X-Nico

76 unusual facts about Gloucestershire


A48 road

From Gloucester, the A48 runs through the villages of Minsterworth, Westbury-on-Severn, connects to a link road to Cinderford in the Forest of Dean then through Newnham, Blakeney and bypassing the town of Lydney (the bypass was built in the 1990s) on the west bank of the River Severn.

Alderley House

The Hales of Alderley were the leading gentry family in the Wotton-under-Edge area of Gloucestershire from the beginning of the 17th century up until the early 20th century, and their lineage can be traced back to William the Conqueror.

Alfred Shankland

His first posts were curacies in Oakridge, Gloucestershire and Berkeley in the same county.

Arthur Winterbotham

After joining Thomas Hunt as partner in Cam Mill (previously known as Corrietts Mill) he moved to Cam, Gloucestershire, where he was a cloth manufacturer.

Baron Ellenborough

In 1844 he was created Viscount Southam, of Southam in the County of Gloucester, and Earl of Ellenborough, in the County of Cumberland.

Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza

He married, fifthly at Daylesford, Gloucestershire on 16 August 1985, María del Carmen Rosario Soledad Cervera y Fernández de la Guerra, popularly known as Carmen "Tita" Cervera, (born Sitges, Barcelona, 23 April 1943), who was Miss Spain in 1961.

Bartholomew Traheron

Bartholomew was early left an orphan, and was brought up under the care of Richard Tracy of Toddington, Gloucestershire.

Benhall, Cheltenham

Benhall is a small district within the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Bill Loxton

Loxton was born in Gretton, Gloucestershire, the son of Ernest Robert Loxton and Mary Ann Loxton (née Minett).

Bristol Bloodhound

II can be gauged from the data on an information board at the Bristol Aeroplane Company Museum at Kemble Airfield, Kemble, Gloucestershire, where a complete Bloodhound can be seen.

British Steeplechasing Hall of Fame

Opened in 1994 at Cheltenham Racecourse, the Steeplechasing Hall of Fame is located at Prestbury Park, in the village of Prestbury, Gloucestershire.

Carmen Cervera

She was Miss Spain in 1961 and was married firstly as his fifth wife on 6 March 1965 to Lex Barker, secondly in 1975 to Espartaco Santoni, divorcing in 1978, and thirdly as his fifth wife at Daylesford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, on 16 August 1985, Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Charles Parker Butt

Butt was the third son of the Rev. Phelpes John Butt, of Wortham Lodge, Bournemouth, and his wife Mary Eddy, daughter of Rev. John Eddy, Vicar of Toddington, Gloucestershire.

Cheltonian Society

An Old Cheltonian (O.C.) is a former pupil of Cheltenham College, a public school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

Daniel Spill

Daniel Spill (11 February 1832–1887) was born in Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, England.

E. Clive Rouse

Edward Clive Rouse MBE (born Stroud, Gloucestershire, 15 October 1901, died Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, 28 July 1997) was an English archaeologist and writer on archaeology, specializing in mediaeval wall paintings, and was President of the Royal Archaeological Institute from 1969 to 1972.

Ebrington Manor

Ebrington Manor is a Grade II listed manor house in Ebrington, Gloucestershire, England.

Edgar Neale

Gar Neale's great grandfather and family migrated to New Zealand from Stroud, Gloucestershire, England in the 1840s, settling in Auckland.

Edward Jenner Museum

The Edward Jenner Museum in Berkeley, England, is housed in a grade II* listed early 18th century building called the Chantry, famous as the home of Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccine, and now used as a museum.

English football league system

This excludes some tournaments marked "Senior Cups", which often are competitions between teams representing top professional clubs in a given district, and may be little more than derbies, such as the Gloucestershire Cup, which originally included all teams in Gloucestershire, but then came to be contested as a Bristol derby.

Fabian Ware

He died at home at Amberley, Gloucestershire shortly after his retirement and is buried in the local Holy Trinity Churchyard.

Fairview, Cheltenham

Fairview is an area of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

Forest of Dean Central Railway

It was built mainly to serve Howbeach Colliery; a goods station was situated at Blakeney as well as a six arched viaduct to carry the railway over the A48 road.

It served several mines and quarries as well as the corn mills in the nearby village of Blakeney.

Forever Green

The pub where Jack meets Geoff Bate in episode 2 series 1 is the Stirrup Cup in Bisley, Gloucestershire.

Freeminer

A plaque bearing the engraved coat of arms of the Freeminers is on the Greyndour tomb in the Clearwell Chapel in Newland church, and other important medieval and modern mining emblems are in the Freeminers Guild church of St. Michael in Abenhall.

Frenchay

Frenchay is a village, now part of Bristol, England, to the north east of the city, but located mainly in South Gloucestershire and the Civil Parish of Winterbourne.

