﻿OU>OAtT. 



QLOnCESTER. 



The pment Olio Caatla, the rMtdenoe of Fitxgvrmld, ths ' Knight of 

 Qlin, u kboiit • mila wmt from the town. 



(Fnuer, Uaitdbook fin- Inland ; Thorn, Iritk Almanac.) 



OLOQAU. [LIEQXITI.] 



GLOMMKN. [Norway.] 



QLOSSOP, Derbysbire, » mnnafocturing town and the inat of a 

 Pooi>LaH- Uuion in tba parish of Gloasop, ia aituated on elevated 

 ground riaiug from a deep valley near the north-western boundary of 

 the county, in 68° 26' N. Ist, 1" 65' W. long. ; distant rt milea N.W. 

 by N. from Derby, 176 miles N.W. by N. from London by ro«l, and 

 1»3 miles by the Great Northern and Manchester Sheffield and 

 Lincolnshire railways. The population of the township of Glosaop 

 in 1861 wu 5467 ; that of the entire parish, which conUins 49,960 

 aores, and is the moat extensive in the county, and one of the most 

 extensive in England, was 28,625. The living is a vicarage in the 

 arehdeaconry of Derby and diooeae of LichGcld. Qloasop Poor-Law 

 Union contains 10 tovnishipa and hamlets, forming a part of Gloasop 

 parish, with an area of 20,807 acres and a population in 1851 

 of 19,580. 



The cotton manufacture, which is carried on more extensively in 

 Oloaaop than in any other Derbyshire town, gives employment to 

 many of the inhabitants. About 50 cotton-mills arc in the town and 

 neighbourhood; thersarealao wooUon-milU, p.ipT-mills, ironroundries, 

 dye-works, and bleach-fields. Besides the purish church, there are 

 chapels for ludepeodents and other Dissenters. A charity for clothing 

 24 poor men and women was founded by Joseph Hague, K.<tq. There 

 is a savings bank. Melandra Castle, situated on an eminence ne.-u- 

 the town, is the site of a Roman station ; the works appear to have 

 been nearly square, 866 feet by 386 feet ; the ramparts, parU of the 

 ditch, anil other portions may be dtBtinguisbed. A Roman road 

 called the Doctor's Gate runs from Melandra Castle to Brough. 



GLOUCESTER, the capital of the county of Gloucester, an 

 episcopal city, a market-town, muuici[>al and parliamentary borough, 

 and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated on a gentle eminence 

 on the left bonk of the river Severn, in 51" 52' N. lat, 2° 14' 

 W. long., distant 102 miles W. by N. from London by road, and 114 

 miles by the Great Western railway. The population of the city and 

 parliamentary borough of Gloucester in 1851 was 17,672. Gloucester 

 is governed by 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, one of whom is mayor ; 

 and returns two members to the Imperial Parliament The liringa 

 are in the arehdoaconry of Gloucester and diocese of Gloucester and 

 BriatoL Gloucester Poor- Law Union contains 37 parishes and town- 

 ahipe, with an area of 29,255 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 31,654. 



The origin of this city is generally attributed to the Britons, by 

 whom it was called ' Caer Oloew.' Shortly after the invasion of the 

 country under Claudius, a.d. 44, the city became subjected to the 

 Romans, who.established a colony here as a check upon the Silures, 

 or inhabitants of South Wales, and called it Colonia Glevum. 

 Numerous Roman antiquities, including some fine specimen) of 

 teiaelated pavement, and a statcra, or Roman steelyard, have been 

 discovered at various times, particularly in the suburb of King's 

 Holm, which is supposed to have been the site of the Roman settle- 

 ment. Several Roman roads paaaed through or ucai- Gloucester, 

 The citv surrendered to the West Saxons about 677, and by them 

 was called ' Uleau-Ceaster,' whence its present name is derived. 

