Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire (/ˈɡlɒstərʃər/ ( listen), /-ʃɪər/ ( listen); formerly abbreviated as Gloucs. in print but now often as 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 Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud, Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury and Dursley. Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire borders Herefordshire
Herefordshire to the northwest, Wiltshire
Wiltshire to the south, Bristol
Bristol and Somerset
Somerset to the south west, Worcestershire
Worcestershire to the north, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire to the east, Warwickshire
Warwickshire to the northeast, and the Welsh county of Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire to the west.

Contents

1 History 2 Geography and environment 3 Economy 4 Education

4.1 Secondary schools 4.2 Higher and further education

5 Towns and cities

5.1 Cities 5.2 Towns 5.3 Green belt

6 Antiquities 7 Places of interest 8 Media 9 In popular culture 10 Animals 11 See also 12 Notes 13 Further reading 14 External links

History[edit] Main article: History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe
Winchcombe and the Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century. Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the port city (as Bristol
Bristol was to become), and Bristol's population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol
Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire and Somerset
Somerset in 1373. It later became part of the administrative County of Avon
County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the region north of Bristol
Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was "Glos.", rather than the frequently used but erroneous "Gloucs." or "Glouc.". In July 2007, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, with tens of thousands of residents affected. The RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion.[2] The county recovered rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area. Geography and environment[edit] Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire has three main landscape areas, a large part of the Cotswolds, the Royal Forest of Dean
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
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
Gloucestershire and Herefordshire
Herefordshire surrounding the village of Dymock, is known for its many spring flowers, orchards, and woodland, which attracts many walkers. Economy[edit] This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year Regional Gross Value Added[3] Agriculture[4] Industry[5] Services[6]

1995 5,771 196 1,877 3,698

2000 8,163 148 2,677 5,338

2003 10,617 166 2,933 7,517

The following is a chart of Gloucestershire's gross value added total in thousands of British Pounds Sterling from 1997-2009 based upon the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics figures [7]

Year GVA (£ million)

1997 7,167

1998 7,630

1999 8,034

2000 8,414

2001 8,947

2002 9,504

2003 10,117

2004 10,525

2005 10,680

2006 11,073

2007 11,563

2008 11,666

2009 11,452

The 2009 estimation of £11,452 million GVA can be compared to the South West regional average of £7,927 million. Education[edit] Secondary schools[edit] Further information: List of schools in Gloucestershire Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven selective schools; two are in Stroud
Stroud ( Stroud
Stroud High School for girls and Marling School for boys), one in Cheltenham
Cheltenham (Pate's Grammar) and four in Gloucester
Gloucester (Sir Thomas Rich's and The Crypt for boys and The High School and Ribston Hall for girls). There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, and 12 independent schools, including the renowned Cheltenham
Cheltenham Ladies' College, Cheltenham College and Wycliffe College. All but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire have sixth forms. Higher and further education[edit]

A campus of the University of Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire has two universities, the University of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire and the Royal Agricultural University, and four higher and further education colleges, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire College, Cirencester College, South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire and Stroud
Stroud College and the Royal Forest of Dean College. Each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. The University of the West of England
England also has two locations in Gloucestershire; an associate faculty (Hartpury College) specialising in animal behaviour and welfare, agricultural and sports related courses in Hartpury, Gloucestershire
Hartpury, Gloucestershire and a regional centre at the Gloucester
Gloucester Docks, Alexandra Warehouse, specialising in Adult and Mental Health Nursing. Towns and cities[edit] Main article: List of places in Gloucestershire See also: List of settlements in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire by population Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire has one city and 33 towns: Cities[edit]

Gloucester

Towns[edit] The towns in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire are:

Berkeley Cheltenham Chipping Campden Chipping Sodbury Cinderford Cirencester Coleford Dursley Fairford Kemble Lechlade Lydney Minchinhampton Mitcheldean Moreton-in-Marsh Nailsworth Newent Northleach Painswick Quedgeley Stonehouse Stow-on-the-Wold Stroud Tetbury Tewkesbury Thornbury Winchcombe Wotton-under-Edge Yate

Town in Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire with suburbs in Gloucestershire:

Chepstow

Green belt[edit] Main articles: Avon Green Belt
Avon Green Belt and Gloucester
Gloucester and Cheltenham
Cheltenham Green Belt The county has two green belt areas, the first covers the southern area in the South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire district, to protect outlying villages and towns between Thornbury and Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury from the urban sprawl of the Bristol
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. Antiquities[edit] There are a variety of religious buildings across the county, notably the cathedral of Gloucester, the abbey church of Tewkesbury
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.

