''Gloucestershire Victoria County History'' is an encyclopaedic history of the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It forms part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. With twelve volumes published in the series ''A History of the County of Gloucestershire'', the Gloucestershire Victoria County History is about halfway through its history of all the parishes in the county. Ten volumes have been published to date, and a further four volumes are in preparation.

Overview

The project is promoted by the

Gloucestershire County History Trust 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 Glou ...

, which was established in April 2010 to lead the publication of further volumes following the termination of a tripartite partnership with the

University of Gloucestershire , mottoeng = In Spirit and Truth , established = , type = Public , endowment = £2.4 m (2015) , chancellor = Rennie Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie , vice_chancellor ...

and

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 ...

. Work is overseen, and volumes published, by the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hous ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. The then chairman of the Gloucestershire County History Trust, Sir Nicholas Mander, said in a news release in December 2010: "While the big red volumes are still at the heart of the Gloucestershire Victoria County History, we are keen to take our county history out to as many people as possible, through affordable publications, modern technology, and new ways of working." In October 2010, the Gloucestershire County History Trust appointed a new county editor, John Chandler, to oversee the completion of volume 13. The Trust has since initiated work on 3 further volumes: 14 (Yate and the Sodburys), 15 (Cheltenham and surrounding parishes) and 16 (Cirencester and area). With the publication of volume 13 in September 2016 John Chandler retired as county editor, becoming consultant editor for the remaining volumes.

List of former County Editors

* William Page * C. R. Elrington * N. M. Herbert * R. B. Pugh * Carrie Smith * A. R. J. Jurica * John Chandler

Volumes published

General volumes

* ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 2''. William Page (editor) (1907). The first volume was a part-volume covering the religious houses of the county, including the early history of

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 ...

, and local industries. Following publication, the Victoria County History project for Gloucestershire lay dormant for nearly 50 years.

Topographical volumes

* ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4''. The City of

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 ...

. N M Herbert (editor) (1988). The volume takes both a chronological and a thematic approach to the history of the City from before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

to the twentieth century. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5''.

Bledisloe Hundred Bledisloe was an ancient hundred of Gloucestershire, England. It comprised the ancient parishes of * Alvington *Awre *Lydney The hundred was named after the hamlet of Bledisloe, once a tithing of the parish of Awre and now a hamlet north of Lydn ...

, St. Briavels Hundred,

The Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

. C R J Currie, N M Herbert (editors); A P Baggs, A R J Jurica (1996). This volume covers a complex area of west Gloucestershire, with a core of formerly extra-parochial, royal demesne land of the Forest of Dean and a periphery of 14 parishes, including

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 1995 ...

and

Mitcheldean Mitcheldean is a market town in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. History Mitcheldean was a thriving community for many centuries due to the town's proximity to iron ore deposits. During the 19th century, the town grew due to revenu ...

. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 6''. The history of the parishes of Slaughter hundred, and the upper divisions 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 ...

and Westminster hundreds, all in the eastern part of the county. C R Elrington (editor) (1965). The volume includes accounts of the parishes of

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...

and

Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was found ...

. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 7''. Covers the Churn, Coln and Leach Valleys. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 8''. Histories of the parishes of the hundreds of Cleeve,

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 ...

and Tibblestone, and the lower divisions of the hundreds of Tewkesbury and Westminster. C R Elrington (editor) (1968). The volume includes an account of the borough of

. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 9''.

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

hundred. The

Northleach Northleach is a market town and former civil parish, now in parish Northleach with Eastington, in the Cotswold district, in Gloucestershire, England. The town is in the valley of the River Leach in the Cotswolds, about northeast of Cirenceste ...

area of the Cotswolds. N M Herbert (general editor); Carol Davidson Cragoe, A R J Jurica; Elizabeth Williamson (2001). Covers the sixteen parishes of Bradley hundred, to the east of the county. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 10''. Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds. C R Elrington, N M Herbert, R B Pugh (editors), Kathleen Morgan, Brian S Smith (1972). The history of the six parishes in Westbury hundred and the sixteen in Whitstone hundred. Both hundreds abut 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 ...

. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 11''. Bisley and Longtree Hundreds. N M Herbert, R B Pugh (editors), A P Baggs, A R J Jurica, W J Sheils (1976). Covers the 18 parishes of the Cotswold hundreds of Bisley and Longtree and includes the market towns of

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 ...

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...

Painswick Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church's yew trees and the local Rococo Garden. The village is mainly ...

, and

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 ...

. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 12''

Newent Newent (; originally called "Noent") is a market town and civil parish about 10½ miles (17 km) north-west of Gloucester, England. Its population was 5,073 at the 2001 census, rising to 5,207 in 2011, The population was 6,777 at the 2021 Census. ...

and

May Hill May Hill is a prominent English hill between Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye. Its summit, on the western edge of Gloucestershire and its northern slopes in Herefordshire, is distinguishable by a clump of trees on its summit, which forms an official ...

. A R J Jurica (editor) (2010). This volume covers the part of north-west Gloucestershire extending from the foothills of the Malverns in the north to the distinctive feature of May Hill in the south. Centred on the parish and former market town of Newent, it also covers the ancient parishes of Bromesberrow, Dymock, Huntley, Kempley, Longhope, Oxenhall, Pauntley, Preston, and Taynton. * ''A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 13'' Vale of Gloucester and Leadon Valley. J.H. Chandler & A.R.J. Jurica (editors). This volume covers thirteen ancient parishes alongside the River Severn near Gloucester or its tributary, the Leadon. Ten form a contiguous block north and west of Gloucester, extending from Upleadon to Sandhurst; two more, Minsterworth and Elmore, lie on opposite banks of the Severn below Gloucester. The volume also includes Twyning, a parish near Tewkesbury bordering Worcestershire.

Topographical volumes in preparation

Three volumes are in progress. * Volume 14: The history of

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, with regular rail services to Bristol and Gloucester. ...

, north of Bristol, has been completed and published as a VCH Short. The histories of Chipping Sodbury, Little Sodbury and Old Sodbury have been completed and are available online. Work continues to complete the remaining villages in the volume. * Volume 15: The early history of

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 ...

has been published as a VCH Short, while an account of the town's history since it became a Spa is available online. Work is currently underway on

Leckhampton Leckhampton is a Gloucestershire village and a district in south Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The area is in the civil parish of Leckhampton with Warden Hill and is part of the district of Cheltenham. The population of the civil pari ...

Swindon Village Swindon or Swindon Village is both a village and a suburb in the spa town of Cheltenham, in the Cheltenham district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is located northwest of Arle. The Swindon parish had a population of 1,778 ...

and

Up Hatherley Up Hatherley is a civil parish and a suburb of the spa town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Formerly a hamlet in the parish of Shurdington, it became a parish in 1887 and became a part of Cheltenham in 1991. History The village was r ...

. * Volume 16: Drafts of the prehistory of the area,

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 ...

Bagendon Bagendon is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about four miles north of Cirencester. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 265,decreasing to 239 at the 2011 census. St Margaret's Chu ...

Baunton Baunton is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, located about two miles north of Cirencester on the River Churn. There is archaeological evidence of human habitation around the village in Prehistori ...

Daglingworth Daglingworth is a Gloucestershire village in the valley of the River Dunt, near the A417 road connecting Gloucester and Cirencester. As with many smaller villages in the Cotswolds, most of the buildings are now private houses. Other properties a ...

and Stratton are available on line. Work on the Duntisbournes is ongoing, while Coates and Preston will start in 2022.

The Gloucestershire County History Trust

This trust, established in May 2010, is a UK-registered

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

. It became a CIO in 2019. It is responsible for raising funds for the continuation of the county history.

References

External links

Official website.Website for local volunteers and supporters.VCH Gloucestershire Facebook page
{{Gloucestershire History of Gloucestershire Organisations based in Gloucestershire Victoria County History