Gloucester

About Gloucester  

Town View, Gloucester

City view, Gloucester

Gloucester is a city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the south west region of England. Gloucester sits near the River Severn estuary and is close to the Welsh border. The city is located approximately 30 miles north-east of Bristol and 45 miles south-southwest of Birmingham.  

Gloucester is a port with historic docks served by the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal which runs to the Severn Estuary, ensuring larger ships are able to reach the docks than would normally be able on the tidal reaches of the river. The docks and servicing buildings fell into disrepair until their renovation in the 1980s and now include the National Waterways Museum, a retail complex, apartments, restaurants and bars. The port retains a RNLI lifeboat which is the most inland lifeboat in the UK.  

Economically, the city is dominated by the service industries and it has a strong financial and business sector with the head office of the Cheltenham & Gloucester bank, now part of the Lloyds Group, in the Barnwood area. Historically, the city was prominent in the aerospace industry.  

Gloucester is twinned with Metz in France, Trier in Germany, Saint Ann in Jamaica, Gouda in the Netherlands and Gloucester Massachusetts in the USA.  

History  

New Inn, Gloucester

  •   Gloucester’s history can be traced back to Roman times although the settlement seems to have been abandoned when the Romans left.
  • A Saxon monastery was founded in the 7th century and the town began to grow on the template that exists today. The abbey of St Peter was established in 681 and was the basis of the present cathedral.
  • During the Middle Ages the town grew as a port exporting Cotswold wool that had been processed in Gloucester. The port presented an ideal location for the fishing industry and was used to export leather and iron to be used for weaponry.
  • In the 16th and 17th centuries the wool industry fell into decline and the city suffered badly with the plague. A Town Hall was built at the main crossroads in the town and has subsequently been replaced. There are very few of the old public buildings remaining from this time, except for the New Inn which is where the announcement of Lady Jane Grey’s succession was made from the galleries.
  • The 18th and 19th centuries welcomed the pin industry to Gloucester with 20% of the townspeople making pins that were used for national and international trade. In 1819 a dry dock was built to repair ships and 1840 Gloucester was linked to the railway network, the town also started making railway carriages. With a decline in the pin making industry, the railway industry was very welcome and the town grew with its new travel and trade links to become an important market town.
  • Aircraft manufacture began here in 1915 with an airport serving the town from 1936. In the later 20th century, the town’s docks declined whilst industrial activity in Gloucester included making farm machinery and railway rolling stock, aircraft manufacture, timber mills, ice cream manufacture and printing. Nevertheless, although the manufacturing industry in Gloucester declined in importance in the latter 20th century, service industries like banking and insurance increased.

    Facts
  • Population – 123,205 (2008)
  • Governing Authority – Gloucester City Council
  • Major Industries – Mixed including Financial Services
  • Post town – GLOUCESTER
  • Postcode – GL1-4
  • Dialling code – 01452
  • Police – Gloucestershire Constabulary
  • Fire – Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service
  • Ambulance – Great Western Ambulance Service
  • Rugby Union – Aviva Premiership – Gloucester Rugby

Discover Gloucester – useful links city guides, what’s on and places to see  

Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral

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