Dursley is a market town and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in southern
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 Gl ...
, England, almost equidistant from the cities of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
. It is under the northeast flank of
Stinchcombe Hill
Stinchcombe is a small village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England on the B4060 road between Dursley and North Nibley. The church is called Saint Quiricus and Saint Julietta, St Cyr's and its churchyard contains 40–60 gravestones. Th ...
, and about southeast of the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
. The town is adjacent to
Cam
Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...
which, though a village, is a slightly larger community in its own right.
The population of Dursley was 7,463 at the 2021 Census.
History
Dursley once had a castle, built by Roger de Berkeley in 1153.
[Dursley Location Information](_blank)
Dursley gained
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 A ...
status in 1471 and lost it in 1886. From 1837 to 1851 it was the administrative centre of Dursley Registration District which recorded vital records of people living in the parishes of
North Nibley
North Nibley is a village in Gloucestershire, England about northwest of Wotton-under-Edge.
Name
The village is commonly known as ''Nibley'', but the official name distinguishes it from the village of Nibley, just outside Yate, about away i ...
,
Coaley,
Slimbridge,
Stinchcombe
Stinchcombe is a small village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England on the B4060 road between Dursley and North Nibley. The church is called St Cyr's and its churchyard contains 40–60 gravestones. The population taken at the 2011 c ...
,
Uley
Uley is a village and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Elcombe and Shadwell and Bencombe, all to the south of the village of Uley, and the hamlet of Crawley to the north. The village i ...
, Dursley,
Cam
Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...
,
Nympsfield
Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around four miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish contains the hamlet of Cockadilly. The population take ...
,
Kingswood,
Wotton-under-Edge
Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...
and
Owlpen
Owlpen is a small village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, set in a valley in the Cotswold hills. It is about east of Uley, and east of Dursley. The Owlpen valley is set around the settlement like an amp ...
. From 1886 until 1974 it was the administrative centre of Dursley
Rural District (RDC). In 1974 the RDC became part of
Stroud District.
The
Grade I listed parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of St. James the Great dates from the 13th century. The modern building is largely of 14th and 15th century construction and carries the Tudor coat of arms on the outside below the guttering, indicating that some of its construction was funded by the Tudor royals. The original church spire collapsed in January 1699 during a bell-ringing session, causing casualties. The current belltower, in an imposing
Gothic survival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style, was built by Thomas Sumsion of
Colerne
Colerne is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of the town of Corsham and northeast of the city of Bath. It has an elevated and exposed position, above sea level, and overlooks the Box valley to ...
in 1708–09.
Dursley Town Hall, a structure complete with statue of
Queen Anne and bell turret, dates from 1738, when the town's markets attracted farmers and traders from miles around. It is now maintained by the Dursley Town Council.
In 1856 a short
branch line railway opened, called the "Dursley Donkey" by locals, linking Dursley and Cam to the
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
–
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
main line at
Coaley Junction. The branch line was closed in 1968 and Coaley Junction station was also closed at about this time. However, in 1994 a new station called
Cam and Dursley was opened on the main line, 330 yards north of the site of Coaley Junction.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Dursley was a large-scale manufacturing town, and engines built here by the
Lister engine company were used around the world. That company's successor,
Lister Petter
Lister Petter is a British company that manufactures internal combustion engines for industry, a subsidiary of Teignmouth, England based Sleeman and Hawken.
History
The company was formed in 1986, after owner Hawker Siddeley Group Plc merged D ...
, was based in the town until 2014, though much of the original factory site was acquired in 2000 by the
South West Regional Development Agency and then in 2011 by
Stroud District Council
Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021.
Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five Va ...
. It is now being developed as a large housing development with some industrial units. The Towers, a large gothic-style house, formerly part of the Lister Petter estate, still overlooks the town and has been converted into flats and a residential care home. The
Lister Hall theatre is named after the company.
Other large factories based in the town included Mawdsley's, an electrical equipment manufacturer; Bymack's, an upholsterers; and the Bailey Newspaper Group, a newspaper printer, all of which have reduced or closed operations in recent years.
Ancient historical sites in the vicinity give evidence of earlier occupation.
Uley Bury is an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
dating from around 300BC. The area also has neolithic
long barrow
Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repre ...
s; one called "
Hetty Pegler's Tump
Uley Long Barrow, also known locally as Hetty Pegler's Tump, is a Neolithic burial mound, near the village of Uley, Gloucestershire, England.
Details
Although typically described as a long barrow, the mound is actually a transepted gallery g ...
" can be entered. Notable Roman remains exist at
Frocester
Frocester ( ) is a village and civil parish in Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England. It lies below the Cotswold escarpment, 10 miles south of Gloucester and 4 miles west of Stroud. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 194, d ...
, West Hill near
Uley
Uley is a village and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Elcombe and Shadwell and Bencombe, all to the south of the village of Uley, and the hamlet of Crawley to the north. The village i ...
