It was granted its first charter in 1155 byHenry II. In 1216,Henry III, aged only nine years, was crowned with a gilded iron ring in the Chapter House of Gloucester Cathedral. Gloucester's significance in the Middle Ages is underlined by the fact that it had a number of monastic establishments, including St Peter's Abbey, founded in 679 (laterGloucester Cathedral); the nearbySt Oswald's Priory, founded in the 880s or 890s; andLlanthony Secunda Priory, founded in 1136. The town is also the site of thesiege of Gloucester in 1643, during which the city held out against Royalist forces in theFirst English Civil War.
A major attraction of the city isGloucester Cathedral, which is the burial place ofKing Edward II andWalter de Lacy; it features in scenes from theHarry Potter films. Other features of interest include the museum and school of art and science, the formercounty jail (on the site of aSaxon andNorman castle), theShire Hall (now headquarters of theCounty Council) and the Whitefield memorial church. A park in the south of the city contains a spa, achalybeate spring having been discovered in 1814.
Economically, the city is dominated by the service industries and has strong financial, research, distribution and light industrial sectors.[3] Historically, it was prominent in theaerospace industry.
In 1926, the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company atBrockworth changed its name to theGloster Aircraft Company because international customers claimed that the nameGloucestershire was too difficult to spell. A sculpture in the city centre celebrates Gloucester's aviation history and its involvement in thejet engine.
From the city's Roman name,Glevum,Anglo-Saxon migrants after 410, with their fledgling feudal structure, theKingdom of Wessex, replaced the area's Romano-Celtic society and changed the city's name toCaerloyw (IPA:[kaɨrˈlɔɨʊ,kairˈlɔiʊ]),[4] Gloucester's name in modernWelsh, while recognising the presence of the Roman fort.Caerloyw is a compound ofcaer, meaning 'fort, stronghold, castle', andloyw, alenition ofgloyw as it would have been pronounced by many speakers, meaning 'bright, shiny, glowy'.
A variant of the term-cester/chester/caster instead of the Welshcaer was eventually adopted. The name Gloucester thus means roughly "bright fort". Mediaeval orthographies includeCaer Glow,Gleawecastre andGleucestre.[5]
This etymology was first suggested by the Austrian philologist, Alfred Holder, in 1896. An alternative etymology has been proposed, which argues that the first element of the place-name is related to a Welsh word signifying 'valiant', rendering 'Gloucester' to mean 'fortress of the valiant'.[6]
Glevum was established around AD 48 at an important crossing of the River Severn and near to theFosse Way, the early front line after the Roman invasion of Britain. Initially, a Roman fort was established at present-day Kingsholm. Twenty years later, a larger legionary fortress was built on slightly higher ground nearby, centred on present-day Gloucester Cross, and a civilian settlement grew around it. Probably the Roman LegionXX Valeria Victrix was based here until 66 and thenLegio II Augusta[7] as they prepared to invade Roman Wales between 66 and 74 AD, who stayed later until around 87.[8]
Gloucester became aColonia in 97 asColonia Nervia Glevensium, orGlevum, in the reign ofNerva. It is likely that Glevum became the provincial capital ofBritannia Prima.[8]
Within about 15 years new privately constructed properties replaced the earlier barracks and public buildings, temples and bath houses were under construction in stone. Piped water began to be supplied. Drains and sewers were laid. On the site of the legionaryprincipia an imposing centralforum was laid out surrounded by colonnades and flanked on three sides by part-timbered ranges of shops. Closing off the south of the forum was the 100m x 40mBasilica. Many fine homes withmosaic floors were built in the town.
At its height, Glevum may have had a population of as many as 10,000 people. The entire area around Glevum was intensely Romanised in the second and third centuries with a higher than normal distribution of villas.
