Gloucestershire

[glos-ter-sheer, -sher, glaw-ster-]

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.

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Licensed from Columbia University Press

Gloucestershire

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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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire
\|-		Geography
Status	Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Origin	Historic
Region:	South West England
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 16th 3,150 km² Ranked 17th 2,653 km²
Admin HQ:	Gloucester
GB:	GB-GLS
ONS code:	23
NUTS 3:	UKK13
Demographics
Population - Total () - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked / km² Ranked
Ethnicity:	97.3% White
Politics
Gloucestershire County Council http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/
Executive
Members of Parliament	Roger Berry (L) Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (C) Parmjit Dhanda (L) David Drew (L)/(Co-op) Mark Harper (C) Martin Horwood (LD) Doug Naysmith (L)/(Co-op) Dan Norris (L) Laurence Robertson (C) Steve Webb (LD)
Districts
Gloucester Tewkesbury Cheltenham Cotswold Stroud Forest of Dean South Gloucestershire (Unitary)

Gloucestershire (GLOSS-ter-sher) 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, Stroud, Cirencester, and Tewkesbury.

When considered as a ceremonial county, Gloucestershire borders the preserved county of Gwent in Wales, and in England the ceremonial counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Bristol. As an administrative county, it excludes the area covered by the South Gloucestershire unitary authority.

According to a 2002 campaign by the charity Plantlife, the county flower of Gloucestershire is the Wild Daffodil.

History

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. The area of South Gloucestershire was made part of the administrative County of Avon in 1974. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, it became a unitary authority, 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.".

2007 Flooding

In July of 2007, Gloucestershire had 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 has been estimated at over 2 billion pounds.

The county is recovering rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area.

Economy

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 British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	5,771	196	1,877	3,698
2000	8,163	148	2,677	5,338
2003	10,617	166	2,933	7,517

Education

Secondary Schools

See List of schools in Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven selective schools; two are in Stroud, one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 41 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, and 12 independent schools, including the renowned Cheltenham Ladies' College. All but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms.

Higher and Further Education

Gloucestershire has one university, the University of Gloucestershire and three higher and further education colleges, Gloucestershire College, Cirencester College and Stroud College. Each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county.

Towns and villages

Antiquities and other places of interest

Berkeley Castle, an example of a feudal stronghold.
Beverston Castle
Forest of Dean
Hailes Abbey
Owlpen Manor
Sudeley Castle
Tewkesbury Abbey
Tyndale Monument
Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge

The cathedral of Gloucester, the magnificent abbey church of Tewkesbury, and the church of Cirencester with its great Perpendicular porch, are described under their separate headings. 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 with great care, and interesting fragments have been brought to light.

Most of the old market towns have fine parish churches. At Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. The Perpendicular church at Lechlade is unusually perfect; and that at Fairford was built (c. 1500), according to tradition, to contain the remarkable series of stained-glass windows which are said to have been brought from the Netherlands. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, and are one of the finest series in the country.

Calcot Barn is an interesting relic of the abbey of Kingswood. Thornbury Castle is a fine Tudor ruin, 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 is the fine 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. 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. At Owlpen is one of the most picturesque Tudor manor houses set in a densely-wooded valley.

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.

Gloucestershire in popular culture

In Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, Colonel White's family estate is in Gloucestershire.
Laurie Lee's novel Cider with Rosie is set in Gloucestershire.
Louise Lawrence's apocalyptic novel Children of the Dust begins in Gloucestershire, and the following chapters are presumably set near the destroyed city.
The movie Hot Fuzz is set in Gloucestershire, in a fictional town called Sandford. It was actually filmed in Somerset in the city of Wells.

Publications

Gloucestershire's daily newspapers The Gloucester Citizen and The Gloucestershire Echo, along with free weeklies The Forester, The Gloucester News and The Cheltenham News are all published by Northcliffe Media.