Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the

Cotswold Hills 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 Jur ...

, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

is the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Gloucester and other principal towns and villages include

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, Cirencester, Kingswood, Bradley Stoke,

Stroud 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 ...

Thornbury Thornbury may refer to: Places ;Australia *Thornbury, Victoria * Thornbury railway station, Melbourne ;Canada * Thornbury, Ontario ;England *Thornbury, Devon * Thornbury, Herefordshire *Thornbury, Gloucestershire **Thornbury Castle **Thornbury (UK ...

, Yate, Tewkesbury, Bishop's Cleeve,

Churchdown Churchdown is a large village in Gloucestershire, England, situated between Gloucester and Cheltenham in the south of the Tewkesbury Borough. The village has two centres. The older (Brookfield or "village") centre is in Church Road near St A ...

Brockworth Brockworth is a village and parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, situated on the old Roman road that connects the City of Gloucester with Barnwood. It is located 4 miles (6.5 km) southeast of central Gloucester ...

, Winchcombe,

Dursley Dursley is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in southern Gloucestershire, England, almost equidistant from the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe#Stinchcombe Hill, Stinchco ...

, Cam,

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, Wotton-under-Edge, Tetbury, Moreton-in-Marsh, Fairford, Lechlade, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden, Bourton-on-the-Water, Stonehouse, Nailsworth,

Minchinhampton Minchinhampton is an ancient Cotswolds market town in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, south-east of Stroud. The common offers wide views over the Severn Estuary into Wales and furth ...

, Painswick, Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell, Coleford, Cinderford, Lydney and Rodborough and Cainscross that are within Stroud's urban area. Gloucestershire borders Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

to the east, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south-west, and the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

county of

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

to the west. The current

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is a county council which administers the most strategic local government services in the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in the South West of England. The council's principal functions are county road ...

area does not have the same geographical boundaries as the historic county. Some northern parts of the county, including Long Marston and

Welford-on-Avon Welford-on-Avon is a village situated some west-south-west of Stratford-upon-Avon in the county of Warwickshire, England. The population was measured at 1,420 in the 2011 census. Until 1931, Welford-on-Avon was in Gloucestershire (as part of ...

, were transferred to Warwickshire in 1931. Following 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 ...

, some southern parts of the county were transferred for administrative purposes to the new county of Avon, which ceased to exist on 1 April 1996. After 1996, the city of Bristol and South Gloucestershire became separate unitary authorities.

History

Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

'' 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 Bristol, then a small town. 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 a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset in 1373. It later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. 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 The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

of Gloucestershire. In July 2007, Gloucestershire was subject to some of the worst flooding in recorded British history, with tens of thousands of residents affected. The RAF conducted the largest peacetime domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood-affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion.

Geography and environment

Gloucestershire has three main landscape areas, a large part of the Cotswolds, the Royal Forest of Dean and the Severn Vale. The Cotswolds take up a large portion of the east and south of the county, The Forest of Dean taking up the west, with the Severn and its valley running between these features. The Daffodil Way in the Leadon Valley, on the border of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire surrounding the village of Dymock, is known for its many spring flowers, orchards, and woodland, which attracts many walkers. In the west, the Wye valley borders Wales.

Governance

Gloucestershire is a ceremonial county in South West England.

's 53 seats are majority-controlled by the Conservatives, though the Liberal Democrats have a sizeable presence on the council. The Council Leader is Mark Hawthorne. The County Council shares responsibility with six district councils: Tewkesbury, Forest of Dean, City of Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud and Cotswold. The southernmost part of the county, South Gloucestershire is governed by

South Gloucestershire Council South Gloucestershire Council is the local authority of South Gloucestershire, England, covering an area to the north of the city of Bristol. As a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority it has the powers of a non-metropolitan county a ...

, which is a unitary authority council independent of the county council but the unitary authority is still part of the ceremonial county. Previously, the area of South Gloucestershire was part of the county of Avon. Although Avon was abolished in 1996, some services in South Gloucestershire are still provided in conjunction with other former parts of Avon county, such as the

Avon Fire and Rescue Service Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire in South West England. The headquarters of the service is co ...