At the end of the third century or the start of the fourth, major changes were made to the city's second-century wall. It was replaced in two stages by a stronger and higher one of stone resting on massive reused stone blocks. In the second stage, the blocks rested on deep timber foundation piles. Stone external towers were added; two parallel wide ditches were also cut in front of the new walls.
Remains of the Roman city can still be seen:[9][10]
Many archaeological artifacts and some in-situ walls in the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery
The remains of the Roman and mediaeval East Gate in the East Gate Chamber on Eastgate Street.
Northgate, Southgate, Eastgate and Westgate Streets all follow the line of their original Roman counterparts, although Westgate Street has moved slightly north and Southgate Street now extends through the site of the Roman basilica.
Withdrawal of all Roman forces and many societal leaders in about the year 410 may have allowed leading families of theDobunni tribe to regain power within the now Roman-influenced, interconnected and intermixed Celtic Brythonic local people. This intermix is reflected by the fact a large minority of basic words and available synonyms in Welsh have a Latin base. In theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle Gloucester is shown as part ofWessex from theBattle of Deorham in 577. At some point afterwards, along with the rest of its shire excluding theForest of Dean, Gloucester was part of the minor kingdom of theHwicce. In 628, as a result of theBattle of Cirencester, that kingdom became a client or sub-kingdom ofMercia. From about 780, the Hwicce was no longer feigning any pretence as a kingdom and became part ofMercia. Mercia, allied by matrimony and sharing a desire to counter the Danish onslaught as had conquered swathes of the wider island at large, submitted toAlfred the Great'sKingdom of Wessex in about 877–883. A 20th-century writer intuitively adds that Roman stem Gleu- Glev- was, doubtless, pronounced without any final consonant.[11]Claudia Castra is mentioned in the 18th century as a possible Latin name related to the city.[12]
The first bridging point on a navigable, defensive barrier, great river and the foundation in 681 of the abbey of St Peter byÆthelred of Mercia, favoured town growth; and before theNorman conquest of England, Gloucester was a borough governed by aportreeve, with a castle which was frequently a royal residence, and a mint. In the early 10th century, the remains ofSaint Oswald were brought to a small church here and shrine built there, a draw for pilgrims. The core street layout is thought to date to the reign ofÆthelflæd in late Saxon times.[13]
In 1051,Edward the Confessor held court at Gloucester and was threatened there by an army led byGodwin, Earl of Wessex, but the incident resulted in a standoff rather than a battle.
After the Norman Conquest,William Rufus madeRobert Fitzhamon the first baron or overlord of Gloucester. Fitzhamon had a military base atCardiff Castle, and for the succeeding years the history of Gloucester was closely linked to that of Cardiff.
Henry granted Gloucester its first charter in 1155, which gave the burgesses the same liberties as the citizens of London andWinchester. A second charter of Henry II gave them freedom of passage on theRiver Severn. The first charter was confirmed in 1194 byKing Richard I. The privileges of the borough were greatly extended by the charter ofKing John (1200), which gave freedom from toll throughout the kingdom and from pleading outside the borough.
In 1216,King Henry III, aged only ten years, was crowned with a gilded iron ring in the Chapter House ofGloucester Cathedral.[15] During his reign,Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany his cousin was briefly imprisoned at Gloucester Castle as state prisoner from 1222 to 1223, and from 1237 to 1238, in addition to sometime during the reign of King John.[16]
Gloucester's significance in the Middle Ages is underlined by the fact that it had a number of monastic establishments, including St Peter's Abbey founded in 679 (laterGloucester Cathedral), the nearbySt Oswald's Priory, Gloucester founded in the 880s or 890s, Llanthony Secunda Priory, founded 1136 as a retreat for a community of Welsh monks (now near the western bypass),[17] the Franciscan Greyfriars community founded in 1231 (nearEastgate Shopping Centre),[18] and the Dominican Blackfriars community founded in 1239 (Ladybellegate Street).[19] It also has some very early churches includingSt Mary de Lode Church, Gloucester near the Cathedral and the NormanSt Mary de Crypt Church, Gloucester inSouthgate Street.
