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Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a
spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...
and
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
on the edge of the
Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...
in the county of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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 ...
, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain. The town hosts several festivals of culture, often featuring nationally and internationally famous contributors and attendees; they include the Cheltenham Literature Festival, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the Cheltenham Science Festival, the
Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004. ...
, the Cheltenham Cricket Festival and the Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival. In
steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...
horse racing, the Gold Cup is the main event of the
Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...
, held every March.


History

Cheltenham stands on the small
River Chelt The River Chelt is a tributary of England's largest river, the Severn. The Chelt flows through the western edge of the Cotswolds and the town of Cheltenham, from which it derives its name, before its confluence with the River Severn at Wainlode ...
, which rises nearby at
Dowdeswell Dowdeswell is a civil parish in the ward of Chedworth, Cotswold, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. It is separated into Upper and Lower Dowdeswell, the former being south of the latter. The population of the civil parish a ...
and runs through the town on its way to the Severn. It was first recorded in 803, as ''Celtan hom''; the meaning has not been resolved with certainty, but latest scholarship concludes that the first element preserves a pre-British noun ''cilta'', 'steep hill', here referring to the Cotswold scarp; the second element may mean 'settlement' or 'water-meadow'. As a royal manor, it features in the earliest pages of the
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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 ...
section of
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
where it is named ''Chintenha '. The town was awarded a market charter in 1226. Though little remains of its pre-spa history, Cheltenham has been a health and holiday spa town resort since the discovery of
mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage un ...
s there in 1716. Captain Henry Skillicorne (1678–1763), is credited with being the first entrepreneur to recognise the opportunity to exploit the mineral springs. The retired "master mariner" became co-owner of the property containing Cheltenham's first mineral spring upon his 1732 marriage to Elizabeth Mason. Her father, William Mason, had done little in his lifetime to promote the healing properties of the mineral water apart from limited advertising and building a small enclosure over the spring. Skillicorne's wide travels as a merchant had prepared him to see the potential lying dormant on this inherited property. After moving to Cheltenham in 1738, he immediately began improvements intended to attract visitors to his spa. He built a pump to regulate the flow of water and erected an elaborate well-house complete with a ballroom and upstairs billiard room to entertain his customers. The beginnings of Cheltenham's tree-lined promenades and the gardens surrounding its spas were first designed by Captain Skillicorne with the help of "wealthy and traveled" friends who understood the value of relaxing avenues. The area's walks and gardens had views of the countryside, and soon the gentry and nobility from across the county were enticed to come and investigate the beneficial waters of Cheltenham's market town spa. The visit of
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
with the queen and royal princesses in 1788 set a stamp of fashion on the spa. The spa waters can still be sampled at the Pittville Pump Room, built for this purpose and completed in 1830; it is a centrepiece of
Pittville Pittville is a residential suburb of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, founded in the early 19th century by Joseph Pitt. The population of Pittville Ward at the 2011 Census was 5,327. It contains Pittville Park, with its long gardens, two ...
, a planned extension of Cheltenham to the north, undertaken by Joseph Pitt, who laid the first stone 4 May 1825. Cheltenham's success as a spa town is reflected in the railway station, which is still called Cheltenham Spa, and spa facilities in other towns that were inspired by or named after it. Alice Liddell and
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
were regular visitors to a house in Cudnall Street,
Charlton Kings Charlton Kings is a contiguous village adjoining Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish of 10,396 residents (2011). Landscape Charlton Kings is situated in the west foothills of the north-south Cotswold ...
– a suburb of Cheltenham. This house was owned by Alice Liddell's grandparents, and still contains the mirror, or looking glass, that was purportedly the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's novel ''
Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
'', published in 1871. Horse racing began in Cheltenham in 1815, and became a major national attraction after the establishment of the
Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
in 1902. Whilst the volume of tourists visiting the spa has declined, the racecourse attracts tens of thousands of visitors to each day of the festival each year, with such large numbers of visitors having a significant impact on the town. In the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the
United States Army Services of Supply The Services of Supply or "SOS" branch of the Army of the USA was created on 28 February 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department" and War Department Circular No. 59, dated 2 March 1942. Services of Supp ...
, European Theatre of Operations established its primary headquarters at Cheltenham under the direction of Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee, with the flats of the Cheltenham Racecourse becoming a giant storage depot for countless trucks, jeeps, tanks and artillery pieces. Most of this materiel was reshipped to the continent for and after the
D-Day invasion The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to a ...
. Lee and his primary staff had offices and took residence at Thirlestaine Hall in Cheltenham. On 1 April 1974, under the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, the borough of Cheltenham was merged with
Charlton Kings Charlton Kings is a contiguous village adjoining Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish of 10,396 residents (2011). Landscape Charlton Kings is situated in the west foothills of the north-south Cotswold ...
urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...
to form the
non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non- ...
of Cheltenham. Four parishes— Swindon Village,
Up Hatherley Up Hatherley is a civil parish and a suburb of the spa town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Formerly a hamlet in the parish of Shurdington, it became a parish in 1887 and became a part of Cheltenham in 1991. History The village was re ...
, Leckhampton and Prestbury—were added to the borough of Cheltenham from the borough of
Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...
in 1991. The first British jet aircraft prototype, the Gloster E.28/39, was manufactured in Cheltenham. Manufacturing started in Hucclecote near Gloucester, but was later moved to Regent Motors in Cheltenham High Street (now the Regent Arcade), considered a location safer from bombing during the Second World War.