. Since 2017, South Gloucestershire has been part of the West of England Combined Authority, which is under the directly elected mayor Dan Norris. There are six parliamentary constituencies in Gloucestershire, all of which are Conservative controlled as of the 2019 general election. Due to the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is the current cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is gover ...

, Gloucestershire will be combined with Wiltshire for parliamentary boundary purposes, allowing cross-county electoral divisions.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic price
published
(pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of Pounds Sterling. The following is a chart of Gloucestershire's gross value added total in millions of Pounds Sterling from 1997 to 2009 based upon the Office for National Statistics figures The 2009 estimation of £11,452 million GVA can be compared to the South West regional average of £7,927 million.

Education

Secondary schools

Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven selective schools; two are in Stroud,

Stroud High School Stroud High School (SHS) is a grammar school with academy status for girls aged 11 to 18 located in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England History Stroud High School was founded in 1904 as the Girls' Endowed School by a group of local citizens led by ...

for girls and Marling School for boys, one in Cheltenham, Pate's Grammar, and four in Gloucester, Sir Thomas Rich's for boys (aged 11–18) and girls (aged 16–18, in the sixth form), and

Denmark Road High School Denmark Road High School (Formerly known as High School for Girls) is a girls' grammar school with academy status on Denmark Road, Gloucester. It has a mixed sixth form and is one of only three girls' grammar schools in Gloucestershire. It cons ...

and

Ribston Hall Ribston Hall is a privately owned 17th-century country mansion situated on the banks of the River Nidd, at Great Ribston, near Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The two-storey mansion presents an impress ...

for girls and The Crypt which is mixed. There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, and 12 independent schools, including

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 pr ...

, Cheltenham College and Dean Close School. 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 two universities, the University of Gloucestershire and the Royal Agricultural University, and four higher and further education colleges, Gloucestershire College,

Cirencester College Cirencester College is a sixth form college based in the town of Cirencester in the South Cotswolds. It is a specialist sixth form provider serving communities in Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. Cirencester Col ...

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, also known as SGS College, is a college of further education and higher education based in South Gloucestershire and Stroud, England. It was established in February 2012 following the merger of Filton Co ...

and the

Royal Forest of Dean College Royal Forest of Dean College was a college of further education located close to the town of Coleford, in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire. It was dissolved by government order as of 31 January 2011 in order to be merged to Gloucest ...

. Each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. The University of the West of England also has three locations in Gloucestershire; an associate faculty ( Hartpury College) specialising in animal behaviour and welfare, agricultural and sports-related courses in Hartpury, Gloucestershire; a regional centre at the Gloucester Docks, Alexandra Warehouse, specialising in Adult and Mental Health Nursing; and

Frenchay Campus The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

in South Gloucestershire.

Towns and cities

Gloucestershire has one city and 33 towns:

Cities

* Gloucester

Towns

The towns in Gloucestershire are: *

* Bradley Stoke *

* Chipping Campden *

Chipping Sodbury Chipping Sodbury is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sodbury, in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in the 12th century by William ...

* Cinderford * Cirencester * Coleford *

Emersons Green Emersons Green is a suburb of Bristol and parish in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. Sitting 7 miles northeast of Bristol, England. It was developed from farming land during the 1990s and early 21st century, and sits within the hi ...

* Fairford * Filton * Kingswood * Lechlade * Lydney *

* Mitcheldean * Moreton-in-Marsh * Nailsworth * Newent * Northleach * Painswick * Patchway *

Quedgeley Quedgeley is a suburban town of Gloucester, located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of the city centre, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. A thin strip of land between the Severn and the Gloucester Ship Canal occupies the west, and the ...