General Aircraft Monospar

Based on this design, The Monospar Company designed a twin-engined low-wing aircraft designated the Monospar ST-3, that was built and flown in 1931 by the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth, Gloucestershire.

George K. Cockerill

At the December 1910 general election he stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the Thornbury division of Gloucestershire.

George Nayler

Sir George Nayler, KH (bapt. 29 June 1764, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire – 28 October 1831, Hanover Square, Mayfair) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.

Hempsted

Hempsted is a suburban village and part of the City of Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England.

Henbury Loop Line

Although the line was mainly intended for freight services, passenger services were also provided until 1915, with stations at Filton Halt, Charlton, Henbury and Hallen.

Henry Hanbury-Tracy

Hanbury-Tracy was born at Toddington, Gloucestershire, a younger son of Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley, by the Honourable Henrietta Susanna, only child and heiress of Henry Tracy, 8th Viscount Tracy.

Hesters Way

Hesters Way is an area in the western part of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

Hewland AE75

MidWest had intended to restart production of the AE75 near Stroud, Gloucestershire, but this never materialised.

Impeachment of Warren Hastings

Although this did not solve all his financial worries, Hastings was ultimately able to fulfill his lifelong ambition of purchasing the family's traditional estate of Daylesford in Worcestershire which had been lost in a previous generation.

In a basket

The Mill Inn located Withington is locally credited with creating the "chicken in a basket" dish.

John Rushout, 1st Baron Northwick

He succeeded to the Rushout Baronetcy of Milnst, Essex, in 1775 and became 1st Baron Northwick of Northwick Park in the county of Worcester in 1797.

Kingswood House

When Vizard returned to his native Gloucestershire in 1831, others were granted the property leases.

Lanterns of the Dead

There is one surviving example in England, in the churchyard at Bisley, Gloucestershire, which is referred to as the poor souls light.

Magick Eve

Adam and Emma are led into temptation - mysteriously drawn towards a remote Gothic mansion (Woodchester Mansion, Gloucestershire).

Manor Farmhouse, Temple Guiting

Temple Guiting Manor is an early 16th-century house at Temple Guiting, Gloucestershire, England.

Mikael Pedersen

The rights were bought by Koefoed and Hauberg in Copenhagen, and as part of an export drive they made contact with R A Lister and Company, of Dursley in Gloucestershire, England.

Montpellier, Cheltenham

Montpellier is a district of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (England), at the end of the Promenade south of the town centre.

Moreland, Gloucester

Moreland is an area and electoral ward in the City of Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England.

Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle

This is in honour of Baring Bingham, a developer who purchased Prestbury Park in 1898, and organised the first Cheltenham Festival in 1902.

Newark Park

Mrs Annie Poole King family, widow of a Bristol shipping merchant took the leasehold in 1898, moving from the larger Standish House at Stonehouse, Gloucestershire.

Nicholas Arnold

He was born at Churcham in Gloucestershire, the eldest surviving son of John Arnold, Lord of the Manor of Highnam and Over, and his wife Isabel Hawkins.

Oliver St John, 1st Earl of Bolingbroke

St John was son and heir of Oliver St John, 3rd Baron St John of Bletso, by his wife Dorothy Reid, daughter and heiress of Sir John Rede or Reid, of Oddington, Gloucestershire.

Public Catalogue Foundation

Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in Gloucestershire & Wiltshire,The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2012, ISBN 9781904931560

Ralph Kerr

Kerr was born on 16 August 1891, the only son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Russell Kerr, and his wife Lady Kerr, of Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire.

Rhyne

Other examples in England still exist in the Framilode and Saul area of Gloucestershire, where they drain into either the River Severn or Sharpness Canal, and around Easter Compton, South Gloucestershire.

Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey

His family seat is Stowell Park Estate in Gloucestershire, which was purchased in 1954 by the third generation Ronald Vestey and his brother Mark.

Seven Springs

Seven Springs, Gloucestershire, a spring and hamlet, and one possible source of the River Thames

Sheppey Corner

Although it is officially in Worcestershire, it is actually more suited to Gloucestershire, as it is located on the border of the two counties.

Sheppey Corner is a thatched cottage in the picturesque Cotswold village of Stanton, Gloucestershire.

Sherborne House, Gloucestershire

Sherborne House is a large house in the village of Sherborne, Gloucestershire, England.

St Arild's Church, Oldbury-on-the-Hill

St Arild's Church, Oldbury-on-the-Hill, is a redundant Anglican church near the village of Oldbury-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire, England.

St. Pauls, Cheltenham

Francis Close Hall, a former teacher training college and now a campus of the University of Gloucestershire, is situated in St. Pauls and has a state-of-the-art studio, laboratory, ICT, Gloucester suite training restaurant and Learning Centre.

