City of Gloucester
	Gloucester Shown within Gloucestershire
Geography
Status:	City (1541)
Region:	South West England
Admin. County:	Gloucestershire
Area: - Total	Ranked 317th 40.54 km²
Admin. HQ:	Gloucester
ONS code:	23UE
Demographics
Population: - Total (2022) - Density	Ranked / km²
Ethnicity:	92.5% White 2.8% S.Asian 2.3% Afro-Carib.
Politics
Gloucester City Council http://www.gloucester.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
MP:	Parmjit Dhanda

Gloucester (pronounced [ˈglɒstə]) is a city and district in the English county of Gloucestershire, close to the Welsh border.

Character

Gloucester is the county town of Gloucestershire, and is the 46th largest City in England. In 2003 the city proper had a population of 110,207. However the built-up area extends beyond the city boundary. The 2001 census gave the population of the whole "Gloucester Urban Area" as 162,203, up 29% from the 1991 figure of 126,149.

It is located on the eastern bank of the River Severn, at grid reference SO832186, 114 miles west-north-west of London. It is sheltered by the Cotswolds to the east, while the Forest of Dean and the Malvern Hills rise prominently to the west and north-west, respectively.

Gloucester is a port, linked via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal to the Severn Estuary, allowing larger ships to reach the docks than would be possible on the tidal reaches of the river itself. The wharfs, warehouses and the docks themselves fell into considerable disrepair until their renovation in the 1980s. They now form a public open space. Some warehouses now house the National Waterways Museum, others were converted into luxury residential apartments, shops and bars. Additionally, the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum is located in the Custom House. The port still houses the most inland RNLI Lifeboat in the UK.

Places of interest

Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral, in the north of the city near the river, originates in the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter in 681. It is the burial place of King Edward II of England, Walter de Lacy and was recently used in scenes for the Harry Potter films. Attached to the deanery is the Norman prior's chapel. In St Mary's Square outside the Abbey gate, Bishop Hooper suffered martyrdom under Queen Mary I in 1555.

Medieval and Tudor buildings

Many gabled and timbered houses survive from earlier periods of Gloucester's history. At the point where the four principal streets intersected stood the Tolsey (town hall), which replaced by a modern building in 1894. None of the old public buildings are left except for the New Inn in Northgate Street, it is a timbered house, with strong, massive external galleries and courtyards. It was built in 1450 for the pilgrims to Edward II's shrine, by Abbot Sebroke.

Churches

There may be many churches now, but in the past there were also many dissenting chapels. It may have been the old proverb, "as sure as God's in Gloucester", that provoked Oliver Cromwell to declare that the city had "more churches than godliness." Gloucester was the host of the first Sunday school in England; this was founded by Robert Raikes in 1780. Four of the churches that are of special interest are:

• St Mary de Lode, this has a Norman tower and chancel and a monument of Bishop Hooper. It was built on the site of an Ancient Roman temple which became the first Christian church to be in Britain
• St Mary de Crypt, is a cruciform structure of the 12th century. It has later additions, such as the beautiful and lofty tower
• The St Michael church was said to have been connected with the St Peter ancient abbey
• The St Nicholas church that was originally from the Norman erection possessed a tower and other objects since then. In the neighbourhood where St Mary de Crypt is there are slight remains of Greyfriars and Blackfriars monasteries, and also of the city wall. Under the Fleece and Saracen's Head inns early vaulted cellars still remain.

During the construction of the Boots store on the corner of Brunswick Road and Eastgate Street in 1974, roman remains were found. You can see these through a glass case as you walk past on the street; you may also listen to the 'talking bollard' to get a better idea of what it was like then. At the back of the Gloucester Furniture Exhibition Centre you can see parts of the city's south gate.