* Stonehouse * Stow-on-the-Wold *

* Tetbury * Tewkesbury *

* Winchcombe * Wotton-under-Edge * Yate Suburban town of

: * Cainscross Town in

with suburbs in Gloucestershire: * Chepstow

Green belt

The county has two green belt areas, the first covers the southern area in the South Gloucestershire district, to protect outlying villages and towns between Thornbury and Chipping Sodbury from the urban sprawl of the Bristol conurbation. The second belt lies around Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Bishop's Cleeve, to afford those areas and villages in between a protection from urban sprawl and further convergence. Both belts intersect with the boundaries of the Cotswolds

AONB An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

Transport

Railways

Gloucestershire once had a much larger railway network than it does now with over 100 stations in the county, the vast majority of which were closed during the Beeching cuts. Nowadays, only 15 remain within the county, mostly concentrated on the CrossCountry NE-SW route and around the

North Fringe of Bristol The North Fringe of Bristol, England is a mostly developed area between the northern edge of the administrative city of Bristol and the M4 and M5 motorways. Its eastern edge is usually defined as the M32 motorway. The area falls within South G ...

. Some stations have been re-opened in recent years; Cam and Dursley railway station opened in 1994, with

Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Ashchurch for Tewkesbury is a railway station serving the North Gloucestershire and South Worcestershire Area from the outskirts of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, England. The station is located less than from junction 9 of the M5 motorway and ...

opening three years later. Local campaign groups are also seeking to reopen several disused stations, including

Charfield railway station Charfield railway station served the village of Charfield in South Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, originally a broad gauge line overseen by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but later taken over by the M ...

in South Gloucestershire.

Antiquities

There are a variety of religious buildings across the county, notably the cathedral of Gloucester, the abbey church of Tewkesbury (which is over 500 years old and has the tallest Norman tower in England), and the church of Cirencester. 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 and fragments have been brought to light. October plenty

Most of the old market towns have parish churches. At

Deerhurst Deerhurst is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of Tewkesbury. The village is on the east bank of the River Severn. The parish includes the village of Apperley and the hamlet of Deerhurst Walton. The 2011 ...

near Tewkesbury and Bishop's Cleeve near

, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. There is also a Perpendicular church in Lechlade, and that at Fairford was built (c. 1500), according to tradition, to contain a series of

stained-glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

which are said to have been brought from the Netherlands. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship. Other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of

Kingswood Abbey Kingswood Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, located in the village of Kingswood near Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England. The abbey was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and all that remains is the gatehouse, a Grade 1 ...

. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure ...

against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham is the 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. Berkeley Castle at over 800 years old and the ruins of Witcombe Roman Villa at Great Witcombe are also notable heritage features. There are several

royal residence A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whic ...

s in Gloucestershire, including Highgrove House, Gatcombe Park, and (formerly) Nether Lypiatt Manor. An annual " cheese-rolling" event takes place at Cooper's Hill, near

and the Cotswold Games occurred within the county.

Places of interest

Places of interest in Gloucestershire include: *

Badminton House Badminton House is a large country house and Grade I Listed Building in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, which has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The house, which has given its name to th ...

, residence of the Dukes of Beaufort HH icon

* Berkeley Castle, an example of a feudal stronghold. * Beverston Castle * Chavenage House *

Cheltenham Town Football Club Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

Clearwell Caves Clearwell Caves, at Clearwell in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, is a natural cave system which has been extensively mined for iron ore. It now operates primarily as a mining museum. The caves are part of a Natural England desi ...

Dean Forest Railway The Dean Forest Railway is a long heritage railway that runs between Lydney and Parkend in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The route was part of the former Severn and Wye Railway which ran from Lydney to Cinderford. The society that ope ...

* Dyrham Park * Edward Jenner's House *

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...

* Gloucester Rugby * Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway * Hailes Abbey *

Newark Park Newark Park is a Grade I listed country house of Tudor origins located near the village of Ozleworth, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. The house sits in an estate of at the southern end of the Cotswold escarpment with views down the Severn ...

Owlpen Manor Owlpen Manor is a Tudor Grade I listed manor house of the Mander family, situated in the village of Owlpen in the Stroud district in Gloucestershire, England. There is an associated estate set in a valley within the Cotswold Area of Outstandi ...

*Rodborough and Minchinhampton Commons * Snowshill Manor *

Sudeley Castle Sudeley Castle is a Grade I listed castle in the parish of Sudeley, in the Cotswolds, near to the medieval market town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The castle has 10 notable gardens covering some 15 acres within a 1,200-acre estate ...