St. Pauls is home to the Francis Close Hall, a campus of the University of Gloucestershire, St. Paul's Church, and many leisure facilities.

Staunton, Gloucestershire

Staunton, near Gloucester, Gloucestershire, a village near the border of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire

Staunton, near Coleford, Gloucestershire, a village in the west part of the Forest of Dean

Stowell Park

Stowell Park Estate is a private agricultural and sporting estate in the Cotswold Hills, Gloucestershire, England.

Terence McMeekin

He lived at the Old Rectory in Beverston in Gloucestershire and there is a memorial to him at St Mary's Church there.

The Widow's Tears

The quarto bears Chapman's dedication to John Reed of Mitton, misidentifying Mitton's Worcestershire location as Gloucestershire.

Thomas Keble

From the beginning of 1817 to the end of 1818 he had the parochial charge of Windrush and Sherborne, Gloucestershire.

In 1827 he was instituted to the living of Bisley, Gloucestershire, then a scattered parish with a number of outlying hamlets filled with a very poor and neglected population.

Thomas Kingscote

Kingscote came from a family that had held the manor of Kingscote, Gloucestershire since the 11th century.

Uleybury, South Australia

Uleybury was formed in 1837 when a weaver named Moses Bendle Garlick from Uley in Gloucestershire, England migrated to Australia and settled just north of what is currently Adelaide.

Unite Group

In 2004, UNITE introduced a modular manufacturing facility in Stroud, Gloucestershire, called UNITE Modular Solutions (UMS) supplying modular accommodation suites for its own accommodation and external markets.

Whaddon, Cheltenham

Whaddon is an area in the North Eastern part of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

Whittington Court

Adjacent to the house is the Whittington parish church which dates from the 12th century and is now dedicated to St Bartholomew.

Whittington Court is an Elizabethan manor house, five miles east of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England.

William Trye

William Trye (1660-1717), of Hardwicke, Gloucestershire, was an English politician.

Wye Bridge, Monmouth

The bridge is a crossing for the Wye but it is also the start of the Wysis Way which is a long footpath that connects Monmouth to the Kemble in Gloucestershire and to other National footpaths.

Wyman's Brook

Wymans Brook is a district in the north-west of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, named after the small river which flows through the district.


Alexander St John

St John was a son of Oliver St John, 3rd Baron St John of Bletso and his wife Dorothy Reid, daughter of Sir John Rede or Reid, of Odington, Gloucestershire.

Anthony Kingston

After the death of Sir William Courtenay of Powderham in 1535, Kingston married his widow, Mary, daughter of Sir John Gainsford, and left Gloucestershire to reside at Chudleigh, Devon, which, with Honiton, belonged to his wife's jointure.

Barbara Paul Robinson

While on sabbatical from Debevoise & Plimpton, Ms. Robinson worked as a gardener for Rosemary Verey, at Barnsley House in Gloucestershire, England, and then for Penelope Hobhouse at the National Trust Garden, Tintinhull in Somerset, experiences she found life-transforming.

BBC Midlands

BBC West Midlands, the BBC English Region covering the West Midlands metropolitan county, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and parts of Northern Gloucestershire

Bertie Kirby

His father, Henry Kirby, was a 51 year-old gardener, born in Prestbury, Gloucestershire and his mother, Fanny, was aged 54 and had been born in Gloucester.

Bettina Hoy

Bettina and her husband Andrew Hoy, who competed at the Olympic level for Australia, had lived for 12 years in Gloucestershire, at the Gatcombe Park estate of The Princess Royal.

British Transport Films

The unit won many awards over the years, including an Academy Award in 1966 for the film Wild Wings, which had little to do with transport and concentrated on WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, founded by Peter Scott.

Broadcloth

Around 1500, broadcloth was made in a number of districts of England, including Essex and Suffolk in southern East Anglia, the West Country Clothing District (Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, east Somerset - sometimes with adjacent areas), at Worcester, Coventry, Cranbrook in Kent and some other places.

Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester

He was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Radnorshire (1682–1689), Deputy Lieutenant of Monmouthshire (1683–1687), Wiltshire (1683–1688) and Gloucestershire (1685–1687).

Downfield

Downfield Sixth Form, a sixth-form college located in Stroud, Gloucestershire

Ellacombe apparatus

The system was devised by Reverend Henry Thomas Ellacombe of Gloucestershire, who first had such a system installed in Bitton in 1821.

Felix Kelly

On the request of Charles, Prince of Wales Kelly produced an artist's impression of an improved design of the Prince of Wales' residence Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

Flights

Joe Newcombe, Adam Cann and Joel Pearce come from Thornbury, a market town in South Gloucestershire approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of Bristol.