Schools

There are three endowed schools: The King's School, refounded by Henry VIII of England as part of the cathedral establishment; the school of St Mary de Crypt, founded by Dame Joan Cooke in the same reign (1539); and Sir Thomas Rich's Blue Coat Hospital for boys (1666). At the Crypt school the famous preacher George Whitefield (1714-1770) was educated, and he preached his first sermon in the church.

Modern buildings

Noteworthy modern buildings include the museum and school of art and science, the county gaol (on the site of a Saxon and Norman castle), the Shire Hall and the Whitefield memorial church. A park in the south of the city contains a spa, a chalybeate spring having been discovered in 1814. West of this, across the canal, are the remains (a gateway and some walls) of Llanthony Priory, a cell of the mother abbey in the Vale of Ewyas, Monmouthshire, which in the reign of Edward IV became the secondary establishment.

King's Square is at the heart of the city centre and occupies what was once a cattle market and bus station. Officially opened in 1972, it was the centrepiece of a radical redesign of the city, The Jellicoe Plan, which was first proposed in 1961. Parts of the plan can be found via this link:

Many of the features of the redevelopment have since been dismantled; the brutalist concrete fountains in the middle of the square have gone and the overhead roadways which linked three multi storey car parks around the centre have been either closed or dismantled. The present main bus station received a Civic Trust Award in 1963 but is now tatty and unwelcoming. An indoor market opened in Eastgate Street in 1968, followed shortly afterwards by the Eastgate Shopping Centre. Gloucester Leisure Centre opened on the corner of Eastgate Street and Bruton Way in September 1974 and was redeveloped around 2003. A new railway station opened in Bruton Way in 1977, replacing one which had stood on another site further east along the same road. The main shopping streets were pedestrianised in the late 1980s.

There are few tall buildings in Gloucester, the Cathedral being the most obvious. The tower of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, constructed during the years 1970-1975, can be seen from miles around. In Brunswick Road, a brown concrete tower houses classrooms at the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology. The tower was added incongruously to the existing 1930s Technical College buildings in 1971. A tall block of flats stands in Columbia Close, between London Road and Kingsholm Road. It was built in 1972 and stands on what was once Columbia Street in a small district formerly known as Clapham.

History

Roman times

The traditional existence of a British settlement at Gloucester (Caer Glow, Gleawecastre, Gleucestre) is not confirmed by any direct evidence, but Gloucester was the Roman municipality of Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or Glevum, founded in the reign of Nerva. Parts of the walls can be traced, and many remains and coins have been found, though inscriptions are scarce. Evidence for some civic life after the end of Roman Britain includes the mention in the Historia Brittonum that Vortigern's grandfather ruled Gloucester, and that the Battle of Deorham in 577 resulted in Wessex controlling Gloucester.

Saxon times

Gloucester may mean fort (Old English ceaster 'fort') on the glowing river. (Glowancestre, 1282). In Welsh, the city is known as Caerloyw, Caer = Castle, and loyw from gloyw = glowing/bright. Its situation on a navigable river, and the foundation in 681 of the abbey of St Peter by Æthelred favoured the growth of the town; and before the Norman Conquest of England, Gloucester was a borough governed by a portreeve, with a castle which was frequently a royal residence, and a mint.

Medieval times

The first overlord, Earl Godwine, was succeeded nearly a century later by Robert of Gloucester. King Henry II granted the first charter in 1155 which gave the burgesses the same liberties as the citizens of London and Winchester, and a second charter of Henry II gave them freedom of passage on the Severn. The first charter was confirmed in 1194 by Richard I of England. The privileges of the borough were greatly extended by the charter of King John (1200) which gave freedom from toll throughout the kingdom and from pleading outside the borough.

Tudor and Stuart times

Subsequent charters were numerous. Gloucester was incorporated by King Richard III in 1483, the town being made a county in itself. This charter was confirmed in 1489 and 1510, and other charters of incorporation were received by Gloucester from Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.

The Siege of Gloucester in 1643 was an important battle of the English Civil War in which the besieged parliamentarians emerged victorious.

