Gloustershire

Gloucestershire 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. Gloucestershire originally included the "small town" of Bristol. The "local" rural community moved to the port city, (as Bristol was to become) and Bristol's population growth accelerated during the industriual revolution. Bristol became part of the administrative County of Avon in 1974.

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.

The official former postal county abbreviation was "Glos.", rather than the frequently used but erroneous "Gloucs." or "Glouc.".

In July 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.

Secondary Schools
See List of schools in Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven selective schools; two are in Stroud (Stroud High School and Marling School), 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.

Antiquities and other places of interest

 * Badminton House, residence of the Dukes of Beaufort.
 * 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
 * Edward Jenner's House

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.
 * Scenes for the Harry Potter movies and the BBC TV series Doctor Who were shot at Gloucester Cathedral.
 * Louise Lawrence's apocalyptic novel Children of the Dust begins in Gloucestershire, and the following chapters are presumably set near the destroyed city.
 * Comedian Eric Morecambe gave his last performance in Tewkesbury before collapsing backstage and later dying of a heart attack in Cheltenham Hospital.
 * Prince Charles owns an estate outside Tetbury.
 * The movie Hot Fuzz (2007) is set in Gloucestershire, in a fictional town called Sandford. It was actually filmed in Somerset in the city of Wells.
 * J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, attended Wyedean School, on the Welsh border near Chepstow. Many of the teachers described in the books are said to be based on her experiences at the school.
 * The Forest of Dean was used as a location in the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Part of Mrs. Craik's novel John Halifax, Gentleman is set in Enderley, a thinly disguised Amberley, where she lived at the time of writing. . Most of the book is set in Nortonbury, easily recognisable as Tewkesbury.
 * Johnny Coppin, the folk musician/composer lives in the county, and various places within Gloucestershire are referenced in his work.
 * John Moore's novel Portrait of Elmbury is set in Tewkesbury. The sequels Brensham village and The blue field are also set in the area as are most of his other novels.

Notable People From Gloucestershire

 * Banksy, graffiti artist. (Unconfirmed)
 * Steve Banyard, football commentator, lives in the Cotswolds.
 * Richard Hammond, Top Gear presenter has a house in the Gloucestershire countryside.
 * Ivor Gurney, composer and poet.
 * Robert Hardy, Harry Potter actor.
 * Herbert Howells, Composer.
 * Edward Jenner, who discovered vaccination, initially against Smallpox, and lived in Berkeley
 * Dom Joly, star of Trigger Happy TV, lives just outside Cirencester.
 * Brian Jones, ex-guitarist for the Rolling Stones.
 * Alex Kapranos, lead singer and guitarist for the band Franz Ferdinand.
 * Laurie Lee, author of Cider with Rosie
 * Joe Meek, Visionary, eccentric 1960's pop record producer and pioneer. Born in Newent, on the northernmost portion of Forest Of Dean.
 * William Moseley, actor best known for playing Peter in The Chronicles of Narnia.
 * Simon Pegg, actor and comedian.
 * JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books
 * Robert Charles "Jack" Russell, former Gloucestershire and England cricketer, and now artist.
 * Tom Smith, lead singer of the rock band Editors.
 * Kate Thornton, TV presenter.
 * Brian Trubshaw, first British man to test pilot Concorde
 * Fred West, one of Britain's most notorious serial killers.
 * Dick Whittington, London Mayor and inspiration for the Pantomime character.
 * Edward Adrian Wilson, Antarctic explorer.

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.

The Stroud News & Journal is a weekly paid-for newspaper based in Stroud. It is published every Wednesday in a tabloid format by Newsquest