Stroud

Stroud is a market town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.

Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture. The Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty surrounds the town, and the Cotswold Way path passes by it to the west.

Although not formally part of the town, the parishes of Rodborough and Cainscross lie adjacent to Stroud and are often considered part of it. Stroud acts as a centre for surrounding villages and small market towns including Amberley, Bisley, Chalford, Dudbridge, Dursley, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Oakridge, Painswick, Sheepscombe, Slad, Stonehouse, Thrupp and Woodchester.

History
Stroud is known for its involvement in the Industrial Revolution. It was a cloth town; woollen mills were powered by the small rivers which surge through the five valleys, and supplied by Cotswold sheep which grazed on the hills above. Particularly noteworthy was the production of military uniforms in the colour Stroudwater Scarlet. The area was made home by a sizable Huguenot community in the 17th century, fleeing persecution in Catholic France, followed by a significant Jewish presence in the 19th century, linked to the tailoring and cloth industries.

Stroud was an industrial and trading location in the nineteenth century, and so needed transport links. It first had a canal network in the form of the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames & Severn Canal, both of which survived until the early 20th century. It is now planned to restore these canals as a leisure facility by a partnership of Stroud District Council and the Cotswold Canals Trust with a multi-million pound Lottery grant. Stroud railway station (on the Gloucester–Swindon the Golden Valley Line) was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.



Though there is much evidence of early historic settlement and transport, Stroud parish was originally part of Bisley, and only began to emerge as a distinct unit by the 13th century, taking its name from the marshy ground at the confluence of the Slad Brook and the River Frome called "La Strode" and was first recorded in 1221. The church was built by 1279, and it was assigned parochial rights by the rectors of Bisley in 1304, often cited as the date of Stroud's foundation.

Historic buildings and places of interest in the area include the neolithic long barrows (Uley Long Barrow) at Uley, Selsley Common and Nympsfield to the west; Roman era remains at Frocester, West Hill near Uley, and Woodchester; the medieval buildings at Beverston Castle; and the outstanding Tudor houses at Newark Park and Owlpen Manor. Woodchester Mansion is a masterpiece of the Gothic Revival by local architect Benjamin Bucknall.

From 1837 to 1841, Stroud's MP was Lord John Russell of the Whig party who was later to become Prime Minister. Russell was an important politician, responsible for passing acts of parliament such as the Public Health Act of 1848, but he is mainly remembered as one of the chief architects of the Reform Act 1867. This act, also known as the Second Reform Act, gave the vote to every urban male householder, not just those of considerable means. This resulted in the electorate being increased by 1.5 million voters. Lord Russell is remembered in the town by two street names, John Street and Russell Street, as well as in the name of the Lord John public house.

Demography
As of the 2001 UK census, Stroud urban area (consisting of the civil parishes of Brimscombe, Nailsworth, Stonehouse and Stroud) had a total population of 47,348. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. Ethnically, the population is predominantly white (98.2%). 20.6% of the population were under the age of 16 and 8.3% were aged 75 and over; the mean age of the people of the urban area was 39.5. 92.6% of residents described their health as "fair" or better, similar to the average of 92.8% for the wider district. The average household size was 2.4. Of those aged 16–74, 24.5% had no academic qualifications, lower than the national average of 28.9%. Of those aged 16–74, 2.6% were unemployed and 28.4% were economically inactive.

Character and amenities
Stroud has a significant artistic community that dates back to the early part of the twentieth century. Jasper Conran called Stroud 'the Covent Garden of the Cotswolds', the Daily Telegraph referred to it as 'the artistic equivalent of bookish Hay-on-Wye' while the London Evening Standard likened the town to 'Notting Hill with wellies'.

The town was one of the birthplaces of the Organic food movement and was home to Britain's first fully-organic café, Woodruffs. The Biodynamic Agricultural Association is based in the town. For many years Stroud has hosted a fringe festival on the second weekend in September. A new committee took over in early 2009 and now runs the fringe on the first weekend in September each year, to coincide with the Stroud Festival Fortnight, including the walking and food festivals. The town also hosts an annual Vintage Fashion, Textile and Accessories Festival, and the fifth annual International Textile Festival was held in May 2010. This is the U.K's only festival to celebrate the diverse culture of textiles.

The Stroudwater Textile Trust was founded in 1999 to link the past and present of textiles in the Five Valleys and to manage the opening of several mills in which historic textile machinery, including a working waterwheel, has been restored and is demonstrated. The Trust has produced a DVD, Rivers of Cloth, using archive film and interviews to be released in early 2011 and a photographic survey of surviving woollen mills is being undertaken for a book, Wool and Water, to be published in 2012.