Additionally, there is evidence of aJewish community in Gloucester as early as 1158–1159; they lived around present-day East Gate Street and had a synagogue on the south side, near St Michael's church.[20][21] Gloucester was probably the home of Rabbi Moses, who established an important Anglo-Jewish family. The Jews of the town were falsely accused by the Dominican monks of murdering a child,Harold of Gloucester, in an attempt to establish a cult similar to that ofWilliam of Norwich, which failed entirely. Nevertheless, the accusations were recycled around the time of theEdict of Expulsion. In January 1275,Eleanor of Provence expelled Jews from all of the towns within her dower lands, and the Jews of Gloucester were ordered to move toBristol but finding an especially difficult situation there, relocated toHereford.[22]
In theMiddle Ages, the main export was wool, which came from theCotswolds and was processed in Gloucester; other exports includedleather andiron (tools and weapons). Gloucester also had a large fishing industry at that time.
In 1222, a massive fire destroyed part of Gloucester.[23]
One of the most significant periods in Gloucester's history began in 1378 whenRichard II convened Parliament in the city. Parliaments were held there until 1406 underHenry IV of England. The Parliament Rooms at the Cathedral remain as testimony to this important time.
Gloucester was incorporated byKing Richard III in 1483, the town being made acounty in itself.
Gloucester was the site of the execution by burning ofJohn Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, in the time ofQueen Mary in 1555. In 1580, Gloucester was awarded the status of aport by Queen Elizabeth I.[29]
During theEnglish Civil War, the fall of nearby Bristol encouraged the reinforcement of the existing town defences. Thesiege of Gloucester commenced in 1643 in which the besieged parliamentarians emerged victorious. The Royalist's plan of bombardment and tunnelling to the east gate failed due to the inadequacy of the Royalist artillery and the besieged sniping and conducting artillery fire on the Royalist encampment.[30]
Jan Kip's West prospect of Gloucester, c. 1725, emphasises the causeway and bridges traversing the water meadows of the floodplain.
By the mid-17th century, only the gatehouse and keep ofGloucester Castle remained, the latter of which was being used as a gaol until it was deemed unsuitable and demolished in the late 1780s. By 1791, thenew gaol was completed leaving no trace of the former castle.[31]
Map of Gloucester in 1805
In the 19th century, the city grew with new buildings includingWellington Parade and the Grade IIlisted Picton House (c. 1825).[32]
During the Second World War, two petroleum storage depots were constructed in Gloucester. A Government Civil Storage depot with six 4,000-ton semi-buried tanks was constructed on theBerkeley Canal in 1941/42 byShell-Mex and BP and connected to the pipeline that ran from the Mersey to the Avon. It was also connected to the Air Force Reserve Depot and a Shell Mex and BP facility for road and rail loading. Due to severe tank corrosion, it was demolished in 1971/2 and disposed of in 1976. The second depot was an Air Force Reserve Depot with four 4,000-ton semi-buried tanks constructed in 1941/42 by Shell, Shell-Mex and BP at the Monk Meadow Dock on the Canal. Originally, delivery was by road, rail and barge and pipeline. It was also connected to the docks and to the Shell Mex and BP installation for rail and road loading facilities and the civil storage site. It was transferred from the Air Ministry to the Ministry of Power in 1959, closed in the 1990s and disposed of in the later 2000s.[34]
InJuly 2007, Gloucester was hit badly by aflood that struck Gloucestershire and its surrounding areas. Hundreds of homes were flooded, but the event was most memorable because of its wider impact – about 40,000 people were without power for 24 hours, and the entire city (plus surrounding areas) was without piped water for 17 days.