,
Woodchester
Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth (or Woodchester) Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was ...
and
Calcot Manor.
Character and amenities
The town sits on the edge of the
Cotswolds escarpment where it drops off towards the
Severn Vale and the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
.
Dursley's main watercourse is the River Ewelme which becomes the
River Cam when it enters Cam. The town is surrounded by woodland and countryside, and the
Cotswold Way long distance trail passes through Dursley town centre.
In March 2010
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
opened a newly built 20,000 sq ft supermarket within walking distance of the town centre.
Other recent arrivals include Lidl (November 2009, in premises on Kingshill Road previously occupied by the Regal Cinema and then Kwik Save) and Iceland (July 2010, replacing Somerfield in the town centre).
The Co-op has operated a smaller store in Rosebery Road since 2002. The town centre also has a number of independent shops and cafes.
A range of markets are held at the Market Place in the centre of the town; a farmers' market is held there on the second Saturday of every month and a craft market on the fourth Saturday of each month. There is an active Transition group in Cam and Dursley (part of the global
Transition town network) which looks after Dursley's Secret Garden, among other projects.
Dursley has a number of licensed premises and the Old Spot pub is regularly voted Gloucestershire 'Pub of the Year'. The pub was named as 2007
CAMRA
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...
National Pub of the year.
Railways
The nearest railway station is at on the
Bristol and Gloucester Railway, with trains operated by
Great Western Railway.
Notable residents
*
William Tyndale
William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – ) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execu ...
(ca.1494 – ca.1536) an English biblical scholar, linguist and martyr; probably born at
Slimbridge.
* Edward Foxe (ca.1496 – 1538) an English churchman,
Bishop of Hereford; he played a major role in
Henry VIII's divorce from
Catherine of Aragon.
*
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, may have spent time in Dursley between 1582 and 1590, possibly working as a school teacher.
*
John Tippetts (1622–1692),
Surveyor of the Navy
The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy was a former principal commissioner and member of both the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 15 ...
, born and raised in Dursley.
*
William Vizard (1774–1859) an English lawyer, known for his role in the 1820
trial of Queen Caroline
*
Mikael Pedersen
Mikael Pedersen (25 October 1855 Fløng – 22 October 1929, Bispebjerg) was a Danish inventor much associated with the English town of Dursley. He is chiefly known today for the highly distinctive Pedersen bicycle. His story is one of r ...
(1855–1929), a Danish inventor invented the
Pedersen bicycle in Dursley in the 19th century.
*
Peter Currell Brown (born 1936) writer, wrote the cult classic
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
novel ''
Smallcreep's Day'' in Dursley.
*
Nicholas Wapshott
Nicholas Henry Wapshott (born 13 January 1952) is a British journalist, broadcaster and author. He was most recently the opinion editor at Newsweek, and a Reuters contributing columnist on the political economy. He has been an online content co ...
(born 1952), journalist, broadcaster and author.
Sport
*
Arthur Winterbotham
Arthur Brend Winterbotham (19 April 1838 – 8 September 1892) was an English cloth manufacturer and Liberal Party politician.
Winterbotham was the son of Lindsey Winterbotham and Sarah Ann Page. His father was a banker of Stroud, Gloucestershi ...
(1864–1936) an English first-class cricketer
*
Henry Witchell (1906–1965) an English first-class cricketer
*
David Bruton (born 1952) a former footballer, with over 290 club caps, mainly with
Swansea City A.F.C.
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
Popular culture
Author
J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
, born in nearby
Yate
Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, with regular rail services to Bristol and Gloucester. ...
, named the
Dursley family
The following are supporting characters in the ''Harry Potter'' series written by J. K. Rowling. For members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts staff, Ministry of Magic, or for Death Eaters, see the respective article ...
in the ''
Harry Potter'' books after the town due to disliking the place. She has jokingly remarked, "I don't imagine I'm very popular in Dursley".
In ''
Richard II'' there is reference to "the wolds of Gloucestershire", and when Bolingbrook asks how far it is to
Berkeley as "these wild hills and rough uneven ways draw out for miles", the reply given is "there stands the castle beyond that tuft of trees". Many people understand this as a conversation taking place on Stinchcombe Hill overlooking the
Vale of Berkeley and its
castle.
See also
*
Vale Community Hospital
Vale Community Hospital is a community hospital in Lister Road, Dursley, Gloucestershire, England. It is managed by Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was commissioned to replace the aging Berkeley Hospi ...
References
External links
Dursley Chamber of TradeDursley GazetteDursley Town CouncilDursley Town Trust archived in 2008
Vale Vision Community Development Trust covering Dursley, Cam and surrounding villages
Community Plan for Cam and Dursley area for 2012 onwardStroud Voices (Dursley filter)– oral history site
Dursley local history– personal website
{{authority control
Market towns in Gloucestershire
Towns in Gloucestershire
Stroud District
Civil parishes in Gloucestershire