Hucclecote is a suburb in

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 ...

, United Kingdom, comprising a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

(population 8,826) in the City of Gloucester. It is located on the periphery of the city, between Barnwood and Brockworth, along

Ermin Way Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva (Silchester). At Glevum, it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Corini ...

, an old Roman road connecting Gloucester with

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

and the Cotswolds.

History and background

Hucclecote has been settled since ancient times, and a Roman villa dating from the second or third century AD has been found at Hucclecote. Later, Hucclecote was a hamlet in the ancient parish of Churchdown, and is mentioned in the

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 manus ...

. Hucclecote was a small village until development began prior to the outbreak of

World War II 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 opposing ...

in 1939. Development was halted during the war and the area was bombed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

due to the aircraft factories and other industrial facilities in the area, which were originally within the boundary of Brockworth. Due to redistricting, the

airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

from which the world's first

jet fighter Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

, took off for

test flight Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...

s is now within the boundary of Hucclecote. The area bordering Brockworth is currently undergoing redevelopment, with the derelict land that formerly housed the airfield and factory having made way for Coopers Edge, a housing development of 1,900 homes, as well as shops and a school. The nearby Gloucester Business Park currently has a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

Supermarket, a

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

, and many office buildings, with restaurants and other retail facilities currently being added. Hucclecote Court - geograph

Ermin Way through Hucclecote was a major trunk route until the construction of the Brockworth Bypass in 1995. Until the construction of the

Severn Bridge The Severn Bridge ( cy, Pont Hafren) is a motorway suspension bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and Wale ...

in 1966, this was a strategic route from the south of England to south Wales, as the lowest bridge crossing 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 ...

was at Gloucester. Hucclecote is split into two parts; with the dividing line being the

M5 Motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

bridge. The part to the west of the bridge, and thus closest to Gloucester, is the larger part, and falls under Gloucester City Council, while to the east of the bridge, the Parish of

Hucclecote Hucclecote is a suburb in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, comprising a ward (population 8,826) in the City of Gloucester. It is located on the periphery of the city, between Barnwood and Brockworth, along Ermin Way, an old Roman road connectin ...

is part 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 ...

Borough Council.

Origin of the name 'Hucclecote'

Possibly, though very doubtfully, Hucclecote derives from Welsh: 'Uchel'+'coed' = high wood (cf Wotton & Barnwood). The Celtic meaning for the name 'Hucclecote' is 'tall trees, lofty woods'. A "cote" is: A small shed or shelter for sheep or birds. iddle English, from Old English.cote : 2 (k t). tr.v. cot·ed, cot·ing, cotes Obsolete. To go around by the side of; skirt. Eilert Ekwall gives the meaning as ''The COT of Hucel's people''.

Floods of Summer 2007

During the floods of Summer 2007, Hucclecote escaped the damage on the scale that afflicted other parts of Gloucester. However, on Friday 20 July 2007, a few roads were submerged, which prevented access to many homes, and were blocked off by the Police. During the period, many homes were without water for two weeks, and some were also without electricity. The Dinglewell area was badly affected, with one house receiving 18" of brook water throughout the lower floors.

Amenities

Hucclecote has many locally owned shops and two pubs; The Royal Oak and The Wagon & Horses, both operated by national chains. There's also the Community Centre Club Bar. National brands such as The Co-operative and

Lloyds Pharmacy LloydsPharmacy is a British pharmacy company. It has around 17,000 staff and dispenses over 150 million prescription items annually. It is owned by the Aurelius Group. It was formerly owned by the American McKesson Corporation. Overview The co ...

have branches in the village. There are three schools in Hucclecote: Hillview primary school and Dinglewell Infants and Juniors. In 2018, over 10,000 visitors are expected to the Hucclecote Show, a fayre held in George V playing fields and run by the Hucclecote Community Association.

Economy

The average household income was £27,040 in 2012.

Notable Residents

The antiquary

Richard Furney Richard Furney (1694-1753) was an Anglican priest and antiquary. Life Furney was born in Gloucester and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1715 and M.A. He was ordained in 1718 and became curate at St Michael, Gloucester ...

lived in Hucclecote. The noted amateur rose grower Conway Jones (1846-1929) lived at Blenheim House. The local solicitor, amateur botanist, poet and bibliophile John Wilton Haines (1875-1960) was a friend of the

Dymock poets The Dymock poets were a literary group of the early 20th century who made their homes near the village of Dymock in Gloucestershire, in England, near to the border with Herefordshire. Significant figures and events The 'Dymock Poets' are genera ...

and his archive includes correspondence with various twentieth century literary figures.

Notes

External links

{{authority control Areas of Gloucester