, burial place of Queen

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

, 6th wife and consort of King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. * Stanway House * River Thames *

Rodmarton Manor Rodmarton Manor is a large country house, in Rodmarton, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, built for the Biddulph family. It is a Grade I listed building. It was constructed in the early 20th century in an Arts and Crafts style, to a design by ...

* Severn Bore * Tewkesbury Abbey *

Tewkesbury Medieval Festival The Tewkesbury Medieval Festival is a medieval fair held over the second weekend of every July near the town of Tewkesbury, United Kingdom. Its main feature is the re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury, which was fought in 1471. Located o ...

Tyndale Monument Tyndale Monument The Tyndale Monument is a tower built on a hill at North Nibley, Gloucestershire, England. It was built in honour of William Tyndale, an early translator of the New Testament into English, who was born nearby. It is a Grade II* l ...

* Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge * Westbury Court Garden *

Woodchester Mansion Woodchester Mansion is an unfinished, Gothic revival mansion house in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, England. It is on the site of an earlier house known as Spring Park. The mansion is a Grade I listed building. The mansion was abandoned by its b ...

Areas of countryside in Gloucestershire include: * Forest of Dean * Wye Valley Scenic Railway Line: * Gloucester to Newport Line

Media

Gloucestershire's only daily newspaper is the

Western Daily Press The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mon ...

, while The Citizen, which covers Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean, and the '' Gloucestershire Echo'', which covers Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds, were published daily but since October 2017 have been weekly publications. All three, along with free weeklies ''The Forester'', ''Stroud Life'', ''The Gloucester News'' and ''The Cheltenham and Tewkesbury News'', are published by Local World. The '' Stroud News & Journal'' is a weekly paid-for newspaper based in Stroud. It is published in a tabloid format by

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...

. Newsquest also produces the weekly ''Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard'' newspaper, which covers the southern and eastern parts of the county as well as the weekly ''Gloucestershire Gazette'', which covers the south of the county and much of South Gloucestershire. ''Gloucester News Centre'' is an independent news website with news and information for Gloucestershire. Radio stations in Gloucestershire include

BBC Radio Gloucestershire BBC Radio Gloucestershire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Gloucestershire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, AM, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Portland Court in Gloucester. According to RAJAR, the station has ...

and Heart Gloucestershire, Sunshine Radio and

The Breeze (Cheltenham & North Gloucestershire) The Breeze (Cheltenham & North Gloucestershire) was a local radio station serving Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio South West, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020. History The station originally ...

. There are also several community radio stations including Gloucester FM,

Radio Winchcombe Radio Winchcombe is an English local community radio station which broadcasts to Winchcombe and the surrounding areas. In December 2011 it was announced on the station's Twitter and Facebook pages that it had received a full-time licence from O ...

Forest of Dean Radio Forest of Dean Radio was a community radio station in Gloucestershire. It was established in 1995 and started with a 3-day broadcast to coincide with the Cinderford Carnival. It broadcast around the whole of the Forest of Dean Area from its ma ...

North Cotswold Community Radio North Cotswold Community Radio is a non-profit community internet radio station serving primarily the North Cotswolds and the surrounding area in west-central England. The station began broadcasting in autumn 2007. Its launch in February 2007 wa ...

, and

Severn FM Severn FM is an internet radio station in the United Kingdom, which started broadcasting online in June 2011, and officially launched from its studio in Hardwicke on 3 December 2011 with the Severn Bore Breakfast Show, the launch coincided wit ...

. Local TV for the county is provided by BBC West and ITV West Country from Bristol, although in the northern extremes of Gloucestershire,

BBC Midlands BBC Midlands may refer to: *BBC East Midlands, the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland, headquartered in Nottingham *BBC West Midlands BBC Midlands (known as the Midland Region from 1927 until c. 1 ...

and ITV Central (West) from Birmingham covers this area. Some eastern parts of the county (Cirencester and parts of the Cotswolds) receive BBC South and ITV Meridian from Oxford.

In popular culture

There are two well-known accounts of childhood in rural Gloucestershire in the early 20th century,

Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...