Geography

Cheltenham is on the edge of the
Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...
, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the South-West region of England. The small
River Chelt The River Chelt is a tributary of England's largest river, the Severn. The Chelt flows through the western edge of the Cotswolds and the town of Cheltenham, from which it derives its name, before its confluence with the River Severn at Wainlode ...
flows under and through the town. Cleeve Hill, overlooks the town and is the highest point in the
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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 ...
and the Cotswold Hills range, at 1,083 feet (330 m). The town is near the northeastern edge of the South West of England region being 88 miles (140 km) west-northwest of London, 38 miles (61 km) northeast of
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
and 41 miles (65 km) south of Birmingham.


Neighbourhoods

The districts of Cheltenham include: Arle,
Benhall Benhall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located to the south of Saxmundham, in 2007 its population was estimated to be 560, reducing to 521 at the 2011 Census. Geography Benhall is split into ...
,
Charlton Kings Charlton Kings is a contiguous village adjoining Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish of 10,396 residents (2011). Landscape Charlton Kings is situated in the west foothills of the north-south Cotswold ...
, Fairview, Fiddler's Green,
Hesters Way Cheltenham West is an area in the western part of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It is the generic name for an area which includes the council wards of Hesters Way, Springbank, Arle, Rowanfield, Alstone, Fiddlers Green, St Mark's and some ...
, Lansdown, Leckhampton, Lynworth,
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...
, Oakley,
Pittville Pittville is a residential suburb of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, founded in the early 19th century by Joseph Pitt. The population of Pittville Ward at the 2011 Census was 5,327. It contains Pittville Park, with its long gardens, two ...
, Prestbury, the Reddings,
Rowanfield Rowanfield is a neighbourhood in Cheltenham, England. It consists primarily of a social housing estate of Wimpey no-fines houses and low-rise flats, built around 1953, with Rowanfield School and a playing field to the West separating it from He ...
, St Luke's, St Mark's, St Paul's, St Peter's, Springbank, Swindon Village, Tivoli,
Up Hatherley Up Hatherley is a civil parish and a suburb of the spa town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Formerly a hamlet in the parish of Shurdington, it became a parish in 1887 and became a part of Cheltenham in 1991. History The village was re ...
,
Whaddon Whaddon may refer to several places in England: *Whaddon, Buckinghamshire *Whaddon, Cambridgeshire *Whaddon, Cheltenham Whaddon is a suburb in the North Eastern part of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Whaddon consists of council housing bui ...
and
Wyman's Brook Wymans Brook is a district in the north-west of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, named after the small river which flows through the district. It is situated relatively close to Cheltenham racecourse, Pittville Park, the Prince of Wales ...
. ;Montpellier Located at the end of the Promenade South of the town centre, affluent
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...
is known for its bars, restaurants and specialist shops. Surrounded by many grade one listed buildings, Montpellier Gardens are part of the Cheltenham Central Conservation Area. ;Pittville Similarly affluent, but more a garden suburb in nature, is
Pittville Pittville is a residential suburb of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, founded in the early 19th century by Joseph Pitt. The population of Pittville Ward at the 2011 Census was 5,327. It contains Pittville Park, with its long gardens, two ...
, known for its large park (the southern part of which is lined with large Regency terraces and villas) and the Pump Room, the largest of Cheltenham's former spa buildings, now a concert and events venue. ;Lansdown Crescent Lansdown Crescent is a Regency period
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...
, designed by John Buonarotti Papworth for R.W. and C. Jearrad and constructed in the 1830s. The terrace is convex, and opposite the north-eastern part stands Lansdown Court, an Italianate villa possibly designed by Papworth but more probably by the Jearrads and built about 1830. ;Charlton Park Charlton Park is a former historic park with mansion house, about a mile south-east of the town centre. From 1935 the parkland gradually became a private residential area, the main housing development taking place between 1976 and 1983. The original mansion house dated from the 13th century; alterations throughout the centuries transformed it from a medieval, timber-framed hall-house into an 18th-century brick-faced mansion in the classical style. In the 1780s the estate was emparked for deer and had magnificent Dutch-style water gardens. After 1935 the old house became part of Charlton Park Convent, and since 1987 has been part of St Edward's School.


