Historic county of England
Gloucestershire
Gloucs
Cotswold limestone east, Severn Vale through the middle, Forest of Dean west.
Gloucestershire has one of the clearest three-part structures of any English county. The Cotswolds rise as a long limestone upland in the east; beneath their western escarpment lies the broad Vale of Gloucester and the River Severn; west of the river, the Forest of Dean forms a wooded plateau between Severn and Wye. Gloucester stands beside the river at the heart of this arrangement, while Cheltenham occupies the Cotswold edge.
The three landscapes sit close together yet feel profoundly different. Sheep country and pale limestone dominate the Cotswolds; pasture and floodplain open across the Severn Vale; woodland, iron and coal history shape the Forest. To the south, Gloucestershire reaches into Bristol, whose old city straddles the Gloucestershire–Somerset boundary. The county is therefore far more than simply “the Cotswolds”.
- Roman town of Glevum
- Shire by early medieval
- Abbeys, markets, hillforts
- Domesday: lists hundreds
- Borders eight counties
- Annual 'Cheese-Rolling' at Cooper's Hill
County geography
Current Census
Contemporary Census profile
England and Wales Census 2021. Detailed contemporary statistics are available in the Geographic County Census Explorer.
- Population density
- 967.9 people per sq mi (373.7 people per km²)
- Population
- 1,252,966
Cotswold edge and Severn Vale
The western escarpment of the Cotswolds is one of Gloucestershire’s strongest physical lines. Limestone upland falls sharply towards the Severn lowlands, giving long views across the vale towards the Forest and Welsh hills.
Below, the Severn runs through broad fertile country past Gloucester towards its widening estuary. Hill and vale are visually and economically distinct but closely connected.
The Forest beyond the Severn
West of the river lies a different Gloucestershire. The Forest of Dean occupies a wooded plateau between the Severn and Wye, shaped by centuries of forestry, ironworking and coal mining.
Its landscape and communities give the county an important trans-Severn identity that is easily overlooked when Gloucestershire is reduced to its Cotswold image.
Stone, sheep and settlement
Cotswold limestone shaped both the economy and appearance of eastern Gloucestershire. Long association with sheep and wool brought wealth, while locally quarried stone gave towns and villages their characteristic pale, warm colour.
The geology is therefore visible not only in escarpments and valleys but in the built landscape itself.
County questions
Questions about Gloucestershire
Is Bristol a separate geographic county?
No. Bristol’s historic county-corporate status did not make it a separate geographic county. The old course of the River Avon forms the county line through the historic city: the part to the north lies in Gloucestershire and the part to the south in Somerset.
Is Gloucestershire just the Cotswolds?
No. The Cotswolds form the eastern part of the county. The Severn Vale and Forest of Dean are equally fundamental to Gloucestershire’s geography.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County of Gloucester
- Alternative name
- Gloucs
- County day
- 21-Sep
- Foundation
- c 1016
Gloucestershire and County of Gloucester are forms of the same county name. The shire is recorded by name in the early eleventh century, while its Cotswold, Severn and Forest landscapes remain the clearest way to understand it today.