Gloucestershire is bisected by the riverRiver Severn, which enters the county near Tewkesbury and forms a wide valley down its centre before broadening into alarge tidal estuary. The east of the county contains the majority of theCotswolds, and the uplands in the west are part of theForest of Dean and theWye Valley. All three areas have been designatednational landscapes.
Gloucestershire was likely established in the tenth century and expanded to approximately its current borders in the eleventh. The county was relatively settled during the late Middle Ages, and contained several wealthy monasteries such asTewkesbury,Gloucester,Hailes, andCirencester; the Forest of Dean was also a major iron-producing region in this period. The city of Bristol became an independent county in 1373, by which point it was the third-largest city in England. Gloucestershire was not heavily industrialised during theIndustrial Revolution, but the Port of Gloucester was expanded with newdocks and the smallForest of Dean coalfield was exploited.
Hand-drawn map of Gloucestershire by Christopher Saxton in 1579
Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas ofWinchcombe and theForest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century.[5]
Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. Members of local rural communities moved to the port city (which was to become Bristol), and Bristol's population grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset, in 1373.[6] It later became part of the administrativeCounty of Avon from 1974 to 1996.[7] Some northern parts of the county, includingLong Marston andWelford-on-Avon, were transferred to Warwickshire in 1931.
The flag of the historic county of Gloucestershire
InJuly 2007, Gloucestershire was subject to some of the worst flooding in recorded British history, with tens of thousands of residents affected. TheRAF conducted the largest peacetime domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood-affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion.[10]
Gloucestershire has three main landscape areas: a large part of the Cotswolds, the Royal Forest of Dean, and the Severn Vale. The Cotswolds take up a large portion of the east and south of the county, the Forest of Dean taking up the west, with the Severn and its valley running between these features. The Daffodil Way in theLeadon Valley, on the border of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire surrounding the village ofDymock, is known for its many spring flowers, orchards, and woodland, which attracts many walkers. In the west, theWye Valley borders Wales.[citation needed]
For the overwhelming majority of Gloucestershire’s history, the population of the ceremonial county was ethnically homogeneous, with the population being of White British ethnicity. In the 2021 census, the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire had a usual resident population of 935,500. The ceremonial county of Gloucestershire is divided between one non-metropolitan county: Gloucestershire County Council, which, in the 2021 census, had a usual resident population of 645,100, and one unitary authority: South Gloucestershire Council, which, in the 2021 census, had a usual resident population of 290,400. In the 2021 census, the ethnic composition of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire comprised: 92.5% White; 3.2% Asian; 1.3% Black; 2.3% Mixed; and 0.8% Other.
White (92.5%): English; Welsh; Scottish; Northern Irish or British (87.2%); Irish (0.6%); Gypsy or Irish Traveller (0.2%); Roma (0.1%); and Other White (4.5%).
Asian (3.2%): Indian (1.4%); Pakistani (0.3%); Bangladeshi (0.2%); Chinese (0.5%); and Other Asian (0.7%).
Black (1.3%): African (0.7%); Caribbean (0.4%); and Other Black (0.2%).
Mixed (2.3%): White and Asian (0.6%); White and Black African (0.3%); White and Black Caribbean (0.8%); and Other Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups (0.5%).
Other (0.8%): Arab (0.2%) and Any other ethnic group (0.6%).
Note: Sub-group totals may not sum exactly to the group total due to rounding. Data for the ceremonial county are aggregated from its constituent unitary authorities.
Ethnic groups in Gloucestershire (ceremonial county)
Note: The 2001 census figures for 'Asian' and 'Other' have been adjusted to reflect the 2011 reclassification of the Chinese ethnic group from 'Other' to 'Asian' to allow comparison across census years.
In the 2021 census, the religious composition of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire comprised: 47.6% Christianity; 42.8% No religion; 1.5% Islam; 0.7% Hinduism; 0.4% Buddhism; 0.2% Sikhism; 0.1% Judaism; 0.5% Other religion; and 6.1% Not stated.
The2025 Gloucestershire County Council election was held on 1 May 2025. The council had been under no overall control prior to the election, being run by aConservative minority administration. Following the election, the council remained under no overall control, with theLiberal Democrats becoming the largest party andReform UK becoming the second largest party. At the subsequent annual council meeting on 21 May 2025, Liberal Democrat councillor Lisa Spivey was appointed leader of a Liberal Democrat minority administration. The County Council shares responsibility with six district councils: Tewkesbury, Forest of Dean, City of Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, and Cotswold.
