Gloucester
| City of Gloucester | |||
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 52 ′ N , 2 ° 15 ′ W | ||
| OS National Grid | SO832186 | ||
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| Residents | 128,488 (as of 2016) | ||
| surface | 40.54 km² (15.65 mi² ) | ||
| Population density: | 3169 inhabitants per km² | ||
| administration | |||
| Post town | GLOUCESTER | ||
| prefix | 01452 | ||
| Part of the country | England | ||
| Shire county | Gloucestershire | ||
| Ceremonial county | Gloucestershire | ||
| ONS code | 23UE | ||
| Website: www.gloucester.gov.uk | |||
Gloucester [ ˈɡlɒstər ] is a city in south-west England , near the border with Wales . In 2016 the population was around 128,000. Gloucester is the traditional administrative center of the county Gloucestershire . Together with neighboring Cheltenham , the city is the seat of the University of Gloucestershire .
Gloucester itself is on the left, east bank of the Severn , about 185 kilometers west-northwest of London . It is surrounded by the Cotswolds to the east, while the Malvern Hills and Forest of Dean rise to the west and northwest.
Gloucester has a port that connects the Gloucester and Sharpness Shipping Canal with shipping on the Severn. This enables ships to reach the docks despite the tidal range of the river. Until the 1980s, the former port district with the warehouses and storage facilities fell into disrepair, until the renewal of the district brought the district back to life. The National Waterways Museum is now also housed here, an anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) as well as numerous high-quality apartments, shops and bars.
Attractions
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity of Gloucester , near the river to the north of the city, stands on the foundations of an old monastery from 681 dedicated to St. Peter. King Edward II of England was buried here. Henry VIII dissolved the abbey and in 1541 this church became the cathedral of the new Diocese of Gloucester. Numerous gabled and half-timbered houses from Gloucester's medieval era have been preserved to this day. At the intersection of the four main streets of the city stands the Tolsey, the city hall, which was replaced by a modern building in 1894. With the exception of the New Inn on Northgate Street (1450), none of the earlier public buildings have survived. The New Inn was built by Abbot Sebroke for the pilgrims to the shrine of Edward II.
In addition to numerous churches, there are several smaller chapels in Gloucester. Four churches stand out from one another in their meaning:
- St. Mary de Lode, with a tower and pulpit from Norman times, which was built on a Roman temple complex and is said to be the first Christian church in Britain.
- St. Mary de Crypt, from the 12th century, with later additions and the tower worth seeing.
- the church of St. Michael, which is said to have once been connected to the old abbey of St. Peter and
- the Church of St. Nicholas, originally a Norman building, the tower and extensions of which date from later times.
In the vicinity of St. Mary de Crypt, remains of the Greyfriars and Blackfriars monasteries are still preserved. Parts of the city walls can also be seen here.
history
The historical tradition of a British settlement near Gloucester ( Caer Glow , Gleawecastre , Gleucestre ) cannot be confirmed by documentary evidence. During the Roman occupation, Gloucester was identical to the garrison or colony of Glevum established during the reign of the Nerva . Parts of the ramparts of that time can be proven, numerous archaeological finds such as shards and coins prove this. Inscriptions, however, have hardly been preserved. Evidence for the survival of the settlement after the end of the Roman occupation can be found in the Historia Brittonum , where it is reported that the grandfather of Vortigern is said to have ruled Gloucester. With the Battle of Deorham in 577 Gloucester became a possession of Wessex .
Due to the ideal location on the river, the Abbey of St. Peter was founded by Æthelred in 681 , which helped the city to flourish; Even before the Norman conquest of England , the borough (an administrative area) was ruled by a portreeve , which resided in a castle that was used as a royal residence.
The first Norman ruler, Earl Godwine, was replaced by Robert of Gloucester almost a century later . King Henry II of England , in a charter from 1155, gave the citizens of the city the same rights as the residents of London and Winchester. The second charter of Henry II guaranteed free passage over the Severn. The first charter was confirmed by King Richard I in 1194 . With the charter of King Johann Ohneland from 1200, the rights of the city were considerably expanded.
A mainstay of the local economy in the late Middle Ages was the textile trade . At the time of the German Hanseatic the cherished clothier of Gloucester brisk business contacts with the German merchants in the London Steelyard ; the latter are said to have owed 5,000 pounds in Kreidt in Gloucester around 1470.
The Battle of Gloucester in 1643 was one of the most important battles of the English Civil War , from which the Parliamentary Forces emerged victorious.
Until the Severn Bridge was built in 1966, Gloucester was the lowest crossing point of the river. There is a road bridge that was built by Thomas Telford in 1829 and is remarkable for its very flat arch structure. But due to its delicacy and its narrow width, it is no longer used for traffic. Since 1974 a modern road bridge has been added in parallel to it.
One of the strangest British traditions, practiced for 200 years but whose origin is unknown, takes place on the last weekend of May on Coopers Hill, Gloucester - the annual cheese rolling .
On July 23, 2007, Gloucester was hit by a flood of the century that inundated large parts of the city.
economy
In Gloucester, Safran Landing Systems manufactures the main landing gear for the long-haul, wide-body aircraft Airbus A350 XWB .
Sports
By far the most popular sport in Gloucester is rugby union . The Gloucester RFC is represented in the highest English league and plays at Kingsholm Stadium .
Twin cities
Personalities
sons and daughters of the town
- Glyn Ford (born 1950), politician
- Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), composer and poet
- William Hayes (1708–1777), organist and composer
- William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), writer
- Callum MacLeod (* 1988), racing driver
- Berkely Mather (1909-1996), writer
- George Washborne Morgan (1822-1892), organist and composer
- William Moseley (born 1987), film actor
- James Innell Packer (1926–2020), Anglican theologian and evangelical author
- Simon Pegg (* 1970), comedian, actor and screenwriter
- Robert Raikes (1735–1811), newspaper publisher and social reformer, founder of Sunday schools
- Susan Sallis (* 1929), writer
- George Whitefield (1714–1770), preacher and co-founder of Methodism
- Nathan Sykes (* 1993), singer in the band The Wanted
Persons connected with Gloucester
- Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876), church musician and composer, worked from 1865 until his death in 1876 at Gloucester Cathedral
- Frederick West (1941–1995), serial killer
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Office for National Statistics : UK Midyear Estimates 2016 , Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, June 22, 2017 (XLS file; 1.3 MB).
- ↑ Zimmerling: The Hanseatic League - trading power under the sign of the cog , p. 144
- ↑ Messier-Bugatti-Dowty's official website reports on the current production of the landing gear for the Airbus A350 XWB