Kings Square is a market square 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 ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
connecting to
Kings Walk Shopping Centre,
Market Parade,
The Oxbode and
St Aldate Street.
History
Kings Square was built in between 1927 and 1929. This involved the demolition of shops and houses in the area, which also affected St Aldate Street,
New Lane and
Kings Street where the north end of the street was demolished. At this time the Oxbode was also built. Due to the building of the Oxbode and Kings Square the west part of Gloucester started to deteriorate as the city was expanded southwards and eastwards. Originally Kings Square included the main
bus station
A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...
for Gloucester and a car park. It remained like this until the 1960s. In the early 1960s an extension of the Bon Marché
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 app ...
, originally owned by
Drapery Trust
Drapery Trust was formed in 1925 by Clarence Hatry, a notorious British financier. He had made his fortune in speculating on oil stocks, and had convinced investors to promote department stores and bring them under the management of a retail con ...
and is now
Debenhams
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...
, filled part of the west side of the square. Showrooms for the
Midlands Electricity
The Midlands Electricity Board was the public sector utility company responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator (the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958) and its distribution and sale of electricity ...
store were built on the east side.
![King's Square, Gloucester - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/King%27s_Square%2C_Gloucester_-_geograph.org.uk_-_469564.jpg)
Between 1969 and 1974, during a large redevelopment of central Gloucester, the square was redesigned and new shops were built on the east and south sides.
Water fountains
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
with
stepping stones
Stepping stones or stepstones are sets of stones arranged to form an improvised causeway that allows a pedestrian to cross a natural watercourse such as a river; or a water feature in a garden where water is allowed to flow between stone steps. U ...
and
paddling
Paddling with regard to watercraft is the act of manually propelling a boat using a paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel. The paddle is not connected to the boat (unlike in r ...
areas were created in the centre of the square. The Square was officially opened to the public in 1972.
Also at this time Kings Street was covered to become an indoor shopping centre called Kings Walk Shopping Centre. The north side of the square was redeveloped in 1984.
In 2006, The square was level, led and concreted, as the water fountains had fallen into disrepair. On 20 January 2014, The Golden Egg building, previously a restaurant built in the 1960s, was demolished. At the same time, other minor improvements were also made including repainting and the addition of new benches. The square is now mainly used for
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
s.
![Kings Square, Gloucester](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Kings_Square%2C_Gloucester.jpg)
The square is part of the
Kings Quarter redevelopment project, the plans are for Kings Square to remain as a public open space. £5 million has been spent on the regeneration of Kings Square. The new design is based on the
Severn Bore with wave-shaped granite seating areas, water fountains and coloured lighting.
The development started in August 2021 and the square was reopened on the 30 April 2022.
Gloucester Post Office
![Gloucester Post Office](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Gloucester_Post_Office.jpg)
The central
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
for Gloucester was opened in 1934 in Kings Square.
It was the city's first purpose built head post office. The building was designed by Henry E. Seccombe of
H.M. Office of Works,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. The building is three storeys high, made mainly of brick and stone with concrete floors and beams, the front is faced with
Portland stone, the roof is made of slate and asphalt. Two English oak doors are at the entrance of the building. It replaced the head post office in
George Street by
Gloucester railway station
Gloucester railway station (formerly known as Gloucester Central station) is a railway station serving the city of Gloucester in England. The station was originally built as the terminus of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway in 1840, but t ...
and the existing post office on the corner of
Westgate Street and
St Johns Lane.
The Regal
![The Regal (2022)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/The_Regal_%282022%29.jpg)
Construction work started, at the north side of Kings Square, in 1939 paid for by the
Associated British Cinemas
ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...
. However, due to
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 ...
, the construction was halted until 1955.
The Regal Cinema was finally opened on 19 March 1956. It had single auditorium that was used for films, live theatre and music. It was renamed ABC Regal in 1963 and then it was taken over by
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
in February 1974. On 6 April 1974 it was closed to be converted to a triple screen cinema with 1,468 seats, and reopened on 22 July 1974. It was taken over by the
Cannon Group in 1986 and renamed Cannon. It closed down on 12 December 1990.
Local amateur dramatic groups like the Gods often performed there.
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
,
Cilla Black,
Adam Faith
Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...
and
Roy Orbison made appearances there from the late 1950s and
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
appeared there in March 1963.
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...
appeared there in 1971 with total of 6,000 people attended their four performances.
The building was taken over by
J D Wetherspoons and converted into a pub. It opened on 3 April 1996 and is called The Regal.
References
{{Commons category
Squares in Gloucester
Parks and open spaces in Gloucestershire
Squares in England
Geography of Gloucestershire