Gloucestershire is bisected by the river River Severn,which enters the county near Tewkesbury and forms a wide valley down its centre before broadening into a large tidal estuary. The hills to the east form the majority of the CotswoldsAONB,and the uplands to the west are part of the Forest of Dean and the Wye ValleyAONB,which stretches into Wales.
Gloucestershire was likely established in the tenth century,and expanded to approximately its current borders in the eleventh. The county was relatively settled during the late Middle Ages,and contained several wealthy monasteries such as Tewkesbury,Gloucester,Hailes,and Cirencester;the Forest of Dean was also a major iron-producing region in this period. The city of Bristol became an independent county in 1373,by which point it was the third-largest city in England. Gloucestershire was not heavily industrialised during the Industrial Revolution,but the Port of Gloucester was expanded with new docks and the small Forest of Dean coalfield was exploited.
Hand-drawn map of Gloucestershire by Christopher Saxton in 1579
Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century,though the areas of Winchcombe and the Forest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century.[5]
Gloucestershire originally included Bristol,then a small town. Members of local rural communities moved to the port city (as Bristol was to become),and Bristol's population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right,separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset,in 1373.[6] It later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996.[7] Some northern parts of the county,including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon,were transferred to Warwickshire in 1931.
The flag of the historic county of Gloucestershire
In July 2007,Gloucestershire was subject to some of the worst flooding in recorded British history,with tens of thousands of residents affected. The RAF conducted the largest peacetime domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood-affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2billion.[9]
Geography and environment
Gloucestershire has three main landscape areas,a large part of the Cotswolds,the Royal 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 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 and Herefordshire surrounding the village of Dymock,is known for its many spring flowers,orchards,and woodland,which attracts many walkers. In the west,the Wye valley borders Wales.
Governance
Gloucestershire is a ceremonial county in South West England. Gloucestershire County Council's 53 seats are majority-controlled by the Conservatives,though the Liberal Democrats have a sizeable presence on the council.[10] The Council Leader is Mark Hawthorne. The County Council shares responsibility with six district councils:Tewkesbury,Forest of Dean,City of Gloucester,Cheltenham,Stroud and Cotswold.
The southernmost part of the county,South Gloucestershire is governed by South Gloucestershire Council,which is a unitary authority council independent of the county council but the unitary authority is still part of the ceremonial county. Previously,the area of South Gloucestershire was part of the county of Avon. Although Avon was abolished in 1996,some services in South Gloucestershire are still provided in conjunction with other former parts of Avon county,such as the Avon Fire and Rescue Service.[11] Since 2017,South Gloucestershire has been part of the West of England Combined Authority,which is under the directly elected mayor Dan Norris.[12]
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp.240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of Pounds Sterling.
The county has two green belt areas, the first covers the southern area in the South Gloucestershire district, to protect outlying villages and towns between Thornbury and Chipping Sodbury from the urban sprawl of the 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.[21]
There are a number of Roman remains scattered across the county, including the Eastgate Viewing Chamber in Gloucester and Chedworth Roman Villa.
There are a variety of religious buildings across the county, notably the cathedral of Gloucester, the abbey church of Tewkesbury (which is over 500 years old and has the tallest Norman tower in England),[24] 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.[25]
Other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey.[27]Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of CardinalWolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone.[28] 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.
Gloucestershire's only daily newspaper is the Western Daily Press, while The Citizen, which covers Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean, and the Gloucestershire Echo, which covers Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds, were published daily but since October 2017 have been weekly publications. All three, along with free weeklies The Forester, Stroud Life, The Gloucester News and The Cheltenham and Tewkesbury News, are published by Local World. The Stroud News & Journal is a weekly paid-for newspaper based in Stroud. It is published in a tabloid format by Newsquest. Newsquest also produces the weekly Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard newspaper, which covers the southern and eastern parts of the county as well as the weekly Gloucestershire Gazette, which covers the south of the county and much of South Gloucestershire.[30]
Gloucester News Centre is an independent news website with news and information for Gloucestershire.[31]
Local TV for the county is provided by BBC West and ITV West Country from Bristol, although in the northern extremes of Gloucestershire, BBC Midlands and ITV Central (West) from Birmingham covers this area.[33] Some eastern parts of the county (Cirencester and parts of the Cotswolds) receive BBC South and ITV Meridian from Oxford.
The famous Gloucestershire Old Spots pig is named for Gloucestershire and is historically associated with the county.[45] Sheep roam widely in the Forest of Dean. The Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley also have wild boar.[46]
Gloucester cattle, a rare[47] breed, can still be found in and around Gloucestershire.[48] 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 and Double Gloucester cheeses.[49]
↑ "Forest of Dean: Introduction". A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5, Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, the Forest of Dean. Victoria County History: 285–294. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021– via British History Online.
↑ Robbins, Bill (1997). "South Gloucestershire: The Transition to Unitary Authority Status". Journal of Integrated Care. 5 (1): 18–23. doi:10.1108/14769018199700004.
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