Gloucestershire

From Freepedia

**Gloucestershire**
Image:EnglandGloucestershire.png
Geography
Status	Ceremonial & (smaller) Non-metropolitan county Traditional county
Region:	South West England
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 16th 3,150 km² Ranked 17th 2,653 km²
Admin HQ:	Gloucester
ISO 3166-2:	GB-GLS
ONS code:	23
NUTS 3:	UKK13
Demographics
Population - Total (2003 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 24th 815,263 259 / km² Ranked 21st 568,452
Ethnicity:	97.3% White
Politics
Image:Gloucestershirearms.PNG Gloucestershire County Council http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative
Members of Parliament	Roger Berry Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Parmjit Dhanda David Drew Mark Harper Martin Horwood Doug Naysmith Dan Norris Laurence Robertson Steve Webb
Districts
Image:Gloucestershire Ceremonial Numbered.png Gloucester Tewkesbury Cheltenham Cotswold Stroud Forest of Dean South Gloucestershire (Unitary)

Gloucestershire (pronounced [ˈglɔːstɜːʃɜː]; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in southwest 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 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, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and Wiltshire (including Swindon).

1 History
2 Towns and villages
3 Antiquities and Other Places of interest
4 See also
5 External links

History

Main article: History of Gloucestershire

Historically, Gloucestershire has also included Bristol, but this has not been considered part of Gloucestershire since Bristol became a county corporate in 1373. The area of South Gloucestershire was made part of the administrative County of Avon in 1974. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, it became a unitary authority, and returned to Gloucestershire for ceremonial purposes.

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

Towns and villages

Main article: list of places in Gloucestershire

Antiquities and Other Places of interest

Berkeley Castle, an example of a feudal stronghold.
Forest of Dean
Hailes Abbey
Sudeley Castle
Tewkesbury Abbey
Tyndale Monument
Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge

The cathedrals of Gloucester and Bristol, 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 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.

The great Decorated Calcot Barn is an interesting relic of the monastery of Kingswood near Tetbury. Thornbury Castle, in the same district, 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 Hayles 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.