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Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire to the east, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south-west, and the Wales county of Monmouthshire to the west. The city of Gloucester is the largest settlement and the county town.
The county is predominantly rural, with an area of and a population of 916,212. After Gloucester (118,555) the largest distinct settlements are Cheltenham (115,940), Stroud (26,080), and Yate (28,350). In the south of the county, the areas around Filton and Kingswood are densely populated and part of Bristol built-up area. For local government purposes Gloucestershire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with six districts, and the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire. South Gloucestershire Council is a member of the West of England Combined Authority.
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 Severn Estuary. The hills to the east form the majority of the Cotswolds AONB, and the uplands to the west are part of the Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley AONB, 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 Abbey, Gloucester, Hailes Abbey, 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 Gloucester Docks and the small Forest of Dean coalfield was exploited.
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. It later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996.; Some northern parts of the county, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon, were transferred to Warwickshire in 1931. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the region north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial 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 £2 billion.
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. Since 2017, South Gloucestershire has been part of the West of England Combined Authority, which is under the directly elected mayor Dan Norris.
There are six parliamentary constituencies in Gloucestershire, all of which are Conservative controlled as of the 2019 general election. Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Gloucestershire will be combined with Wiltshire for parliamentary boundary purposes, allowing cross-county electoral divisions.
| 3,698 |
| 5,338 |
| 7,517 |
The following is a chart of Gloucestershire's gross value added total in millions of Pounds Sterling from 1997 to 2009 based upon the Office for National Statistics figures
| 7,167 |
| 7,630 |
| 8,034 |
| 8,414 |
| 8,947 |
| 9,504 |
| 10,117 |
| 10,525 |
| 10,680 |
| 11,073 |
| 11,563 |
| 11,666 |
| 11,452 |
The 2009 estimation of £11,452 million GVA can be compared to the South West regional average of £7,927 million.
The University of the West of England also has three locations in Gloucestershire; an associate faculty (Hartpury College) specialising in animal behaviour and welfare, agricultural and sports-related courses in Hartpury, Gloucestershire; a regional centre at the Gloucester Docks, Alexandra Warehouse, specialising in Adult and Mental Health Nursing; and Frenchay in South Gloucestershire.
Suburban town of Stroud:
Town in Monmouthshire with suburbs in Gloucestershire:
There are a variety of religious buildings across the county, notably the cathedral of Gloucester, the Tewkesbury Abbey of Tewkesbury (which is over 500 years old and has the tallest Norman tower in England), and the church of Cirencester. Of the abbey of Hailes Abbey 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.
Most of the old have . 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. There is also a Perpendicular church in Lechlade, and that at Fairford was built (), according to tradition, to contain a series of stained-glass windows which are said to have been brought from the Netherlands. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship.
Other notable buildings include Calcot Manor in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor dynasty country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was decapitation in 1521. Near Cheltenham is the 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. Berkeley Castle at over 800 years old and the ruins of Witcombe Roman Villa at Great Witcombe are also notable heritage features.
There are several 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 and the Cotswold Games occurred within the county.
Areas of countryside in Gloucestershire include:
Scenic Railway Line:
Gloucester News Centre is an independent news website with news and information for Gloucestershire.
Radio stations in Gloucestershire include BBC Radio Gloucestershire, BBC Radio Bristol (for South Gloucestershire), Heart West, Sunshine Radio and Greatest Hits Radio Gloucestershire. There are also several community radio stations including Gloucester FM, Radio Winchcombe, Forest of Dean Radio, North Cotswold Community Radio, and Severn FM.
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. Some eastern parts of the county (Cirencester and parts of the Cotswolds) receive BBC South and ITV Meridian from Oxford.
The county has also been the setting for a number of high-profile movies and TV series, including Die Another Day, the Harry Potter films and the BBC TV series Butterflies. 'Gloucestershire TV and Movie Locations' at Gloucestershire on Screen
"A Girl's Best Friend", the pilot for the proposed Doctor Who spin-off K-9 and Company, was filmed in Gloucestershire. The setting is the fictional town of Moreton Harwood. The fictional town of Leadworth in Doctor Who is in Gloucestershire. It is the home of companions Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song in their childhoods and young adulthoods.
Additionally, the 2020 episode "Fugitive of the Judoon" was set and filmed at Gloucester Cathedral.
A fictional Brimpsfield was the village, home of Peter and Abby Grant, in the 1970s BBC TV series Survivors, with a railway connection to London.
Witcombe Festival is an annual music festival held in Brockworth. As well as music, the three-day festival has it roots deep in cider. The festival consists of four stages and has been headlined by Dizzee Rascal, Plan B, Sigma, Ella Eyre, Example, Wiley, Heather Small, Lethal Bizzle and Tinchy Stryder.
The Romano/Celtic temple ruins in Lydney Park contributed to J.R.R. Tolkien's description of The Shire in his Middle-earth Legendarium.
Gloucester cattle, a rare breed, can still be found in and around Gloucestershire. 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.
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