Parish Church of St. Mary, Fairford

Most of the old market towns have parish churches. At Deerhurst
Deerhurst near Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury and Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham, 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
Fairford was built (c. 1500), according to tradition, to contain a series of stained-glass windows 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. Thornbury Castle
Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham
Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone.[citation needed] 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 residences in Gloucestershire, including Highgrove House, Gatcombe Park, and (formerly) Nether Lypiatt Manor. An annual "cheese-rolling" event takes place at Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth and the Cotswold Games
Cotswold Games occurred within the county. Places of interest[edit]

Key

Abbey/Priory/Cathedral

Accessible open space

Amusement/Theme Park

Castle

Country Park

English Heritage

Forestry Commission

Heritage railway

Historic House

Museum (free/not free)

National Trust

Theatre

Zoo

Gloucester
Gloucester Cathedral

Aerial photo of Sudeley Castle

Places of interest in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire include:

Badminton House, residence of the Dukes of Beaufort Berkeley Castle, an example of a feudal stronghold. Beverston Castle Chavenage House
Chavenage House Cheltenham
Cheltenham Town Football Club Clearwell Caves Dean Forest Railway
Dean Forest Railway Dyrham Park
Dyrham Park Edward Jenner's House Gloucester
Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester
Gloucester Rugby Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Warwickshire
Warwickshire Railway Hailes Abbey
Hailes Abbey Newark Park
Newark Park Owlpen Manor
Owlpen Manor Rodborough and Minchinhampton
Minchinhampton Commons Snowshill Manor
Snowshill Manor Sudeley Castle, burial place of Queen Catherine Parr, 6th wife and consort of King Henry VIII. Stanway House
Stanway House River Thames
River Thames Rodmarton Manor
Rodmarton Manor Severn Bore
Severn Bore Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury Abbey Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury Medieval Festival Tyndale Monument
Tyndale Monument Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge Westbury Court Garden Woodchester Mansion
Woodchester Mansion

Areas of countryside in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire include:

Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean Wye Valley
Wye Valley

Scenic Railway Line:

Gloucester
Gloucester to Newport Line

Media[edit] Gloucestershire's daily newspapers are The Citizen, which covers Gloucester, Stroud
Stroud and the Forest of Dean, and the Gloucestershire Echo, which covers Cheltenham, Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds. The two daily papers, along with free weeklies The Forester, Stroud
Stroud Life, The Gloucester
Gloucester News and The Cheltenham
Cheltenham and Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury News, are all published by Northcliffe Media.[8] The Stroud
Stroud News & Journal is a weekly paid-for newspaper based in Stroud. It is published in a tabloid format by Newsquest. Newsquest
Newsquest also produces the weekly Wilts and Glos Standard newspaper, which covers the southern and eastern parts of the county as well as the weekly Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Gazette which covers the south of the county and much of South Gloucestershire. Gloucester
Gloucester News Centre is an independent news website with news and information for Gloucestershire.[citation needed] Radio stations in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire include BBC Radio Gloucestershire and Heart Gloucestershire, Sunshine Radio and The Breeze (Cheltenham & North Gloucestershire). There are also several community radio stations including Gloucester
Gloucester FM, Radio Winchcombe, Forest of Dean Radio, and North Cotswold Community Radio. In popular culture[edit]

The south cloister of Gloucester
Gloucester Cathedral was used for filming scenes in the Harry Potter films.

There are two well-known accounts of childhood in rural Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire in the early 20th century, Laurie Lee's Cider With Rosie and Winifred Foley's A Child in the Forest. Part of Mrs. Craik's novel John Halifax, Gentleman is set in Enderley, a thinly disguised Amberley, where she lived at the time of writing.[9] 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, Harry Potter and BBC TV series Butterflies.[10] The film Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz was set in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire where Simon Pegg, who co-wrote and starred in the film, grew up. "A Girl's Best Friend", the pilot for the proposed Doctor Who
Doctor Who spin-off K-9 and Company, was filmed in Gloucestershire.[11] The setting is the fictional town of Moreton Harwood.[12] The fictional town of Leadworth in Doctor Who
Doctor Who is in Gloucestershire.[13] It is the home of companions Amy Pond, Rory Williams
Rory Williams and River Song in their childhoods and young adulthoods.[14] A fictional Brimpsfield
Brimpsfield was the village, home of Peter and Abby Grant, in the 1970s BBC TV series Survivors, with a railway connection to London. Animals[edit]

A boar of the local Gloucestershire Old Spot
Gloucestershire Old Spot breed.