Modern notoriety

In 1991 Gloucester City Council worker Anna McGurk was murdered by a man whilst he was an inmate at a bail hostel in Ryecroft within the city. The murder led to changes in the law affecting those held on bail for serious offences.

1994 saw the arrest of Fred West and his wife Rose West for the abduction and murder of more than a dozen young women between 1967 and 1987, including one of their daughters. Their home, 25 Cromwell Street, where the remains of many of the victims were buried, was later demolished and a public walkway laid in its place. To deter souvenir-hunters, the rubble was reduced to dust before disposal.

Transport

Gloucester is linked to the Severn Estuary by the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, which is navigable by small coasters. The city is linked to the River Avon and Stourport-on-Severn by the navigable part of the River Severn, which is navigable by river craft of a few hundred tonnes' displacement.

Gloucester was formerly linked to Ledbury and Hereford by the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal. This canal is now being restored, and the restored canal basin in the Gloucester suburb of Over is already a local attraction.

Until the construction of the Severn Bridge in 1966, Gloucester was the lowest bridging point on the river and hence was an important settlement on the route between London and South Wales. The Severn is split into two branches at this point, so the road crosses first onto Alney Island and then onto the western bank. A road bridge on this western side at Over, built by Thomas Telford in 1829, still stands, notable for its very flat arch construction, but its fragility and narrow width means it is no longer used for traffic, and since 1974 has been paralleled by a modern road bridge. There is a rail crossing, also across Alney Island, which was the lowest on the river until the opening of the Severn Tunnel in 1886.

Gloucester was the site of the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company railway works, which have now closed.

Industry

In 1926 the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company at Brockworth decided to change its name to the Gloster Aircraft Company because international customers claimed that the name "Gloucestershire" was too difficult to spell. Gloucester was the home of Priday, Metford and Company Limited, a family milling firm which survived for over one hundred years.

Sport and leisure

• Kingsholm is the home of Gloucester RFC, founded in 1873, one of England's top rugby union clubs.
• Meadow Park is the home of Gloucester City A.F.C. ("The Tigers") of the Southern League Premier Division.

Famous citizens

• Robert Raikes the Elder, (1690-1757), widely known as "the printer of Gloucester", founder of the Gloucester Journal, passed for a first pioneer for the freedom of the press.
• George Whitfield (1714-1770), Minister of the Church of England and a Leader in the Methodist Movement
• Robert Raikes (1735-1811), Founder of Sunday Schools
• Thomas Raikes (1741-1813), Banker and merchant in London, Governor of the Bank of England, editor of the first £1 and £2 English pound notes on 26 February 1797.
• John Clarke Whitfield (1770-1836), Organist and composer
• Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), Scientist and Inventor
• William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), Poet
• Hubert Cecil Booth (1871-1955), inventor of the vacuum cleaner
• Ivor Gurney (1890-1937), Composer
• Tom Goddard (1900-1966), Cricketer
• Fred West (1941-1995), serial killer
• Rosemary West (1953–), serial killer
• Mike Teague (1960-), Rugby player
• Tina May (1961-), Singer
• Simon Pegg (1970-), Actor, comedian and writer
• Andy Hazell (1978-), Rugby player
• Alastair Cook (1984-), Cricketer

Twin cities

See also

• Doctor Foster
• Gloucester, Massachusetts
• Gloucester, Ontario
• Gloucester, Virginia
• Gloucester Township, New Jersey
• Gloucester RFC
• Gloucester City A.F.C.
• Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
• GFM (Gloucester FM) Local Radio

External links

• Gloucester City Council
• The River Severn
• Photos of Gloucester in 3d (Anaglyphs)
• News and information from BBC Radio Gloucestershire
• Visit Gloucester
• History of the Gloster Aircraft Company.
• Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum

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51°51′57″N 2°14′43″W / 51.86572°N 2.24539°W / 51.86572; -2.24539