Matson is a suburb 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 o ...

, in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...

of Gloucester, in the

district, in the county of

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 ...

, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 40.

History

Unlike neighbouring villages, such as

Brookthorpe Brookthorpe is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Brookthorpe-with-Whaddon, in the Stroud district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 194. It has a church called St Swithun's ...

and Upton St Leonards, Matson is not 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 manusc ...

. It appears to have been a part of Kings Barton at the time of the survey. The origins of the name are unclear but early versions recorded include ''Matesknolle'', ''Mattesdune'' and ''Matesden''''The History of the County of Gloucester''
Rudge, Thomas. page 171. 1803 and it is likely that the names refer to

Robinswood Hill Robinswood Hill () is a hill and country park to the south of the city centre of Gloucester, close to the Stroud Road (A4173). It rises to 650 ft (198 m), and is owned and managed by Gloucester City Council's Countryside Unit. The Glouces ...

, a large hill which lay entirely within the ancient parish of Matson and on the flanks of which the village lies. It has been suggested that iron ore was mined from Robinswood Hill in Saxon times although there is little evidence for this. A spring called the Red Well rising just above Matson is

ferruginous The adjective ferruginous may mean: * Containing iron, applied to water, oil, and other non-metals * Having rust on the surface * With the rust (color) See also * Ferrous, containing iron (for metals and alloys) or iron(II) cations * Ferric, cont ...

in nature. Matson House, a large manorial house, was the headquarters of King Charles during the Siege of Gloucester. It subsequently became the property of Major General William Selwyn in 1679. It is now (2017) the Selwyn Care Home. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and became part of Gloucester,

and Upton St. Leonards.

1950s to present

Today, Matson is best known for the

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

that was built in the village after the Second World War. Parmjit Dhanda, former MP for

(2001-2010), lived in Matson with his family. Matson contains a ski slope, a pub, a shopping parade, doctor's surgery, Neighbourhood Project and several churches. Matson police station was closed in 1994. In 2009 plans were revealed for the construction of a new motorway service station.New service station plan for M5
/ref> Following the planning process and a judicial review Gloucester services was built near Matson with the northbound services opening on May 7, 2014Take a look around the new M5 motorway Gloucester Services
and the southbound services due to open in May 2015. Matson is bordered primarily by Robinswood Hill, a large hill that rises to 283 metres above sea level. Much of Matson is built on the sides of the hill, which features the Gloucester Ski Centre. In 2017, Matson was the site of a near-fatal "hit and run" incident. Local resident Delroy Nelson bought a car so that he could drive over his former partner in an attempt to kill her. The incident was motivated by Mr Nelson being denied access to a sum of criminal proceeds that had been kept in a shared bank account. Celebrity chef Tom Kerridge named his "expensive" curry sauce after the sauce that he used to buy from his local chipshop on the Matson estate.

References

{{Areas of Gloucester Areas of Gloucester Former civil parishes in Gloucestershire