Gloucestershire

Map of the Gloucestershire Area

Gloucestershire is a county which is located in the South West of the UK and it comprises the Forest of Dean and parts of the Cotswold Hills and the River Severn. Its county town is Gloucester and it is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county. It borders with Gwent in Wales, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Bristol and Somerset. The population of the county is 833100 (source: link) with a density of 264 people per km.

Gloucestershire was mentioned in the 10th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a historic county. The county suffered the worst flooding in UK history in July of 2007 where tens of thousands of inhabitants were affected. The largest RAF peace time domestic operation in history was conducted to rescue the residents of the flooded areas. However Gloucestershire is recovering well and new investments are being made into attracting more tourism to the area.

Gloucestershire has always been a popular tourist destination due to its many sites of historic interest. The famous buildings include the cathedrals of Bristol and Gloucester, the Abbey church of Tewkesbury and the church of Cirencester.

The county has also been the site for some modern popular culture events. The novel of Cider with Rosie, written by Laurie Lee, was set in Gloucestershire and the Movie Hot Fuzz is also set in the county, although the town Sandford is fictional. The apocalyptic book the Children of Dust also has its scene set by the county.

Gloucestershire is famous for its cheese and butter production and the pastures upon which the cattle for the cheese are grazed are on the clays of the Lower Lias. The climate of the county is mild and over ¾ of the land is residential and the rest of the area under permanent pasture. Gloucestershire is chiefly agricultural in industry and wheat is the main grain crop, along with oats and barley. Another notable feature of the area is its pear and apple orchards which are cultivated mainly for the production of cider and perry. Other industries that the county is involved in include the manufacture of cloth, machinery, furniture, glass and pottery.