Stroud has a strong community of independent shops and cafés, which provide the mainstay of the retail experience in the town. Alongside this, the town centre has witnessed two controversial developments in the form of a new cinema (which replaced the bus station) and a branch of McDonald's which, when plans were unveiled in 2004, came against opposition from locals. The success of small businesses has, in recent years, caused a number of national retail chains to open outlets in the town.

The Subscription Rooms in the heart of the town centre provides a venue for a wide variety of entertainment and also houses the local Tourist Information Centre. There is also a small theatre, the Cotswold Playhouse, which is home to the amateur Cotswold Players; it occasionally plays host to visiting professional companies.

On the fringes of the town are Stratford Park, originally the park of a small local weaver, now home to a leisure centre with an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and the Museum in the Park, a museum of the history and culture of the Stroud valleys.

Campaigns
Stroud citizens have a history of protest going back to the Stroudwater Riots of 1825. In the late 1970s Stroud Campaign Against The Ringroad thwarted Gloucestershire County Council's attempt to impose unwanted traffic plans. The public won the day at a Planning Inquiry. A few years later Stroud District Council tried to demolish 18th century buildings in the town centre. Stroud High Street Action Group, with some rooftop protests and a high court judgement, came to the rescue. The restored buildings are now a feature of the High Street. After a short occupation a compromise was reached in the demolition of buildings in Cornhill with many being saved, including one identified as a medieval house. This campaign led to the formation of the Stroud Preservation Trust. which has been instrumental in saving many of the town's oldest buildings like Withey's house, the Brunel Goods Shed and the Hill Paul building.

Stroud Save The Trees Campaign came to national prominence in August 1989 when Stroud District Council tried to implement a road-widening scheme by a midnight raid on thirteen trees it wished to fell within the perimeter of Stratford Park. However local people got wind of the 'secret' and were there first to protect the trees. After a stand-off that lasted till dawn the police called off the operation on the grounds of public safety. The following year instead of road-widening the first 'traffic calming' in the county was installed. The trees remain to this day.

A few years later Stroud District Council planned to fell the only mature tree in the town centre - the hornbeam on the Subscription rooms forecourt. A quickly mobilised citizenry persuaded them otherwise and the hornbeam survived.

In 2000 Stroud District Council gave permission for the Victorian landmark Hill Paul building to be demolished. After thwarting demolition, local activists formed a company and sold enough shares at £500 each to take an option on the building, which they passed on to a local developer. The building has now been restored and converted into apartments (see photo on the right).

The Save Stroud Hospitals Taskforce has been campaigning since spring 2006 against a range of cuts to health services in and around Stroud, with thousands of people taking part in street demonstrations. Stroud Maternity Hospital was saved in September 2006.

The Uplands Post Office branch in Stroud was one of 26 in the county to shut as part of a nationwide programme to cut losses. Following local opposition, the Post Office agreed to talks with civic chiefs to look at how it could reopen. The town council agreed to provide £10,000 of funding for the service in 2008 and up to £25,000 for 2009. In November 2008 it was confirmed that Stroud has become only the second place in Britain to save one of its Post Offices.

However, despite the protests, Tesco opened a store near Stratford park in 1989, McDonald's built a fast food restaurant at Rowcroft in 2005 and soon after, the bus station was replaced with a cinema.

In September 2010 the BNP scrapped plans to move their national media centre to Stroud after protests by local residents.

Business
There is still a small textile industry (the green baize cloth used to cover snooker tables and the cloth covering championship tennis balls is made here), but today, the town functions primarily as a centre for light engineering and small-scale manufacturing, and a provider of services for the surrounding villages.

The Stroud and Swindon Building Society has its headquarters here. Stroud is also home to the headquarters of the renewable energy provider Ecotricity and is a Fairtrade Town.

In September 2009, the Stroud Pound Co-operative launched the Stroud Pound as an attempt to reinforce the local economy and encourage more local production. The currency's design follows that of the Chiemgauer, in being backed on a one-for-one basis by the national currency, having a charge for redemption which is donated to local charities, and including a system of demurrage to encourage rapid circulation.

Farmers' market


A farmers' market, launched by Jasper Conran and Isabella Blow on 3 July 1999, takes place every Saturday at the Cornhill market. It was nominated for the national Farmers' Market of the Year in 2001 and won it in 2007. It also won the Cotswold Life magazine award for the best farmers' market in Gloucestershire in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. The market featured in an episode of BBC TV's The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain in September 2009, and won the Best Food Market award at the BBC Food & Farming Awards 2010. It is certified by FARMA.