Green belt

Parts of the town has
green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...
along its fringes, and this extends into the surrounding Tewkesbury district, helping to maintain local green space, prevent further
urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
and unplanned expansion towards Gloucester and Bishop's Cleeve, as well as protecting smaller villages in between. West of the Greenfield Way and Fiddlers Green Lane roads, along with much of the open space up to the Civil Service Sports Ground, as well as the Cheltenham Racecourse and surrounding green park, along with St Peter Leckhampton parish church and Brizen Playing Fields/Haven and Greenmead parks along the south of the borough, are covered.


Government

Cheltenham Borough Council is the local authority for Cheltenham; it is split into 20 wards, with a total of 40 councillors elected to serve on the borough council. Since 2002, elections have been held every two years with half of the councillors elected at each election.


GCHQ

The head office of the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), known to locals as '' The Doughnut'', is located in Cheltenham.


Climate

As with the vast majority of the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...
, Cheltenham experiences a temperate
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
(''Cfb'' in the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
). It has warm summers and cool winters. The town held the British maximum temperature record from 1990 to 2003—temperatures reached . The absolute minimum is , set during December 1981. During a typical year, 145.6 days will report at least 1 mm of rain, and some 42.2 nights will record air frost.


Economy

As a Regency spa town, tourism is an important sector in Cheltenham's economy, but it also has some
light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...
, including food processing, aerospace and electronics businesses. The Government's electronic surveillance operation Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), known for its "doughnut-shaped" building, is in Cheltenham. Vertex Data Science,
GE-Aviation GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of th ...
,
Chelsea Building Society Chelsea Building Society is a trading name of Yorkshire Building Society based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Chelsea merged with the Yorkshire in 2010, at which point Chelsea was the fourth largest building society in the United Kingdom, with a ...
, Endsleigh Insurance, Archant,
Nelson Thornes Nelson Thornes was a publishing firm located in Cheltenham, UK. Started in 1968, as Stanley Thornes, the company began primarily publishing English textbooks for students before branching out into other areas of education. In 2001 Stanley T ...
, UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service), Kohler Mira,
Zürich Financial Services Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to '' Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ...
,
Douglas Equipment Douglas Equipment Limited is an English manufacturer of vehicles that support the aircraft industry such as tugs, tractors etc. The firm is headquartered in the Arle area of Cheltenham, England with manufacturing operations around the world. ...
, Volo and
Spirax-Sarco Engineering Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc is a British manufacturer of steam management systems and peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies. It is headquartered in Cheltenham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a con ...
all have sites in and around Cheltenham. A number of design agencies and businesses are located in the town. Weird Fish was founded in Cheltenham. SuperGroup plc, owner of the Superdry label, has its headquarters in Cheltenham. Cheltenham is a regional shopping centre, home to
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...
s, the oldest being
Cavendish House Cavendish House is Cheltenham's oldest and leading department store (established in 1823), located on The Promenade. Its establishment was of great significance for Cheltenham's future reputation as a leading shopping centre. Known as 'Cavend ...
, from 1823, and the Regent Arcade. The Beechwood Shopping Centre in the town centre was demolished in 2017 to make way for a £30million, 115,000 square foot John Lewis store. Cheltenham has a Michelin one-star restaurant, Le Champignon Sauvage.