The famous Gloucestershire Old Spots
Gloucestershire Old Spots pig is named for Gloucestershire and is historically associated with the county.[15] Sheep roam widely in the Forest of Dean.[16] The Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley
Wye Valley also have wild boar.[17] Gloucester
Gloucester cattle, a rare[18] breed, can still be found in and around Gloucestershire.[19] 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
Gloucester and Double Gloucester
Gloucester cheeses. See also[edit]

England
England portal

Category:Grade I listed buildings in Gloucestershire Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire - Keepers of the Rolls Diocese of Gloucester High Sheriff of Gloucestershire Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency)
Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency) - Historical list of MPs for Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire constituency Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Regiment Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Constabulary Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner List of people from Gloucestershire List of hills of Gloucestershire Royal Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Hussars West Country dialects

Notes[edit]

^ " Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire 2017/2018". High Sheriffs Association. Retrieved 9 June 2017.  ^ "Flood crisis grows as rivers rise". BBC News. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2013.  ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding ^ includes hunting and forestry ^ includes energy and construction ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured ^ http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-accounts/regional-gross-value-added--income-approach-/december-2011/rft-nuts1.xls ^ Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Media Group's portfolio – Northcliffe Media subsidiary which publishes local papers in Gloucestershire ^ " Minchinhampton
Minchinhampton - Introduction A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 11 (pp. 184-190)". British-history.ac.uk. 22 June 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2013.  ^ ' Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire TV and Movie Locations' at Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire On Screen[dead link] ^ " Doctor Who
Doctor Who Locations Guide: K9 and Company". Doctorwholocations.net. Retrieved 15 February 2013.  ^ "K-9 and Company". Doctor Who
Doctor Who Reference Guide. Retrieved 29 December 2013.  ^ Moffat, Steven (3 April 2010). "The Eleventh Hour". Doctor Who. Series 5. Episode 1. BBC. BBC One.  ^ Moffat, Steven (3 April 2010). "The Eleventh Hour". Doctor Who. Series 5. Episode 1. BBC. BBC One.  Moffat, Steven (26 June 2010). "The Big Bang". Doctor Who. Series 5. Episode 13. BBC. BBC One.  Moffat, Steven (27 August 2011). "Let's Kill Hitler". Doctor Who. Series 6. Episode 8. BBC. BBC One.  ^ " Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire Old Spots". Rbst.org.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.  ^ "Campsites in the Forest of Dean". Camping in the forest. Retrieved 23 February 2014.  ^ Vidal, John (5 April 2013). "Hundreds of wild boars face cull in Forest of Dean". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 February 2014.  ^ "Gloucester" (PDF). Rare Breeds Survival Trust. 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2014.  ^ " Gloucester
Gloucester Cattle Society". gloucestercattle.org.uk. 

Further reading[edit] Rudder, Samuel. (1779) A New History of Gloucestershire. Reprint: Nonsuch Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-84588-023-4 (Free download of original here: A New History of Gloucestershire) External links[edit]

Media related to Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire at Wikimedia Commons Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire travel guide from Wikivoyage Gloucestershire County Council
Gloucestershire County Council Local government web site Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire at Curlie (based on DMOZ) Images of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire at the English Heritage
English Heritage Archive

v t e

Ceremonial county
Ceremonial county of Gloucestershire

Unitary authorities

South Gloucestershire

Boroughs or districts

Cheltenham Cotswold Forest of Dean Gloucester Stroud Tewkesbury

Major settlements

Berkeley Bradley Stoke Cheltenham Chipping Campden Chipping Sodbury Cinderford Cirencester Coleford Dursley Fairford Filton Gloucester Kingswood Lechlade Lydney Minchinhampton Mitcheldean Moreton-in-Marsh Nailsworth Newent Northleach Painswick Patchway Quedgeley Stonehouse Stow-on-the-Wold Stroud Tetbury Tewkesbury Thornbury Winchcombe Wotton-under-Edge Yate See also: List of civil parishes in Gloucestershire

Rivers

Bristol
Bristol Avon Warwickshire
Warwickshire Avon Bybrook Boyd Cam Chelt Churn Coln Evenlode Eye Bristol
Bristol Frome Stroud
Stroud Frome Hazel Brook Leach Little Avon Lyd Severn Swilgate Thames Trym Windrush Wye

Topics

Flag Places Population of major settlements Parliamentary constituencies Schools SSSIs Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings History Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs Museums

v t e

1974–1996 ←   Ceremonial counties of England   → current

Bedfordshire Berkshire Bristol Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Riding of Yorkshire East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater London Greater Manchester Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire City of London Merseyside Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland North Yorkshire Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire Worcestershire

Authority control

WorldCat Identities VIAF: 166046036 LCCN: n80009