve. The mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey. At Great Badminton is the mansion and vast domain of the Beauforts (formerly of the Botelers and others), on the south-eastern boundary of the county. At Owlpen is one of the most picturesque Tudor manor houses set in a densely-wooded valley.

There are several royal residences in Gloucestershire, including Highgrove House, Gatcombe Park, and (formerly) Nether Lypiatt Manor.

An annual "cheese-rolling" event takes place at Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth and the Cotswold Games occurred within the county.

Gloucestershire in popular culture

  • Laurie Lee's novel Cider with Rosie is set in Gloucestershire.
  • Part of Mrs. Craik's novel John Halifax, Gentleman is set in Enderley, a thinly disguised Amberley, where she lived at the time of writing.[7] Most of the book is set in Nortonbury, easily recognisable as Tewkesbury.
  • Johnny Coppin, the folk musician/composer lives in the county, and various places within Gloucestershire are referenced in his work.[8]

Notable People From Gloucestershire

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Publications

Gloucestershire's daily newspapers The Gloucester Citizen and The Gloucestershire Echo, along with free weeklies The Forester, The Gloucester News and The Cheltenham News are all published by Northcliffe Media.[9]

The Stroud News & Journal is a weekly paid-for newspaper based in Stroud. It is published every Wednesday in a tabloid format by Newsquest

See also

Notes

  1. ^ BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3684291.stm, 5 May 2004, retrieved 8 April 2006.
  2. ^ BBC - News Flood crisis grows as rivers rise
  3. ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
  4. ^ includes hunting and forestry
  5. ^ includes energy and construction
  6. ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
  7. ^ British History Online
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ Gloucestershire Media Group's portfolio - Northcliffe Media subsidiary which publishes local papers in Gloucestershire

External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gloucestershire
v • d • e
Ceremonial county of Gloucestershire
Unitary authorities
Boroughs or districts
Major settlements
Rivers
Topics

Coordinates: 51°50′N 2°10′W / 51.833°N 2.167°W / 51.833; -2.167

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