GLOUCESTERSHIRE. The commerce of this county is greatly aided by canals. The Thames and Severn Canal connects those two great navigable rivers ; it commences at Lech lade, and joins the Stroudwater Canal at Wallbridge, near Stroud ; its length is about 30 miles ; it has a tunnel at Sapperton 21 miles long. The Stroudwater Can al commences at the Severn, near Framiload, and terminates in the Thames and Severn Canal at Wall bridge ; its length is 8 miles. The Hereford and Gloucester. Canal is open from Gloucester to Ledbury, 18 miles. The Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, by which the navigation up to Gloucester is shortened 111 miles, extends from Gloucester to the Severn near Berkeley, 16i miles. Portions of the Midland Railway and of the Great Western Railway pass through this county.
The south-west corner of the county is occupied by the coal field of the Forest of Dean. Iron appears to have been wrought here during the Roman occupation ; and we find it recorded in the reign of Edward I. that there were then 72 furnaces for smelting iron in the Forest. The iron ore here is not very rich in metal, and it is now therefore compa ratively little worked. Two hundred pits have been opened for the coal in different parts of the Forest, but the coal is not considered so good as that of Staffordshire. Lead ore is found in many parts of the county, but not in suffi cient quantities to defray the expense of work ing. Pyrites, or sulphuret of iron, has been found in great abundance. Lapis calaminaris, potrosilex, barytes, quartz crystals, gypsum, limestone and freestone are met with in the county.
The manufactures are numerous and im portant. The cloth manufacture is extensively carried on at Wotton-under-Edge, Stroud, Minchinhampton, Bisley, Uley, Norsley, Cam, Painswick, Rodborough, and King's Stanley. At Frampton, Cotterell, Winterbourn, Bitton, and Westerleigh, there are considerable hat and felt manufactories, and some persons are also engaged in stocking-making. The last-men tioned manufacture is extensively pursued at Tewkesbury, where frame making likewise gives employment to some of the inhabitants ; some of them are also engaged in lace-making. In Gloucester and in the suburbs of Bristol there are pin manufactories. At Newland and English Bicknor tin plates are made. Edge tools are made at Cooley ; and glass bottles in the suburbs of Bristol. At Moreton and a few other places cheese cloths and other articles of linen are made. The large com
mercial city of Bristol has also several manu factories, and works in brass, iron, floor-cloths, lace, hats, soap, vinegar, dm.
Flax was formerly cultivated to some extent in the Vale of Gloucester, but the belief that it was a very.scourging crop, and returned nothing to the land, has led to the prohibition of it in leases. Teasels are raised for the use of the manufacturers of woollen cloth, but not to such an extent as they were once. Gloucestershire is essentially a dairy country, and has been always renowned for its butter and cheese. There are fine orchards in different parts of the Vale and Forest districts, and some very good cider and perry are made in the county. Gloucester, the chief town, (if we except Bristol, half of which is in this county) is a flourishing commercial plate, which has water communication with most parts of the kingdom. In the year 1850 there were 401 vessels arrived at the port of Gloucester, with cargoes from foreign countries ; and the customs revenues at the port amounted to 04,0821. Cheltenham is more notable for its fashion than for its manufactures. At Lech lade commences the Thames and Severn Canal, and the Thames first becomes naviga ble for barges of 70 or 80 tons' burden; in consequence of these favourable circumstances, the place has much traffic in the produce of the country and in London goods. At Marsh field a considerable quantity of malt is made for the supply of the Bath and Bristol brewers. The borough of Stroud comprehends an im-' portant part of the west of England clothing district. The peculiar features of this district are, the situation of the mills on streams in deep ravines, the scattered and irregular man ner in which the houses are built on the hill sides, and the contrast between the high land, in many cases with few inhabitants, and the valleys, studded with houses and thickly peopled. This district comprehends the market-towns of Stroud, Minchinhampton, Painswick, and several other places. The site of Stroud was early chosen by clothiers and dyers, and the town has been improving of late years. At Tewkesbury the chief manu facture is of cotton and lambs'-wool hosiery.
There were in the county of Gloucester, in 1850, one cotton factory, 40 woollen spinning factories, 11 'woollen weaving factories, 20 factories for mixed woollen goods, 3 flax fac tories, and 7 silk factories—the whole employ ing 8618 persons.