Employment and salary

The unemployment rate in Cheltenham was 2.7% in 2010 compared to the UK national unemployment level of 7.9%. The average GVA per head in Cheltenham was £21,947.27 in 2011 compared to the national average of £26,200. In 2012, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' found that, at the end of 2011, 41 multi-millionaires lived in Cheltenham, which was the fourth-highest rate in the UK of multi-millionaires per 100,000 people at 35.44.


Culture

;Architecture The town is known for its Regency architecture and is said to be "the most complete regency town in England". Many of the buildings are listed, including the Cheltenham Synagogue, judged by
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...
to be one of the architecturally best non-Anglican ecclesiastical buildings in Britain.
Cheltenham Town Hall Cheltenham Town Hall is an early-20th century assembly rooms in Cheltenham, England. Unlike most town halls, it is a public venue and not the seat of the borough council, which is housed in the nearby Municipal Offices. It is a Grade II listed ...
was built in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. ;Art The
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum The Wilson, formerly known as Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was opened in 1899. It offers free admission, and has a programme of special exhibitions. It was renamed The Wilson in honour of polar explorer Edwa ...
, also called The Wilson, hosts a programme of art exhibitions running throughout the year. The Wilson was named after polar explorer Dr Edward Wilson, who was born in Cheltenham. In 2014, many of the town's historic cultural and leisure buildings were put under the control of The Cheltenham Trust, a charity set up to manage and develop the buildings on behalf of the town. Along with The Wilson, the Trust now manages the Town Hall, the Pittville Pump Room, the Prince of Wales Stadium and Leisure @, a large fitness and swimming complex. A volunteer board of Trustees controls the Trust. The Trust's CEO is Julie Finch, former director of museums in Bristol. In 2014, a piece of graffiti by street artist Banksy appeared next to a telephone box in a residential street in Cheltenham. The graffiti depicted three men in trench coats and dark glasses apparently listening in to calls made in the telephone box. Cheltenham features several sculptural artworks of note, including: *Neptune's Fountain in the Promenade, built in 1893 and designed by Joseph Hall *The Hare and the Minotaur, also in the Promenade, created in 1995 by Sophie Ryder *A life-size bronze of an Emperor Penguin by Nick Bibby and placed in the foyer of The Wilson art gallery and museum in 2015 *The Wishing Fish Clock in the Regent Shopping Arcade, unveiled in 1987 and designed by
Kit Williams Christopher "Kit" Williams (born 28 April 1946) is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his 1979 book '' Masquerade'', a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden (18 carat) jewelled hare created ...
;Music Cheltenham hosts the annual
Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004. ...
, Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain. In 2010, Cheltenham was named the UK's fifth "most musical" City by PRS for Music. ;History The collection's of the
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum The Wilson, formerly known as Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was opened in 1899. It offers free admission, and has a programme of special exhibitions. It was renamed The Wilson in honour of polar explorer Edwa ...
include decorative arts from the era of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The collection enjoys National Designation by the Arts Council of England. The Holst Birthplace Museum contains personal belongings of the composer of '' The Planets'', including his piano. It also includes a working Victorian kitchen and laundry, Regency drawing room and an
Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
nursery. The Cheltenham Civic Society has been responsible for erecting commemorative plaques in the town since 1982: blue plaques to celebrate well-known people and green plaques to celebrate significant places and events. ;Festivals Every year, Cheltenham Festivals organises
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
,
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
and
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
festivals in the town, attracting names with national and international reputations in each field. Events take place at venues including the town hall, the Everyman Theatre, the Playhouse Theatre and the Pittville Pump Room. Several other cultural festivals, including the Cheltenham Paranormal Festival, the Cheltenham Design Festival, Cheltenham Folk Festival, Cheltenham Poetry Festival, The True Believers Comic Festival and Cheltenham Comedy Festival are separately organised but also attract international performers and speakers. A more local event, the Cheltenham Festival of the Performing Arts (formerly Cheltenham Competitive Festival) is a collection of more than 300 performance competitions that is the oldest of Cheltenham's arts festivals, having been started in 1926.
Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...
, a Christian arts and music festival, and Wychwood Festival, a family-friendly folk and world music festival, were held at
Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...
. The town also hosts the multi-venue Walk the line festival. Two sporting events are also routinely described as the "Cheltenham Festival" or "the Festival": the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, which features
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always ...
, and National Hunt racing's
Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...
. ;Film and television Cheltenham has played host to and featured in a number of film and TV series: * ''
Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...
'' location work was predominantly filmed in Cheltenham. * '' If....'' (1968) was filmed at
Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...
(and other locations). * '' The Whistle Blower'', a spy thriller, was largely filmed in Cheltenham, as GCHQ is central to the plot. * '' The Full Monteverdi'', a 2007 British film written and directed by John La Bouchardière, was partly filmed in Cheltenham. * '' The House of Eliott'', a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC between 1991 and 1994, was partly filmed in Cheltenham. * ''
Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...
'', a BBC serialised adaptation of
William Makepeace Thackery William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
's novel of the same name, was partly filmed in Cheltenham. The
Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves ...
Golden Valley Hotel (now the Jurys Inn) was used by the ITV soap opera
Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
for outdoor location filming from 1982 to 1985. ;Theatre Cheltenham has four theatres: the Everyman, the Playhouse, the
Bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
and the Parabola Arts Centre.


