GLOUCESTERSHIRE, a county of the west midlands of England, bounded by Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Monmouth and Herefordshire. Its area is 1,255 square miles.
Physical Features.—The outline is very irregular, but three physical divisions are well marked—the hills, the vale and the forest. (1) The first (the eastern part of the county) lies among the uplands of the Cotswold hills (q.v.) whose westward face, the escarpment made by the Lower Oolites (Jurassic), is a line of heights of an average elevation of 70o ft., but exceeding i,000 ft. at some points. This line bisects the county from south-west to north-east. The watershed between the Thames and Severn lies close to it, Thames Head near Cirencester and most of the upper feeders of the Thames being in Gloucestershire. (2) The "Vale" division is the rich valley of the lower Severn which can be separated into the vale of Gloucester and the vale of Berkeley. This great river receives, near Tewkesbury, the Stratford Avon which joins it on the left. The latter is to be distinguished from the Bristol Avon, which rises in the county as an eastward flowing stream of the Cotswolds, sweeps round through Wiltshire, pierces the hills through a narrow valley which becomes a gorge where the Clifton suspension bridge crosses it below Bristol, and enters the Severn estuary at Avonmouth. For 17 m. from its mouth it forms the boundary between Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, and for 8 m. it is an important commercial waterway connecting the port of Bristol with the sea. The third great tributary of the Severn is the Wye. From its mouth in the estuary, 8 m. north of that of the Bristol Avon, it forms the county boundary for 16 m. northward and above this, over two short reaches of its beautiful winding course, it is again the boundary.
(3) Between the Wye and the Severn lies the Forest of Dean, which, unlike the majority of English forests, maintains its ancient character. The minor rivers of the county are never long. The vale is at no point within the county wider than 24 m., and so does not permit the formation of any considerable tributary to the Severn from the Dean hills on the one hand or the Cotswolds on the other. The Leadon rises east of Hereford, and joins the Severn near Gloucester. In the southern part, the Stroudwater traverses a narrow, picturesque and populous valley, and the Little Avon flows past the town of Berkeley, joining the Severn estuary on the left. The Frome runs southward to the Bristol Avon at Bristol. The principal northern feeders of the Thames are the Churn rising in the Seven Springs, above Chelten ham, the Coln, a noteworthy trout-stream, the Windrush and the Evenlode. The Churn and the Coln form the eastern county boundary along parts of the course.
Geology.—Gloucestershire is divided geologically into two distinct sections by a line passing from north to south, from the eastern side of the Malvern hills to Keynsham (east of Bristol). This divides the Mesozoic rocks on the east from the Palaeozoic and older rocks on the west and is an important structural feature. In the north of the county it separates, by means of a great fault, the Pre-Cambrian gneisses of the Malverns from the Trias of the Severn valley. The fault passes southward between the Old Red Sandstone (with some Carboniferous) and the Trias, to May Hill, which elevation is formed of Silurian shales, grits and limestones (with small outcrop of Pre-Cambrian grits at Huntley). Thence the boundary line continues southward to the Severn still being between the two great red sandstone formations.
Rising up almost sheer from the Severn on the west is the plateau of the Forest of Dean which is a basin of Carboniferous rocks (limestones, shales, grits and coal-measures), resting upon the Old Red Sandstone, the Carboniferous limestones forming scarp faces round most of the outlier. South of the Severn is the Bristol coal-field, with Silurian rocks and included volcanic rocks north and north-east of it. The Silurian occurs as inliers (e.g., Tortworth) and Old Red Sandstone rocks crop out beneath the Carboniferous of the coal-field. Liassic and Triassic rocks also occur, resting upon the older rocks. In the vale of the Severn, east of the great boundary line, the structure is com paratively simple. Between the Malvern-fault and a line from Newnham through Tewkesbury is an area of Trias and east of this, stretching to the Jurassic escarpment of the Cotswolds, is a broad belt of Liassic clay with Rheatic rocks (with famous bone beds) at their base. It is the soils from these two rocks which yield such excellent crops. With the exception of alluvial deposits, and glacial and fluvio-glacial drifts and gravels, there are no rocks in the county newer than the Oxford clay, a small outcrop of which occurs near Lechdale.