In 2009,Gloucester Day was revived as an annual day of celebration of Gloucester's history and culture. The day originally dates from the lifting of the Siege of Gloucester in 1643, during which the city held out against Royalist forces during theFirst English Civil War.[35]
Gloucester is one of the few cities in England with two coats of arms. The first consists of three chevrons surrounded by ten roundels. The chevrons come from the arms of theClare family, who were earls of Gloucester from the 12th to the 14th centuries, while the roundels come from the arms of theBishop of Worcester, whose bishopric historically encompassed Gloucester. This coat is the older of the two, though it is usually termed the "Commonwealth coat", as it was not officially granted to the city until 1652, during theCommonwealth period. The crest and supporters (lions bearing broadswords and trowels) were also adopted at this time, along with the mottoFides Invicta Triumphat ("unconquered faith triumphs", in reference to the royalist siege withstood by the city in 1643).
The second coat, termed the "Tudor coat", was granted in 1538. It features the roses of York and Lancaster, the boar's head of Richard III, a ceremonial sword and cap, and two horseshoes surrounded by nails, to represent Gloucester's historical association with ironworking.
Although grants made by Commonwealthheralds were nullified after theRestoration, the Commonwealth coat continued to be used by the city rather than the Tudor coat. The Commonwealth coat, along with the crest and supporters, was legally granted to the city by letters patent dated 16 April 1945. This was reconfirmed in 1974 following the local government changes of that year.[36][37]
Gloucester was anancient borough, being treated as a borough fromSaxon times and being granted its first known borough charter byHenry II in 1155. In 1483 the town of Gloucester was given the right to appoint its own magistrates, making it acounty corporate, administratively independent from the surrounding county ofGloucestershire. When theDiocese of Gloucester was founded in 1541, the town was given the right to call itself acity. The city was reformed to become amunicipal borough in 1836 under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Gloucester was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it was made acounty borough, independent from Gloucestershire County Council.[39][40]
North Warehouse
Gloucester Guildhall at 23 Eastgate Street was built in 1892 and served as the city's administrative headquarters until 1986, when the council moved to North Warehouse atGloucester Docks.[41][42]
On 1 April 1974, the moderndistrict of Gloucester was formed under theLocal Government Act 1972, covering the same area as the abolished County Borough of Gloucester.[43] The reforms also saw the city become subordinate to Gloucestershire County Council, losing the independence it had held since 1483. The parish ofQuedgeley was subsequently transferred into Gloucester fromStroud District in 1991.[44] Quedgeley retains its own parish council, unlike the rest of Gloucester, which is anunparished area. In 2017, Quedgeley Parish Council changed its name to Quedgeley Town Council, making it a town within a city.[45]
Gloucester is thecounty town ofGloucestershire, and is the 53rd largest settlement in the United Kingdom by population.[citation needed] In 2010, its population was 123,400.[46] It has the traditionallowest bridging point of the longest river in Great Britain, connecting it withOver. The 2011 census recorded that the city had a population of 121,921 and by 2016 its population was estimated to be 128,488.[47] The city's urban area extends beyond its boundaries, withseveral outlying districts. The 2021 census gave the population of the Gloucester Urban Area as 169,061, absorbing areas such asBrockworth andChurchdown.[48]
The city is located on the eastern bank of theRiver Severn, sheltered by theCotswolds to the east, while theForest of Dean and theMalvern Hills rise to the west and north, respectively. Gloucester is aninland port, linked via theGloucester and Sharpness Canal which runs from Gloucester's docks to theSevern Estuary, allowing larger ships to reach the docks than would be possible on the tidal reaches of the river itself, which go well north of the city to Haw Bridge. The wharfs, warehouses and the docks themselves fell into disrepair until their renovation in the 1980s. They now form a public open space. Some warehouses now house theGloucester Waterways Museum, others were converted into residential flats, shops and bars. Additionally, theSoldiers of Gloucestershire Museum is located in the Custom House.
Gloucester is made up of a variety of neighbourhoods, some of which correspond to electoral divisions of the City Council.