The southernmost part of the county, South Gloucestershire, is governed bySouth Gloucestershire Council, which is aunitary authority council independent of the county council, but the unitary authority is still part of the ceremonial county. Previously, the area of South Gloucestershire was part of the county of Avon. Although Avon was abolished in 1996, some services in South Gloucestershire are still provided in conjunction with other former parts of Avon county, such as theAvon Fire and Rescue Service.[17] Since 2017, South Gloucestershire has been part of theWest of England Combined Authority, which led by themayor of the West of England.
The2023 South Gloucestershire Council election was held on 4 May 2023. The council had been under Conservative majority control prior to the election. Following the election, the council is under no overall control, with the Conservatives remaining the largest party and the Liberal Democrats remaining the second largest party. At the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023, the Liberal Democrat councillorClaire Young was appointed leader of a Liberal Democrat–Labour coalition administration. In the2024 United Kingdom general election, Claire Young was electedMember of Parliament forThornbury and Yate, resulting in Liberal Democrat councillor Maggie Tyrrell being appointed the new leader of the coalition administration.
This is a chart of trend of regionalgross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic pricespublished (pp. 240–253) byOffice for National Statistics with figures in millions of Pounds Sterling.
The county has two green belt areas, the first covers the southern area in the South Gloucestershire district, to protect outlying villages and towns between Thornbury and Chipping Sodbury from theurban sprawl of theBristol conurbation. The second belt lies around Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Bishop's Cleeve, to afford those areas and villages in between a protection from urban sprawl and further convergence. Both belts intersect with the boundaries of the CotswoldsAONB.[26]
There are a number of Roman remains scattered across the county, including the Eastgate Viewing Chamber in Gloucester andChedworth Roman Villa.
There are a variety of religious buildings across the county, notably the cathedral ofGloucester, theabbey church ofTewkesbury (which is over 500 years old and has the tallest Norman tower in England),[29] and the church ofCirencester. Of the abbey ofHailes nearWinchcombe, founded byRichard, Earl of Cornwall, in 1246, little more than the foundations are left, but these have been excavated and fragments have been brought to light.[30]
Other notable buildings includeCalcot Barn in Calcot, a relic ofKingswood Abbey.[32]Thornbury Castle is aTudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy ofCardinalWolsey against its builder,Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who wasbeheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion ofSoutham de la Bere, of timber and stone.[33] Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve. The mansion contains a tiled floor fromHailes 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.Berkeley Castle at over 800 years old and the ruins ofWitcombe Roman Villa at Great Witcombe are also notable heritage features.
Gloucestershire's only daily newspaper is theWestern Daily Press, whileThe Citizen, which covers Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean, and theGloucestershire Echo, which covers Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and the Cotswolds, were published daily but since October 2017 have been weekly publications. All three, along with free weeklies 'The Forester', 'Stroud Life', 'The Gloucester News', and 'The Cheltenham and Tewkesbury News', are published byLocal World.TheStroud News & Journal is a weekly paid-for newspaper based in Stroud. It is published in a tabloid format byNewsquest. Newsquest also produces the weeklyWilts and Gloucestershire Standard newspaper, which covers the southern and eastern parts of the county as well as the weeklyGloucestershire Gazette, which covers the south of the county and much of South Gloucestershire.[35]
Gloucester News Centre is an independent news website with news and information for Gloucestershire.[36]
Local TV for the county is provided byBBC West andITV West Country from Bristol, although in the northern extremes of Gloucestershire,BBC Midlands andITV Central (West) from Birmingham covers this area.[38] Some eastern parts of the county (Cirencester and parts of the Cotswolds) receiveBBC South andITV Meridian from Oxford.
The famousGloucestershire Old Spots pig is named for Gloucestershire and is historically associated with the county.[50] Sheep roam widely in the Forest of Dean. The Forest of Dean and theWye Valley also havewild boar.[51]
Gloucester cattle, a rare[52] breed, can still be found in and around Gloucestershire.[53] They can be recognised by the white stripe that runs down the centre of their backs to the tip of their tails. The cattle are famous for producing milk for bothSingle Gloucester and Double Gloucester cheeses.[54]
^"Forest of Dean: Introduction".A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5, Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, the Forest of Dean. Victoria County History:285–294.Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved3 May 2021 – via British History Online.
^Robbins, Bill (1997). "South Gloucestershire: The Transition to Unitary Authority Status".Journal of Integrated Care.5 (1):18–23.doi:10.1108/14769018199700004.
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