History and Early most interesting pre historic feature of Gloucestershire is its wealth of long Barrows (see O.G.S. Crawford : Ord. Survey, Professional Papers. New Series No. 6, 1922). Almost as striking is the absence of Beaker pottery so abundant in Wiltshire to the south and Oxfordshire to the east. The lower Severn valley was apparently largely forest and swamp in early times. The Cotswolds are again remarkably poor in brooches of the first period of La Tene though Wiltshire and Oxfordshire are again rich. In Roman times the famous Fosse way from Bath to Lincoln ran east of the Cotswold ridge with Corinium (Cirencester) as a station on it, and branches west to Glevum (Gloucester), south-east and east. There were numerous Roman villas not far from these roads.
On the sub-division of the Mercian diocese in 68o the greater part of modern Gloucestershire was included in the diocese of Worcester, and shortly after the Conquest constituted the arch deaconry of Gloucester. The district west of the Severn, with the exception of a few parishes was within the diocese of Here ford. In 1541 the diocese of Gloucester was created, its bound aries being identical with those of the county. On the erection of Bristol to a see in 1542 the deanery of Bristol was transferred from Gloucester to that diocese. In 1836 the sees of Gloucester and Bristol were united; but in 1897 the diocese of Bristol was recreated, and included the deaneries of Bristol, Stapleton and Bitton. After the conquest extensive lands and privileges were acquired by the church, the abbey of Cirencester alone holding seven hundreds. The large estates held by William Fitz Osbern, earl of Hereford, escheated to the Crown in 1075. The Berkeleys have held lands in Gloucestershire from the time of the Domes day Survey, and the families of Basset, Tracy, Clifton, Dennis and Poyntz have figured prominently in the annals of the county. Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, and Richard of Cornwall claimed extensive lands and privileges in the shire of the 13th century, and Simon de Montfort owned Minsterworth and Rodley. In the Cotswold region the churches typically show Romanesque work and Perpendicular work thus illustrating two special periods of economic development in the county related to the manors and the wool trade respectively.
Bristol was made a county in 1425, and in 1483 Richard III. created Gloucester an independent county, and both have con tinued to rank as independent counties, with separate jurisdiction, county rate and assizes. The chief officer of the Forest of Dean was the warden, who was generally also constable of St. Briavel castle. The first justice-seat for the forest was held at Gloucester castle in 1282, the last in Iron was worked in the county in Roman times and later, and the forest district was one of the chief sources of iron in the country until the 16th century. 'The Cotswolds became famous for their sheep flocks and wool in the 15th century, which wit nessed the expansion of such interesting towns as Chipping Campden which retains many interesting features. Many of the forests had tanneries, and boat building was carried on thanks to the timber available. Silk weaving was introduced in the 17th century and prospered in the Stroud valley. These varied indus trial developments promoted the building of an interesting type of stone house specially characteristic around the Cotswolds. The abundance of clay on the edges of the plains promoted in dustries of bricks, tiles and potteries. Accessory industries, such as the making of pins, buttons, lace, stockings, rope and sailcloth grew up in the 17th and 18th centuries and a good deal of flax was grown. The advent of coal and steam machinery ended the modified and somewhat reduced woollen industry, but the pres ence of water power and of fullers' earth led the district (espe cially Stroud) to specialize in the manufacture of broadcloth. Gloucester was a port of some consequence and Bristol (q.v.) very important. The Cotswold area, especially Cheltenham, is become a residential area in modern times and the advent of the motor-car has contributed to this development.