Florence Barrett

Lady Barrett was born in Henbury in Gloucestershire now part of Bristol, and she was the fourth child of merchant Benjamin Perry.

Geography of Somerset

Much of the "bowls`" low lying land has been sculptured by wave action, a result of the unusually large tidal flow of the north coastal water (the Bristol Channel), and its neighbouring county of Gloucestershire's tidal river, the Severn.

George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton

Brodrick married on 1 May 1752 Albinia, the daughter of the Hon Thomas Townshend by Albinia (daughter of John Selwyn of Matson, Gloucestershire).

Hartley Lobban

In 1954 Lobban made only two first-class appearances, and managed only the single wicket of Gloucestershire tail-ender Bomber Wells.

Holme Lacy

He thereupon assumed the name and arms of Scudamore, and had by her an only daughter and heiress, Frances (1750-1820), wife of Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk to whom the property then in part descended, and, together with other valuable estates in this county, and Gloucestershire, was added to the princely domain of the Howards.

Janet Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

On 25 June 2004 she was created Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, of Blaisdon in the County of Gloucestershire.

John Grubb Richardson

At the age of eleven, he boarded for three years at Ballitore, County Kildare (the same Quaker school attended by Edmund Burke) before attending another Quaker school at Frenchay, Gloucestershire.

John Husee

However, according to Grummitt, Cromwell would not agree until he had secured for himself Lisle's manor of Painswick in Gloucestershire.

Liam Norwell

In the second innings Norwell managed 1 wicket, that of Wayne Madsen to take match figures of 7–112 as Gloucestershire won by 7 wickets.

Little Sodbury

David Verey, Gloucestershire: the Cotswolds, The Buildings of England edited by Nikolaus Pevsner, 2nd ed.

Lower Lydbrook Viaduct

The Lower Lydbrook Viaduct was an iron railway viaduct with stone piers, it was on the Severn and Wye Railway and situated in Lower Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, England.

Master Oats

Master Oats spent his retirement at the home of Lord Leigh near Adlestrop in Gloucestershire, where he was reportedly popular with the villagers.

Neil Stovold

His uncle, Martin, played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire.

Oswald Samson

In-between his university appearances, Samson had hit the only century of his first-class cricket career for Somerset in the match against Gloucestershire at Gloucester; the century, 105, came after Gloucestershire had been dismissed for just 61, and Beaumont Cranfield and Len Braund bowled unchanged through the two Gloucestershire innings.

Paul Johnsgard

His Ph.D. work was on the phylogeny of six ducks, after which he moved to England at the Wildfowl Trust at Gloucestershire founded by Sir Peter Scott.

Reuben Reid

Reid gave up the chance of a professional cricket career with Gloucestershire, having played for their second XI, to pursue his career with Argyle and was rewarded with a professional contract in February 2006, along with fellow trainees Scott Laird and Chris Zebroski.

Samuel Marling

He was particularly associated with the village of Selsley, Gloucestershire.

Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum

Traditionally both regiments recruited from Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas including Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud, Tewkesbury, The Forest of Dean and from the city of Bristol.

Stouts Hill

Stouts Hill was the birthplace reputedly of the Gloucestershire historian, Samuel Rudder, and of the distinguished Persian scholar Edward Granville Browne.

Stuart Westley

With the conclusion of his studies, Westley joined Gloucestershire later in the 1969 English cricket season, making his first-class debut for the county against Glamorgan.

Sussex County Cricket Club in 2005

Murray Goodwin, Chris Adams and Matthew Prior all made quick half-centuries, to propel Sussex to 365, while the Gloucestershire spinners shared seven wickets - Malinga Bandara taking four for 64 and Ian Fisher three for 93.

The Feddens

On the band's Facebook page they state that they were influenced by the Arctic Monkeys, Bombay Bicycle Club, Dog Is Dead, Two Door Cinema Club, Foals, The Cure, The Smiths and local Gloucestershire band Los Campesinos!

Thomas Coxeter

Born at Lechlade in Gloucestershire on 20 September 1689, he was educated at Coxwell, Berkshire, and at Magdalen School in Oxford.

Westonbirt Arboretum

Westonbirt Arboretum is situated in Gloucestershire on the A433 approximately 3 miles south west of Tetbury, at Ordnance Survey mapping six-figure grid reference ST 848898.

Will Gidman

After the 2010 season he signed for Gloucestershire, who was captained by his elder brother Alex.

Windham Quin, 2nd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl

On 27 December 1810 he married Caroline, daughter and heiress of Thomas Wyndham of Dunraven Castle, Glamorgan and Clearwell, Gloucestershire.

Yellowroot

It was grown by Bowles in his garden at Myddelton House, near Enfield, Middlesex, and gardens that currently cultivate it include the Savill Garden at Windsor, Berkshire and the Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury, Gloucestershire.