 About 680, Wulpher, son of King Penda, founded the monastery of 

 8k Peter, and ao far improved the city, that at the commencement of 

 tb* 8th century, according to Bede, it was considered " one of the 

 noblest of the kingdom." It however repeatedly aofferod from fire 

 and from the nvagea of the Danes, In 1087 Gloucester was almost 

 wholly destroyed during the contest between William Rufus and the 

 adherents of his brother Robert, in 1268 it was the scene of many 

 battles between Ueniy IIL and the barons, whom he had offended by 

 appointing a foreigner to the office of constable of Gloucester Castle. 

 In 1641-2 it espoused the causa of the Parliament, and bade defiance 

 to the king, with ao army of 80,000 men ; by way of punishment for 

 which the ancient walls of the city were totally destroyed shortly 

 after the rertoration. 



^ Gloucaater has been represented in Parliament since the 23rd of 

 Edward L At a very early period the city was constituted a county 

 to itaclt As many as 27 charters have been granted to it by 

 Uoiry II. and subsequent sovereigns: the kst charter is that of 

 CkartM IL dated 1673. The city consltto princiially of two inter- 

 MCliag lines of street j each extremity was originally terminated by a 

 ftfe, and th* ■tnets leading to them were respeotively oamad North- 

 nte, Bonthgate, Easlcate, and AVestgate. There were formerly 16 

 dmrOtn, beaidsa the cathedral ; only 6 of these old churches now 

 r«aaia, but aevaral now churches have been recently built 



Of the public buildings, the cathedral, dedicated to St Peter, is by 

 (ar the must im|xirtant, and is particularly deserving of notice, not 

 merely on account of iu gnat antiquity and beauty, but also because 

 it contains so many perfect spedmena of the various styles of archi- 

 tecture which chatsoteriasd the diflermt periods in which the sevenU 

 portions were erected. The most ancient parU are the crypt, the 

 ohapala sumranding the choir, and the lower paH of the nave, built 

 between 1058 and 1089, the south aisle and transept in 1310 1330, 

 the oloiaten in 1361-1390, and the Udy chapel towards the close of 



the 15th century. The fine tower, surmounted by four pinnacles of 

 the moKt delicate workmanship, i> of somewhat more recent data. 