Agriculture, Industries and Communications.—About three-quarters of the total area is under cultivation, and of this about 42% is in permanent pasture. Wheat is the chief grain crop, but oats and barley are also important. In the vale, the deep rich black (Lias) or red (Trigs) loamy soil is well adapted for pasturage, and a moist mild climate favours the growth of grasses and root crops. The cattle, save on the frontier of Herefordshire, are mostly shorthorns, of which many are fed for distant markets, and many reared and kept for dairy purposes. The rich grazing tract of the vale of Berkeley produces butter and the "double Gloucester" cheeses, and the vale of Gloucester is the chief grain growing district. Turnips, etc., occupy about three-quarters of the green crop acreage, potatoes occupying only about a tenth. A feature of the county is its apple and pear orchards, chiefly for the manufacture of cider and perry, which are attached to every farm. The Cotswold district is comparatively barren except in the valleys, but it has been famous since the 15th century for the breed of sheep named after it. Oats and barley are here the chief crops.
The most important industrial centre of the county is Bristol. As a port and with an extensive trade with the West Indies, such industries as the manufacture of tobacco, cocoa and choco late, sugar refining, soap and tanning have become important. There are also iron foundries, chemical and engineering works, shipbuilding yards, breweries and factories making glass, earthen ware and furniture. The district around Stroud has long been, and still is, famous for the manufacture of woollen cloth, a type known as broadcloth. Hardware is also made in this neighbour hood. Gloucester manufactures cutlery, agricultural implements, and being a port has foundries, ship building yards, chemical works and rope factories. In other scattered parts of the county, gloves and silk manufactures and engineering are carried on. Coal is mined in the Forest of Dean and the Bristol coal-fields, limestone and freestone are quarried in the Cotswolds, bricks and tiles manufactured from the Lias clays, and haematite in the Forest of Dean. Strontianite and barytes are also obtained in the county. There are a number of important public schools and colleges in the county and Bristol is the seat of a university.
Railway communications are provided by the G.W. and L.M.S. companies. Of the G.W. railway, the main line serves Bristol from London. It divides at Bristol, one section serving the south western counties, another via the Severn Tunnel, south Wales. A more direct route by this tunnel, between London and south Wales, is provided by a line from Wootton Bassett on the main line, running north of Bristol by Badminton and Chipping Sod bury. Other G.W. lines are that from Swindon on the main line, by the Stroud valley to Gloucester, crossing the Severn there, and continuing into Wales, with branches into Herefordshire ; the Oxford and Worcester trunk line, crossing the north-east of the county, connected with Cheltenham and Gloucester by a branch through the Cotswolds from Chipping Norton junction and also by a branch from Andoversford with Cirencester. A line from Cheltenham runs by Broadway to Honeybourne. The East Gloucester line of the G.W. railway from Oxford termin ates at Fairford. The west-and-north line of the L.M.S. railway follows the vale from Bristol by Gloucester and Cheltenham with a branch into the Forest of Dean by Berkeley, crossing the Severn at Sharpness by a great bridge 1,387 yd. in length, with 22 arches. The coal-field of the Forest of Dean is served by several branch lines. In the north Tewkesbury is served by a L.M.S. branch from Ashchurch to Malvern. The Thames and Severn canal, rising to a summit level in the tunnel through the Cotswolds at Sapper ton, is continued from Wallbridge (Stroud) by the Stroudwater canal, and gives communication between the two great rivers. The Berkeley Ship canal (162 m.) connects the port of Gloucester with its outport of Sharpness on Severn.
Gloucestershire was represented in parliament in 1290 and returned two members. Bristol and Gloucester acquired repre sentation in 1295, Cirencester in 1572 and Tewkesbury in 1620. In 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions ; Bristol, Gloucester, Cirencester, Stroud and Tewkesbury returned two members each, and Cheltenham .returned one member. The act of 1868 reduced the representation of Cirencester and Tewkes bury to one member each. By the act of 1918, the county was divided into four divisions, viz., those of Cirencester and Tewkes bury, the forest of Dean, Stroud and Thornbury divisions each returning one member. Bristol returns five members, Cheltenham and Gloucester one each.