The city itself contains no green belt; however, it is bordered to the north east by the green belt in the surrounding Tewkesbury district, helping to maintain local green space, prevent further urban sprawl and unplanned expansion towardsCheltenham andInnsworth, as well as protecting smaller nearby villages such asChurchdown,Badgeworth,Shurdington, andTwigworth.
In May 2024, under plans byGloucestershire County Council, it was reported that there are secret talks to formally merge the conurbations of Cheltenham and Gloucester with each other.[51] The plans suggest that around ten newgarden towns could be built around the green belt atBoddington which if removed would result in the complete merger of both boroughs. Doing so would facilitate and effectively merge the two into asupercity.[52] The move has been criticised by bothCheltenham Borough Council andGloucester City Council.[53][54]
A good number ofmedieval andTudor period gabled andhalf timbered houses survive from earlier periods of Gloucester's history. At the point where the four principal streets intersected stood the Tolsey (town hall), which was replaced by a modern building in 1894. None of the old public buildings are left except for theNew Inn in Northgate Street. It is a timbered house, with strong, massive external galleries and courtyards. It was built around 1450 by John Twyning, a monk.[64]
Kings Square (1976)
Kings Square is at the heart of the city centre and occupies what was once a cattle market andbus station. Officially opened in 1972, it was the centrepiece of a radical redesign of the city, The Jellicoe Plan, which was first proposed in 1961. It stands beside the Debenham's (formerly Bon Marché) store built in the early 1960s. Many of the features of the redevelopment have since been dismantled; thebrutalist concrete fountains in the middle of the square have gone and the overhead roadways which linked three multi storey car parks around the centre have been either closed or dismantled. The main bus station received aCivic Trust Award in 1963 but has since been demolished, with a new bus station being constructed on the same site during 2018. In 2012 a £60 million plan was unveiled to revamp the square.[65] In 2014, the prominentGolden Egg restaurant was demolished and a new look public space was created. A prior archaeological dig revealed a Roman house underneath.[66]
An indoor market opened in Eastgate Street in 1968, followed by the Eastgate Shopping Centre in 1973.[67] TheKings Walk Shopping Centre was built between 1969 and 1972.[68] The corner of Eastgate Street and Brunswick Road was redeveloped around this time; Roman remains unearthed below street level in 1974 may be seen through a glass observation panel outside the Boots building, which opened in 1980. TheHSBC building on the Cross was renovated and a modern extension added to the Westgate Street aspect in 1972 which received a Civic Trust Award.Sainsbury's opened a supermarket in Northgate Street in 1970; it retains its original interior. Opposite,Tesco opened a large two-storey supermarket in June 1976 on the site of a demolished chapel. This is now occupied byWilkinson's after Tesco moved toQuedgeley in 1984. Asda opened its first store in Gloucester in Bruton Way in 1983.
Gloucester Leisure Centre opened on the corner of Eastgate Street and Bruton Way in September 1974 and was redeveloped and rebranded (as "GL1") in August 2002.Gloucester Central railway station was rebuilt in 1977 to serve both the original traffic to that railway station and the services from the closedGloucester Eastgate railway station (formerMidland Railway) which had stood on another site further east along the same road. Opposite the station stands one of the city's largest office blocks, Twyver House, opened in 1968, which houses the regional Land Registry. The main shopping streets were pedestrianised in the late 1980s.
The 1966Heights Plan for Gloucester sought to restrict construction of tall buildings and defend spiritual values by protecting views ofGloucester Cathedral.[69] The tower ofGloucestershire Royal Hospital, started in 1970 and completed in August 1975, can be seen from miles around. In Brunswick Road, a brown concrete tower, which housed classrooms at theGloucestershire College of Arts and Technology (now moved to a site near Llanthony Bridge). The tower was added incongruously to the existing 1930s Technical College buildings in 1971 which has now been demolished. Clapham Court, a tall block of flats, stands in Columbia Close, between London Road and Kingsholm Road. It was built in 1963 and stands on what was once Columbia Street in a small district formerly known as Clapham.
