GLOUCESTERSHIRE, one of the western counties of England, is bounded on the north and north-east by Wor cestershire and Warwickshire; on the east, by Oxfordshire; on the south-east, by part of Berkshire and Wiltshire ; on the south and south-west, by Somcrsetshire and the Bristol Channel ; and on the west and north-west, by Mon mouthshire and Herefordshire. It stretches from north east to south-west, from the parish of Clifford Chambers, near Stratford upon Avon, to Clifton, beyond the city of Bristol, nearly 70 miles ; and in breadth, from Lechlade to Preston, about 40 miles; but its general breadth is not more than 26 miles. In circumference it is about 156 miles. The form of the county is elliptical. Its area has been variously estimated: by Sir Robert At kyns, in his History of Gloucestershire, and by the audio: of the agricultural report, it is supposed to contain 800mo acres. According to the returns to parliament of the p oo rates, drawn up under the inspection of Mr Rose, its area is estimated at 718,080 acres. According to other state ments, it contains only 705,000 acres.
It is divided as follows : I. Kifsgate division, which com prehends the north and north-east parts ; this is subdivided into 8 hundreds: viz. Kiftsgate hundred, upper part, which contains 20 parishes, and one market town, Chipping Cam den : Kiftsgate, lower part,which contains 19 parishes, and one market town, \Vinchcomb Slaughter hundred, upper part, which contains 10 parishes, and one market town, Stow ; Slaughter hundred, lower part, which contains I parishes, but no market town Tibbaldston hundred, con taining 3 parishes, and no market town : Cleeve hundred : which contains only Cleeve with its tythings : Cheltenham hundred, containing 4 parishes, and one market town, Cheltenham : Deerhurst hundred, containing 4 parishes in the upper part, and 7 parishes in the lower part, but no market town in either : Tewksbury hundred, containing in the upper part 10 parishes, and in the lower 9, and one market town, viz. Tewksbury : Westminster hundred, containing in the upper part 4, and in the lower part 7 pa rishes. The second division is called Seven Hundreds Di vision, and contains the following hundreds ; Cirencester hundred, in which is only the town of Cirencester : Crow thorne and Minets hundred, containing 19 parishes, but no market town : Brightwell's Barrow hundred, containing 12 parishes and 2 market towns, Fairford and Lechdale : Brad ley hundred, containing 19 parishes, and one market town, Northleach Rapsgate hundred, containing 11 parishes, but no market town : Bisley hundred, containing 7 parish es, and 2 market towns, Stroud and Painswick: Longtree hundred, containing 11 parishes, and 2 market towns, Min chen Hampton, and Tetbury: \Vhitstone hundred, con taining in the upper part 9 parishes, and in the lower part 7 parishes, but no market town : Seven hundreds Division lies to the south and south-west of Kiftsgate Division. The
third is the Forest Division, which is bounded on the west by the river Wye ; on the north-west by Herefordshire and Worcestershire ; and on the east, partly by the two former divisions, and partly by the Severn : this division contains six hundreds ; viz. Botloe hundred, which contains 9 pa rishes and one market town, Newent : Duchy of Lancaster, which contains 5 parishes but no market town : 'Westbury hundred, containing 6 parishes and one market town, Newnham : Bledesloe hundred, containing 3 parishes, but no market town : St Briawl's hundred, which contains 12 parishes and two market towns, Mitchel Dean and Colford and Dudstone and King's Barton hundred, which in the up pe• part contains 10 parishes, in the middle part 11, and in the lower 5 ; the city of Gloucester is in this hundred. The last division of this county is Berkely Division, which is bounded by the Severn on the west, part of Dudstone and King's Barton hundred on the north ; Seven hundreds division on the east, and the Lower Avon and Somerset shire on the south : Berkley division is subdivided in to 7 hundreds ; viz. Berkley hundred, the upper part of which contains 19 parishes and 2 market towns, Berkley and Wotton under Edge, the lower part contains 6 parish es, but no market town : Grumbald's Ash hundred, the upper part of which contains I I parishes, and one market town, Wickwar : and the lower part 10 parishes, and one market town, Sodbury Pucklechurch hundred, containing 5 perishes, but no market town ; Barton Ilap.•b hundred, containing 6 pat ishes, but no market town : Langley and Swine's Head hundred, the upper part of which contains 4, and the lower part 5 parishes, but no market town : Thornbury hundred, the upper part of which contains only the market town of Marshfield ; and the lower part 5 pa rishes, and one market town, Thornbu•y ; and Hanbury hundred, the upper part of which contains 5, and the lower 2 parishes, but no market town. Gloucestershire contains one city, Gloucester, and part of another, Bristol ; it returns eight members to Parliament, viz. two for the county, two fur Gloucester, two for Tewksbury, and two for Cirences ter. It is in the province of Canterbury, and diocese of Gloucester, with the exception of two chapel ries. It pays 12 parts of the land tax.