Gloucestershire, county (1991 pop. 520,600), 1,025 sq mi (2,655 sq km), W central England. The county seat is Gloucester. In the eastern part of the county are the Cotswold Hills, devoted largely to dairy and crop farming; in the center is the fertile valley of the Severn River, devoted to dairy farming (Gloucester cheese) and sheep raising; and in the west, on the Welsh border, are the Wye valley and the Forest of Dean, also with sheep raising. Manufacturing (aircraft, engineering, paper, and tobacco products) is centered in Gloucester, Bristol, and Cheltenham. Cirencester and Gloucester were centers of Roman road networks. The region became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. In the Middle Ages the Cotswolds provided wool for an important wool trade in the county.

Administrative (pop., 2001: 564,559), geographic, and historic county, southwestern England. It is located at the head of the River Severn estuary on the Welsh border; Gloucester is the county seat. The Severn bisects the county from north to south. Prehistoric peoples were active in the area, as the numerous burial mounds indicate; later, the Romans had military camps within the county, and Gloucester was a Roman town of note. After the departure of the Romans, the Saxons occupied the area. Throughout the Middle Ages Gloucestershire was a battlefield, reflected in the imposing Norman defensive castles built on the Welsh frontier. The county's Cotswold area is important economically. Most of its eastern half is scenic, and a large area is set aside as the Dean National Forest Park.

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