In addition to the farmers' market there is a smaller market held in The Shambles, an area adjacent to the steep High Street. John Wesley preached from a butcher's block in The Shambles on 26 June 1742. opposite one of the oldest existing buildings in Stroud, the Old Town Hall. Originally called the Market-house, this was built in 1594 and is still in occasional use today.

History
"There was a school at Stroud in 1576 but the schoolmaster, who did not have a licence and failed to teach the catechism, was then dismissed..."

Primary schools
There are thirteen primary schools in the town:
 * Uplands Uplands Community Primary School
 * Callowell Callowell Primary School
 * Gastrells Gastrells Community Primary School
 * Parliament Parliament Primary School
 * Rosary Rosary Catholic Primary School
 * St Dominic's St Dominic's Catholic Primary School
 * St Matthew's St Matthew's School
 * Stroud Valley Stroud Valley Community School
 * Rodborough Community Primary school
 * Cashes Green Primary school
 * Foxmoor Primary School
 * Whiteshill Community Primary school
 * Randwick CE Primary school

Secondary schools
The town is home to two of Gloucestershire's seven remaining state grammar schools: Marling School for boys (founded 1889) and Stroud High School for girls (founded in 1904 as the Girls' Endowed School). They continued on long after the comprehensive school became the norm in secondary education, and their future was the subject of long-running controversy; they were among the first schools to "opt out" and become grant-maintained. The two schools now share a mixed sixth form, called the Marling School Sixth Form and Stroud High School Sixth Form, which works in a three-way consortium with Archway Sixth Form and Stroud College and attracts pupils from many surrounding schools.

The town's other secondary schools are Archway School, a comprehensive school located in the Paganhill area, and Thomas Keble School in Eastcombe.

Tertiary education
Tertiary education in the town is provided by Stroud College.

Transport
Public bus transport in Stroud is run by Stagecoach, operating from its depot on London Road, and Cotswold Green.

The town is also served by First Great Western trains from Stroud railway station, with frequent services to Gloucester, Cheltenham, Swindon, Reading and London. The railway link was established in 1845. Up to then, Stroud had its own time which was set by a sundial at the top of Gloucester Street. There was also an observatory across the road from the hospital where now is a car park. As Stroud time was roughly 9 minutes behind GMT and people kept missing the train, a railway clock was put up in 1858 at the bottom of High Street. It was later moved across King Street to the top of Gloucester Street. The clock fell into disrepair over the years. It was finally saved by Captain Michael Maltin, who restored the clock in 1984 and found a new home for it in the Stroud library.

The A46 road links Stroud to Gloucester in the north and Bath to the south, with the A419 connecting Stroud to Cirencester in one direction and the M5 motorway at Junction 13 in the other.

National Express coaches serve the town, and Stroud also lies on the traffic-free section of Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 45.

Literature
Novelists Sue Limb, Jilly Cooper and Katie Fforde, children's authors Jamila Gavin and John Dougherty, poet Jenny Joseph, plus national newspaper journalists like The Guardian's food critic Matthew Fort following in the footsteps of the Rev. W. Awdry, and W H Davies have made the Stroud area their home. Two of its most famous sons are the authors Laurie Lee, whose most notable creation Cider with Rosie is set in the nearby Slad valley, and Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst. Poets such as Dennis Gould, Jeff Cloves, Philip Rush, Ted Milton, Michael Horovitz, Frances Horovitz and Adam Horovitz have grown up, lived and/or live in the area.

Sport
Stroud Rugby Club, founded in 1873, play in the Western Counties North league. Their home ground is Fromehall Park, near the town centre.

Stroud Cricket Club is over 150 years old and plays its home games at Farmhill. The club has three senior teams with the first eleven playing its cricket in the South West Premier league.

Since 1982 Stroud Athletic Club has organised an annual half marathon which takes place in October. Nearly two and a half thousand runners from all over the country entered in 2007. Members of the club include the UK number one Olympic Marathon runner Dan Robinson.

Stroud Swimming Club was officially formed in 1978, but can trace its origins back to 1905 when it was known as Stroud Swimming and Water Polo Club. In 2006 and 2007 club members made up two thirds of the County team that finished in silver and bronze place respectively in the National Open Water Championships.

Stroud Hockey Club was founded in 1928 and has produced some top class hockey players including Simon Mason.

Politics and media
In the 2010 General Election, Conservative Neil Carmichael became Member of Parliament for the Stroud constituency after Labour's David Drew lost his seat. David Drew had held the seat since 1997. Stroud was a Marginal seat which the Conservatives had targeted in the 2010 Election, as was the neighbouring Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency) - Gloucestershire now has no Labour seats.