Other features of interest include the museum and school of art and science, the formercounty jail (on the site of aSaxon andNorman castle), the Shire Hall (now headquarters of theCounty Council) and the Whitefield memorial church. A park in the south of the city contains a spa, achalybeate spring having been discovered in 1814. West of this, across the canal, are the remains (a gateway and some walls) ofLlanthony Secunda Priory, a cell of themother abbey in theVale of Ewyas,Monmouthshire, which in the reign ofKing Edward IV became the secondary establishment.
The city's Northgate and Southgate streets feature a series of public artmosaic panels depicting Gloucester's medieval trades made by artistsGary Drostle and Rob Turner in 1998 and 1999. Eastgate and Westgate streets feature a series of mosaic panels made by arts group 'The Pioneers'.
TheThree Choirs Festival, originating in the 18th century and one of the oldest music festivals in theBritish Isles, is held in Gloucester every third year, the other venues beingHereford andWorcester. Gloucester hosted the festival in 2019, and it is next due in the city in 2023.
The city's main theatre and cultural venue is the Guildhall.[70] The Guildhall hosts a huge amount of entertainment, including live music, dance sessions, a cinema, bar, café, art gallery and much more. The Leisure Centre, GL1, hosts concerts and has a larger capacity than the Guildhall.
The annual Gloucester InternationalRhythm and Blues Festival takes place at the end of July and early August.[71] Gloucester InternationalCajun andZydeco Festival, the largest in the UK and longest-running in Europe, runs for a weekend in January each year.[72] A Medieval Fayre is held in Westgate Street each year during the summer.
Gloucester is also noted as the home of the Frightmare Halloween Festival, the largestHalloween festival in the South West.[73]
The main museum in the city isThe Museum of Gloucester but there are several other important museums.
Since 2013 Gloucester has marked Armed Forces Day with a Drum Head Service held on College Green in the shadow of the cathedral. This is followed by a parade of serving forces, veterans and cadets through the city centre to the docks for a family day with military and military-related charity displays and entertainment in Back Badge Square in front of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum.[citation needed]
Nature in Art is a gallery dedicated to the display of works of art inspired by the natural world.
The city features in the popular, well-known nursery rhyme (of unknown date and origin) about aDoctor Foster, who reportedly visited the city, got wet, and swore to stay away as a result.[citation needed]
Gloucester has many churches, and historically has also had many dissenting chapels.[74] It may have been the old proverb "as sure as God's in Gloucester" that provokedOliver Cromwell to declare that the city had "more churches than godliness". Gloucester was the host of the firstSunday school in England; this was founded byRobert Raikes in 1780. Four of the churches that are of special interest are
St Mary de Lode – with aNorman tower andchancel, and a monument of BishopJohn Hooper. It was built on the site of an ancientRoman temple which became the first Christian church in Britain
St Mary de Crypt – with a cruciform structure of the 12th century. It has later additions, such as the tower. Also the site of the Schoolroom in which theCrypt School was formed
St Michael's Church – said to have been connected with St Peter's ancient abbey
In the neighbourhood around St Mary de Crypt there are slight remains of Greyfriars andBlackfriars monasteries, and also of the city wall. Under the Golden Fleece (The Monks Bar) and Saracen's Head inns early vaulted cellars still remains. In addition, in the city isSt Peter's Roman Catholic Church, a Grade II* listed building.[75]
During the construction of the Boots store on the corner of Brunswick Road and Eastgate Street in 1974, Roman remains were found. These can be seen through a glass case on the street. At the back of the Gloucester Furniture Exhibition Centre part of the city's South Gate can be seen.
The city is home to one of three campuses of theUniversity of Gloucestershire, based at Oxstalls, just outside the city centre. The university has also purchased the former Debenhams store in the city centre with a new campus due to open there in 2023. The university also manages student accommodation and halls of residence in the city, with the other campuses based in Cheltenham 7 miles away.