 The extreme length of the cathedral is 427 feet, the extreme breadth 

 154 feet The tower is 223 feet in height. Among the numerous 

 monuments in the interior are those of Robert, son of William the 

 Conqueror, who, together with his brother Richard, was interred 

 bore ; tU.->t of Edwanl II. iu white alaboator; that of Ilobort Raikes, 

 the founder of Sunday-schools ; and a marble statue of Dr. Edward 

 Jenuer, the discoverer of vaccination. The cathedral has recently 

 undergone considerable repain and restoration. The College Libnuy, 

 formerly the abbey chapter-house, was appropriated for the reception 

 of the library formed by Sir Matthew Uolo and others. The College 

 school-room is an ai»u-tment over the audit-room at the end of tbo 

 north transept Thu I'^piscopal palace a>ljoiua the cathedral at the 

 west end. In St Mary's-squarc, a short distance from the cathedral, 

 is a monument to Bishop Hooper, who suffered martyrdom here in 

 the reign of Mary, 



Of the Gloucester parish churches, tliat of St Mary de Lode wai 

 enlarged and almost rebuilt in 1826 ; St Michael's has a square tower 

 at the west end ; St Mary de Crypt is cruoifurm, with nave, transept^ 

 and aisles, and a pinnacled and ornamented tower rising from the inter- 

 section of the cross; St, John's is a comparatively recent erection on 

 the site of a church of very ancient date. Tbo Independents, Baptists^ 

 Wesleyan Methodists, Countess of Huntingdou's Connexion, Quakers, 

 liomau Catholics, Jews, and Unitarians have places of worship. There 

 are throe public schools, namely, the College school, the Blue-Cuat, 

 and the Free Grammar school of St Mary de Ct5pt The Crypt 

 school, founded in 1639, has an income from endowment of SOU a 

 year, and has two exhibitions of 50/. a year each, tenable during 8 

 years, for the maintenauco of two scholars at Pembroke College, 

 Oxford. The number of scholars in 1 853 was 26. The College school 

 was founded in 1530, and has long enjoyed considerable reputation a« 

 a classical seminary. The number of scholars in 1353 was 76, The 

 Blue-Coat school, in which 20 boys ore supported and educated, was 

 founded in 1666 by Sir Thomas Rich, and is under the superintendence 

 of the corporation, who appoint a master and matron. 'I'here are also 

 National and British HchooU, Several hosjutals of ancient founda- 

 tion are now under the uaimgemcnt of trustees, with endowments 

 amounting to upwards of 20U0/. auuually. There are also in Gloucester 

 the county inlirmary, supported by voluntary donations ; a lunatic 

 aiylum ; on eye institution ; a house of industry, and a savings bank. 



The county-hall, in Westgate-sU'eet, wherein the courts of sessions 

 are held, is a fine building with a portico of Ionic columns, erected by 

 Robert Smirke in 1814, The county jail occupies the site of thu 

 aucieut castle, and consists of a i^enitentiary, bndowell, and sheriff^s 

 prison. The assizes for the county and a county court ore held in 

 Gloucester, A commodious cattle maiket has been recently erected 

 at a cost of more than 10,0OOZ, The market-days are Wednesdayand 

 Saturday; fairs are held on April 5th, July 5th, September 28th, 

 and November 28th, for horses, cattle, &c, and particularly for oheeee. 

 There is a monthly market for live stock. 



The streets are lighted with gas, and are well imved. Water is 

 supplied to the city partly from the Severn, and partly from springs 

 situated near Robin Hood's Hill, about two miles from Gloucester, 

 There are two handsome stone bridges over the two cluiuuels of tlio 

 Severn. These bridges are connected by a pared rood ciillc<l Over's 

 Causeway, which extends through the rich pasture land of the island. 

 Hot and cold baths have been establisheil iu the city. Soap ii 

 manufactured; cutlery goods are made, and there is a very old bell 

 foundry. 



The town is surrounded by a largo and most fertile district It 

 has water communication with most parts of the kingdom, and 

 improvements in the navigation of the Severn, with thu completion 

 of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, by which vessels of 600 tons 

 burden can come up to the city, have added considerably to its foreign 

 and domestic commerce. A quay, with wharfs for loading and di.-)- 

 cbai-ging vessels, extends about lUOO feet along the loft bank of tho 

 Severn. Much buaiueas is now done in foreign wheat, and many ware- 

 houses for tho storage of grain. West Indian pixxtuce, and other 

 merchandise, have been erected near the dock. Timber is largely 

 imported. 'I'he custom-house receipts iu 1827 amounted to 2,836^ ; 

 in 1851 tite amount was 93,139/. The shipping returns for the port 

 of Gloucester for the year 1853 are as follows : — Vessels registered 

 under 50 tonit, 275 of 7687 tons aggregate burden ; above 60 tons, 74 

 of 11,200 tons; and 2 steam-vessels of 54 tons. The number and 

 tonnage of vessels entering and clearing at tho port during 1853 were 

 as follovrs :— Coastwise, sailing-vossels, inwards, 1225, tonnage 60,851; 

 outwards, 2356, tonnage 90,467; steam-vessels, inwards, 29, tonnage 

 1778 ; outwards, 57, tonnage 3214 : Colonial, inwards, 86, tonnage 

 37,108; outwards, 31, tounage 10,639 : Foreign, British vessels, inwards, 

 107, tonnage 21,207; foreign vesseU 247, tonnage 46,760 ; outwordu, 

 British vesseU, 42, tonnuge 11,056 : foreign vessels, 94, tonnage 

 24,270. 



Although suffragan bishops of Gloucester are mentioned as early as 

 1223, yet it does not appear that the city was erecte<l into a bishopric, 

 with dean and chapter, till 1541, in the reign of Henry VIII. Thu 

 bishopric of Gloucester was united with that of Bristol in 1836. Tho 

 diocese of Gloucester and Bristol i* in tho province of Canterbury ; 