's ''

Cider With Rosie ''Cider with Rosie'' is a 1959 book by Laurie Lee (published in the US as ''Edge of Day: Boyhood in the West of England'', 1960). It is the first book of a trilogy that continues with ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) and '' A ...

'' and

Winifred Foley Winifred Mary Foley (born Winifred Mason; 25 July 1914 – 21 March 2009) was an English writer. She is known best for an autobiographical account of her childhood in the Forest of Dean: ''A Child in the Forest''. Forest life Winifred Foley ...

's ''A Child in the Forest''. Part of Mrs. Craik's novel ''

John Halifax, Gentleman ''John Halifax, Gentleman'' is a novel by Dinah Craik, first published in 1856. The novel was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 1970 and on television on BBC in 1974. Plot summary The action is centred on the town of Tewkesbury, scarcely disguised b ...

'' is set in Enderley, a thinly disguised

Amberley Amberley may refer to: Places Australia *Amberley, Queensland, near Ipswich, Australia *RAAF Base Amberley, a Royal Australian Air Force military airbase United Kingdom * Amberley, Gloucestershire, England * Amberley, Herefordshire, England ...

, where she lived at the time of writing. Most of the book is set in Nortonbury, easily recognisable as Tewkesbury. The county has also been the setting for a number of high-profile movies and TV series, including '' Die Another Day'', the Harry Potter films and the BBC TV series ''Butterflies''. "

A Girl's Best Friend ''K-9 and Company'' is a one-episode television pilot, for a proposed 1981 television spin-off of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features former series regulars Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative journalist p ...

", the pilot for the proposed ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' spin-off '' K-9 and Company'', was filmed in Gloucestershire. The setting is the fictional town of Moreton Harwood. The fictional town of Leadworth in ''

'' is in Gloucestershire. It is the home of companions Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song in their childhoods and young adulthoods. Additionally, the 2020 episode " Fugitive of the Judoon" was set and filmed at

. A fictional

Brimpsfield Brimpsfield is a village in Gloucestershire, England. The village is recorded in Domesday Book as ''Brimesfelde''. Brimpsfield Castle was built in the village during the Norman period. The manor of Brimpsfield was granted to Maurice de Berkele ...

was the village, home of Peter and Abby Grant, in the 1970s BBC TV series '' Survivors'', with a railway connection to London.

Witcombe Festival Witcombe Festival is an annual music festival held in Brockworth in Gloucestershire, UK over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Previously known as Witcombe Cider Festival the festival dropped the word cider from the title to become Witcombe Fes ...

is an annual

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held in

. As well as music, the three-day festival has it roots deep in

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

. The festival consists of four stages and has been headlined by Dizzee Rascal,

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

Sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as ...

, Ella Eyre,

Example Example may refer to: * '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, ex ...

, Wiley, Heather Small, Lethal Bizzle and

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian British, Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo (music), solo studio al ...

. The Romano/Celtic temple ruins in Lydney Park contributed to

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's description of The Shire in his Middle-earth Legendarium.

Animals

The famous

Gloucestershire Old Spots The Gloucestershire Old Spots (also "Gloucester, Gloucester Old Spot, Gloucestershire Old Spot" or simply "Old Spots") is an English breed of pig which is predominantly white with black spots. It is named after the county of Gloucestershire. T ...

pig is named for Gloucestershire and is historically associated with the county. Sheep roam widely in the Forest of Dean. The Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley also have wild boar.

Gloucester cattle The Old Gloucester or Gloucester is a traditional British breed of cattle originating in Gloucestershire and surrounding areas in the West Country of England. It was originally a triple-purpose breed, reared for milk, for beef and for draught ...

, a rare breed, can still be found in and around Gloucestershire. They can be recognised by the white stripe that runs down the centre of their backs to the tip of their tails. The cattle are famous for producing milk for both Single Gloucester and Double Gloucester cheeses.

References

External links

* *
Gloucestershire County Council
Local government web site
Visit Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Guide *
Images of Gloucestershire
at the English Heritage Archive {{Authority control Non-metropolitan counties Counties in South West England Counties of England established in antiquity