Demography

;Population According to 2010 estimates from the
Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for ...
, Cheltenham's population is 115,300, ranked 186th out of 326 English districts based on population, with a population density of 6,410 people per square mile (2,473/km2), placing it 72 out of 326 English districts based on population density. Inhabitants of Cheltenham are known as "Cheltonians". ;Ethnicity According to the 2011 census, the ethnic breakdown of the population of Cheltenham is as follows: *White British: 88.3% *White Irish: 0.9% *White, other: 5.0% *Mixed: 1.9% *Asian : 3.2% *Black : 0.6% *


Crime and public safety

In 2013, Cheltenham was named one of the safest towns for university students to live in the UK by the Complete University Guide.


Police

Gloucestershire Constabulary is the
territorial police force A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federations, ...
responsible for policing the town covering 14 neighbourhoods in the Cheltenham area.


Education

The oldest school in Cheltenham is Pate's Grammar School (founded in 1574).
Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...
(founded in 1841) was the first of the public schools of the
Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...
. The school was the setting in 1968 for the classic Lindsay Anderson film '' if....''. It also hosts the annual Cheltenham Cricket Festival, first staged in 1872, and the oldest cricket festival in the world. The most famous school in the town, according to '' The Good Schools Guide'', is
Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to p ...
(founded in 1853).
Cheltenham Ladies' College – Welcome
Dean Close School was founded in 1886 in memory of the Reverend Francis Close (1797–1882), a former rector of Cheltenham. The town also includes several campuses of the University of Gloucestershire, two other independent and six other state secondary schools, plus institutions of further education.


Sport and leisure

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...
, in the nearby village of Prestbury, is the home of National Hunt, or jumps, racing in the UK. Meetings are hosted from October to April. The highlight of the season is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is normally held in the middle of March, during the
Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...
. The town's football teams are the professional team Cheltenham Town F.C., who play in the
Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
, and semi-professional sides Bishop's Cleeve, who play in the Hellenic League Premier, Cheltenham Saracens F.C. in the Hellenic League Division One and more recently Montpellier Football Club, founded in 2021 by Liam Bond and Sam Collier and currently boasting a senior first team, a development team and a newly founded women's team. Amateur
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
clubs include Cheltenham R.F.C., Cheltenham Saracens RFC, Cheltenham North R.F.C.,
Old Patesians R.F.C. Old Patesians Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The club currently play in Counties 3 Gloucestershire North following their voluntary relegation from Regional 2 Severn. As well as the first XV, th ...
, Smiths Rugby and Cheltenham Civil Service R.F.C. In
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
, university side Gloucestershire All Golds were admitted into the semi-professional Championship 1. The
Cheltenham Rugby Festival GRL Cheltenham Rugby Festival is a rugby league nines event held in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It is organised by the Gloucestershire County Rugby League in partnership with Cheltenham Borough Council and the Tourist Board. It will take place o ...
is a rugby league nines event held in May. The town has one golf course, Lilley Brook, in Charlton Kings. Cheltenham has one of the largest croquet clubs in the country, and is home to the headquarters of the national body of the sport, the Croquet Association. The East Glos tennis, squash and women's hockey club, which was founded in 1885, is also located in the town. Sandford Parks Lido is one of the largest outdoor pools in England. There is a main pool, a children's pool and Swimming pool, paddling pool, set in Landscape garden, landscaped gardens. Sandford Parks Lido is the home of Cheltenham Swimming and Water Polo Club. In 2021, Cheltenham Borough Council gave Sandford Parks Lido a new 35-year lease to continue operating the lido.


Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham Festival is a significant National Hunt racing meeting, and has race prize money second only to the Grand National. It is an event where many of the best British and Irish trained horses race against each other, the extent of which is relatively rare during the rest of the season. The festival takes place annually in March at
Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...
. The meeting is often very popular with Irish visitors, mostly because of that nation's affinity with horse racing, but also because it usually coincides with St. Patrick's Day, a national holiday in celebration of the patron saint of Ireland. Large amounts of money are bet during festival week, with hundreds of millions of pound Sterling, pounds being gambled over the four days. Cheltenham is often noted for its atmosphere, most notably the "Cheltenham roar", which refers to the enormous amount of noise that the crowd generates as the starter raises the tape for the first race of the festival.


Transport


Railways

Cheltenham Spa railway station is located on the Cross Country Route, Bristol-Birmingham main line, with services to Gloucester, Bristol, Swindon, London Paddington station, London Paddington, Cardiff Central railway station, Cardiff Central, Bridgend railway station, Bridgend, Maesteg railway station, Maesteg, Plymouth and the South West England, South West, Birmingham, Derby, the North West England, North West, the North East England, North East and Scotland. The station is located to the west of the
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...
area of the town and is known locally as "Lansdown". The ''Cheltenham Spa Express'', once known as the ''Cheltenham Flyer'', is a List of named passenger trains of the United Kingdom, named passenger train connecting Cheltenham with London. The town has had seven railway stations, but never had a direct route towards Oxford and London which have always been reached via Gloucester and Stroud. The restored Cheltenham Racecourse railway station is the southern terminus of the heritage railway, heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. The Honeybourne Line is being extended northwards to Broadway railway station, Broadway, with an eventual aspiration to extend the line southwards to Cheltenham Spa where the line originally branched off from the Bristol to Birmingham main line.


Roads

Cheltenham is adjacent to the M5 motorway, between Bristol and Birmingham, and its junction with the A417 road, A417 to Swindon and the A40 road, A40 runs from across the M5 through the town towards Oxford and London.


Buses and coaches

Stagecoach West operate the majority of bus services in Cheltenham, including services to Gloucester and Tewkesbury. National Express Coaches, National Express operate a number of coach services from Cheltenham including route 444 to London and London Heathrow Airport, Heathrow airport. Before becoming part of National Express, Cheltenham was a major hub for Black and White coaches, with routes throughout the country, many of which formed a mass exodus through the town at 14:30 each day.


Tramroad

Cheltenham was a terminus of the Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad.


Churches

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, including Trinity Cheltenham, Trinity Church and All Saints',
Pittville Pittville is a residential suburb of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, founded in the early 19th century by Joseph Pitt. The population of Pittville Ward at the 2011 Census was 5,327. It contains Pittville Park, with its long gardens, two ...
, 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. 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. The church's s stained glass is by Hardman & Co.


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. Another is at St Christopher's - Warden Hill, St. Christopher's (Warden Hill), the lightest ring of church bells in the world. 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 wit
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.


Twin towns

Cheltenham is Sister city, twinned with: * Annecy, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France * Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, United States * Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany * Weihai, Shandong, China Twinning with Sochi, Russia was suspended in response to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Notable people


See also

* , a of 1916 * Acclaim Cheltenham, a game studio that made ''Extreme-G 3'' and ''XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association'' * List of spa towns in the United Kingdom * Cheltenham (UK Parliament constituency) * Cotswold Brewing Co., a brewery based in Cheltenham *Arle Court Transport Hub


References

;Bibliography * David Verey, ''Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean'', The Buildings of England edited by
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...
, 2nd ed. (1976) * ''Commemorative Plaques of Cheltenham'' by Peter Smith & Sue Rowbotham (Reardon, 2009) .


External links


Cheltenham Borough Council

Visit Cheltenham

Genealogical Web site
including many relevant references on Cheltenham
BBC archive film of Cheltenham from 1985

Explore Cheltenham
Explore Cheltenham Spa - Online guide to the 'Festival Town of England' {{Local authorities in Gloucestershire Cheltenham, Towns in Gloucestershire Spa towns in England Non-metropolitan districts of Gloucestershire Boroughs in England Former civil parishes in Gloucestershire