In 2008 Stroud Town Council comprised 11 Green Party councillors, with 5 independents, 1 Conservative and 1 Liberal Democrat.

In March 2008, a community radio station, Stroud FM, was launched in the town, broadcasting 24 hours a day on 107.9FM. The station, staffed by volunteers and funded by donations, focuses on local news and music, but also plays national and international music. Both BBC Radio Gloucestershire and Heart (Gloucester) have dedicated FM transmitters serving the town.

The local newspaper is the Stroud News & Journal, a paid-for weekly Newsquest title with a circulation of around 19,000.

The weekly newspaper Stroud Life was launched in 2008 but was chastised by the Advertising Standards Authority in 2009 for its claim to be a leading local paper.

Crime
Figures from the local police force and the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership indicate that Stroud has a significantly lower level of crime per head of population than the national average.

Notable people
The town's most notable natives and residents are mainly authors, artists and actors:

Authors

 * Michael Horovitz, political poet and publisher, used to live in the area
 * Frances Horovitz, poet and broadcaster, lived near Stroud, 1971–80
 * Rev. W. V. Awdry, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, moved to the area and was the Reverend of the parish church of Rodborough until he died in the 1990s. He is fondly remembered in the area and was seen daily riding his bicycle up the steep Rodborough hill.
 * Jilly Cooper, author, moved to the area
 * Alan Hollinghurst, author, born in Stroud
 * Jamila Gavin, children's author, moved to Stroud
 * Jenny Joseph, writer of "I Shall Wear Purple" lives in nearby Minchinhampton
 * Laurie Lee, author, born in Stroud and bred in the Slad Valley, the setting of Cider with Rosie
 * Matthew Fort, food writer, critic, and Guardian food columnist
 * Katie Fforde, author, moved to the area
 * Basil Liddell Hart, military theorist
 * Adrian Liddell Hart, author and adventurer

Artists

 * Leo Baxendale, creator of Minnie the Minx, lives nearby
 * Lynn Chadwick, sculptor
 * Damien Hirst, artist, has a studio in Chalford and another in Stroud
 * Robert Charles "Jack" Russell, former Gloucestershire and England cricketer, now artist, attended Archway School
 * Alan Thornhill, sculptor
 * Tim Noble, artist

Actors

 * Tim McInnerny, actor, Blackadder), attended Marling School
 * William Moseley, actor, "The Chronicles of Narnia"
 * Emma Samms, actor, lives in Stroud
 * Keith Allen, actor, comedian, writer, and father of Lily Allen, has a home near Minchinhampton
 * Tamzin Malleson, actor, grew up in Chalford, attending Archway School, and now lives near Minchinhampton with partner Keith Allen
 * Colin Prockter, actor, Doctor Who, co-wrote Luna, lives in Stroud
 * Sophie Ward, actor, lives in France Lynch
 * Geoffrey Hutchings, actor, lived in Stroud

Musicians

 * Geoffrey Burgon, composer
 * Eamon Hamilton, frontman of Brakes and former keyboard player of British Sea Power, raised in Stroud
 * Tom Smith, lead singer of Editors, born in Stroud
 * Jamie Hornsmith, bass guitarist of The Rakes
 * Sade, singer, songwriter, Sade, moved to Stroud
 * Martha Tilston, folk singer and daughter of Steve Tilston, moved to the area
 * Pendragon, progressive rock band

Public relations

 * Mark Borkowski founder of Borkowski PR and author of several books was born in Stroud in 1959.

Sports

 * Alastair Hignell, sportsman and commentator
 * Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, ski jumper, lives in nearby Woodchester
 * Stuart Nelson, footballer, Notts County
 * Frank Keating, the Guardian sports journalist.

Historians

 * Peter Hennessy, historian of government, attended Marling School

Engineering and manufacturing

 * Edwin Beard Budding (1795–1846), inventor of the lawnmower and adjustable spanner, born and died in Stroud
 * Arnold Redler (1875–1958), founder of the conveying company Redler Limited in Stroud in 1920 and inventor of the en-masse conveyor

Scientists

 * John Canton (1718–1772), physicist
 * Sir Martin Evans, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, born in Stroud
 * Jasper Conran, designer, lives nearby
 * Henry Miles (1698–1763), dissenting minister and writer on science, born and educated in Stroud

Twin towns

 * 🇫🇷 Saint-Ismier, Isère, France
 * 🇺🇸 Stroud, Oklahoma, USA
 * 🇩🇪 Duderstadt, Lower Saxony, Germany
 * 🇦🇺 Stroud, New South Wales, Australia

Song about Stroud

 * "Stroud, The Town Of Make Believe" by Blurt, on the album "Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hit"