Gloucester is a

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

village in the

Western Area Rural District The Western Area Rural District is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. It is located mostly around the peninsula in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. The Western Area Rural District has a 2015 census population of 442,951. The district ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. Gloucester lies approximately five miles east of

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

, and close proximity to the towns of

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. It is located in a valley above Freetown with streams flowing from higher up in the mountains providing irrigation. Much of the area is wooded, but it is possible to see the

Bullom Shore Bullom Shore is geographical area in Sierra Leone facing the Atlantic Ocean and the estuary of Sierra Leone River The Sierra Leone River is a river estuary on the Atlantic Ocean in Western Sierra Leone. It is formed by the Bankasoka River and Rokel ...

to the north.

Africanus Horton Africanus Horton (1835–1883), also known as James Beale, was a Krio African nationalist writer and an esteemed medical surgeon in the British Army from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Africanus Horton was a surgeon, scientist, soldier, and a politic ...

, born in Gloucester, described the area as presenting "the most picturesque and lovely scenery that ever eye beheld in a tropical world".

History

Gloucester was founded by Governor Charles MacCarthy in 1814 as a settlement for liberated Africans, or recaptives, who had been freed for vessels involved in the slave trade by the

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliame ...

. Henry Düring was a missionary active in the village between 1816–1823. He supervised the building of stone gothic-style church which was formally opened in 1820 with a service involving 400 recaptives.

Population

The population of Gloucester is almost entirely from the Creole ethnic group. The

Krio language Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population, and it uni ...

is widely spoken in Gloucester.

Prominent people from Gloucester

External links

*http://caroleinsl.blogspot.com/2010/05/walk-in-mountains-to-gloucester.html *http://news.sl/drwebsite/exec/view.cgi?archive=7&num=17110 *https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000047/http://news.sl/drwebsite/exec/view.cgi?archive=7&num=17134

References

{{reflist Western Area Villages in Sierra Leone Populated places established by Sierra Leone Creoles