TheM5 motorway, opened in 1971, runs east of the city boundary. Junction 12 serves south Gloucester and Quedgeley; junction 11a serves central Gloucester; and junction 11 serves north Gloucester. TheA38 runs north–south through Gloucester, connecting the city withTewkesbury and Bristol. TheA40 runs west to east, connecting Gloucester withCheltenham to the east (via a dual carriageway section known asThe Golden Valley Bypass) and theForest of Dean andSouth Wales to the West. TheA46 andA4173 linksStroud, and theA417 linksCirencester in the south-east andLedbury in the north-west. Gloucester has a network ofcycle paths.
Until the construction of theSevern Bridge in 1966, Gloucester was the lowest road bridging point on the river and hence was an important settlement betweenSouth Wales and the southernmost counties of England including London. The Severn has a smallanabranch here to reachAlney Island and then the main western bank.A bridge at Over, built byThomas Telford in 1829, still stands, notable for its very flat arch, but its fragility and narrowness means it is disused; since 1974, it has been paralleled by a modern bridge. TheGloucester to Newport Line railway bridge is close to both, the lowest crossing of the UK's longest river until theSevern Railway Bridge 1879–1960, which was coupled with theSevern Tunnel in 1886, the present holder of that status.
Gloucester was the site of theGloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company railway works, which have now closed. A new station at Hunts Grove has been considered on the southern edge of the city nearQuedgeley, as part ofMetroWest plans to extend Bristol commuter services to the city.[79]
Gloucestershire Airport in 2017, looking east. On the left is the straightA40 road and at the bottom theM5 motorway.Innsworth and Gloucester are at the top.
Commercial airports with scheduled services areBristol,Birmingham andCardiff 40–60 miles away; global hubHeathrow is about 100 miles by road and shares with Gloucester its main rail interchange at London Paddington.
Gloucestershire Airport, sited 8 miles east of the city, is a private and special charters airfield.
Gloucester has a long history in theaerospace business. In 1926 the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company atBrockworth changed its name to theGloster Aircraft Company because international customers claimed that the name "Gloucestershire" was too difficult to spell. A sculpture in the city centre celebrates Gloucester'saviation history and its involvement in thejet engine.Frank Whittle's pioneeringturbojet engine powered theGloster E.28/39, the first British jet aircraft, which first flew at the company's airfield atBrockworth. This is commemorated by the pub "The Whittle" at Gloucester Business Park, which now occupies the site. Roads in the business park are named after other Gloster aircraft and a small statue overlooks the site of the old main runway.Messier-Dowty'slanding gear plant andGE AviationDowty Propellers plants are on the outskirts of the city.
Public sports facilities are focused on the GL1 leisure centre, a large modern sports centre with severalswimming pools, a multi-use sports hall, indoorbowls room,squash courts, gym and health spa.
The Citizen, published byLocal World, is Gloucester's main newspaper, which shares all its content with theGloucestershire Echo and the weeklyForester covering the Forest of Dean and Chepstow. As of 2018, these newspapers have all moved to weekly publication rather than daily.
BBC Radio Gloucestershire has its studios on London Road in Gloucester.Heart West, previously Severn Sound, is based in Bristol.Gloucester FM is a community radio station specialising in black and urban music.
Local radio is broadcast from transmitters onChurchdown Hill (Chosen Hill).
Robert Raikes the Elder (1690–1757), "the printer of Gloucester", founder of theGloucester Journal, early pioneer of press freedom, buried in church ofSt Mary de Crypt
^Day, Jon (2007).Gloucester and Newbury, 1643: The Turning Point of the Civil War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. pp. 65–66,107–109,136–140.ISBN978-1-84415-591-0.OCLC137313537.
^Conway-Jones, Hugh."William Eassie"(PDF). Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology.Archived(PDF) from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved19 July 2020.
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