GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



pled by the Romans. Mr. Foftrrooke (one of the hirtoriaiis 

 of the county) obfcrves, " from t lie ruins whicli have at 

 various times been excavated, it is evident that this county, 

 from Cirencellcr to Painfwick, Bifley, Sappcrton, Wood- 

 chefter, Uley, Kmgfcote, and other adjoiniriff pUices, was 

 mvich peopled with Romans, or Romanized Britons; that 

 Cirenceller was the great nietropohs, or refort of pleafiu-e 

 and amufement ; wliile Gloucelter, and the hills about the 

 Severn, were the great military pofitioiis ; the city, on ac- 

 count of the river, having peculiar advantages with refpeft 

 to commerce." 'I'ire principal Roman roads which patfcd 

 through this county, were the Ikcnild llrect, the li- 

 ning or Ermiug Itreet, the Fufs-way, and the Via Julia. 

 Under the dominion of the Sa.\on?, Gh)ucellerlhlre formed 

 part of the Mercian kingdoni, and Vv'^inchcombe and King- 

 ftanlea- arc mentioned as refidertces of the Anglo-Saxon mo- 

 narchs. On the divifion of Mercia into five biHiopries, 

 after the converlion of the Saxons, the greateil part of 

 this county was included under that named Wiccia, and 

 from this appellation the Dobuni, the early inhabitants 

 of this part of Britain, were afterwards termed Wiccii. 

 Gloucefterlhire is feparated into four divifions ; thefe 

 are fubdivided into twenty-eight hundreds, containing 320 

 pirifhes, one city, and twenty-eight market towns. The 

 number of houfes, as returned under the population act, 

 amounted to 37,276; of inhabitants, 187,164; of wliich 

 90,237 were males, and 96,927 femsles. The whole county, 

 with the exception of the chapelries of Icomb, and Cov.hony- 

 born, is included within the diocefe of Gloucefter ; which 

 comprehends one arch-deaconry, and ten deaneries. I'he 

 number of reprefentatives returned to parliament are eight ; 

 two for the fliire, two for the city, two for Tewkftiury, 

 and two for Cirencefter. The general afpect of Glouceiler- 

 ihire is greatly diveriilied ; nature having divided it into 

 three dillridls of very diflimilar character, reipeiTtivelv named 

 the Hill, the Vale, and the ForeiL The Hill 'diftrid, 

 including the Cotfwolds, and the Stroudwater liills, may 

 be regarded as a continuation of the central chain proceed- 

 ing fouth from Derbyiliire, and paffing through this county 

 with a fmaller elevation into Wiltihire ; there fwelling into 

 the S.ilifbury Downs, and afterv>-ards running weft towards 

 the Land's End in Cornwall. The extent of the Cots- 

 wold hills, from Broadway hill to near Tctbury, is thirty 

 miles ; and from Birdlip hill to Burford, about twenty 

 miles: the area they include is eftimated, by Mr. Marfliall, 

 to contain nearly 20o,oco acres. The furface is billowy ; 

 and the climature, confidering the natural elevation of the 

 land, unufiially mild. The fides of the hills abound with 

 fprings ; and almoft every dip has its rill, and every valley 

 its brook. The primary object of the Cotfwold hulbandry 

 is fticep ; thefe have been long famous ; and it is a prevading 

 tradition, that the Spaniards originally proeift-ed their breed 

 of fine v.'o.olled fheep from thefe hills, though this alfertion 

 is contradicted by feveral modern writers. The inclofures 

 are chiefly ftone v,-alls, about four feet and a half higii, ex- 

 clufive of a coping of flat ilones. The Vale dil'.ricil includes 

 the entire traft bounded on the eaft by the Cotfwold hills, 

 and by the river Severn on the weft ; and is ufually fub- 

 divided into the Vales of Evefliam and Gloucefter, and the 

 Vale of Berkeley ; the latter of which is feparated from 

 the former by a natural interfeftion, and is very diiferent in 

 produce and rural management. The Foreil ditlrift is 

 ieparaied from the reft of the county by the river Severn ; 

 and is principally comprehended by the Foreil of Dean, 

 which was formerly of particular value, for the gocdnefs 

 and ftrength of its timber. Its oaks v.vre fo gr'-utly re- 

 Howned that Evelyn cbferves, that in Eliicabelh's reign, 



an ambalTador was purpofely fent from Spain to procure it« 

 deftruclion, either by negociition or treachery. It alfo 

 abounds in beech ; and the foil is confidertd as peculiarly 

 favourable for the growth of the Stire apple. It, priu- 

 cipal minerals are iron, ore, and coal : iron appears to have 

 been wrought here even in the time of the Romans ; and 

 fo early as the reign of Edward I. fcvcnty-two furnaces, 

 for melting iron, are recorded to have been built here. 

 In a furvey made in the feventeenth year of Charles I. the 

 foreft is eftimated as originally containing upwards of 43,00c 

 acres, of whicIi above 14,000 were woodland. Several 

 thoulaixl acres have, hoxvever, been granted away, by dif- 

 ferent fovereigns, and difafforelied. Tlie miners liave dif- 

 timil courts, and, like thofe of Dcrbyfliire and Devonftiire, 

 are governed by their own cultoms. 



The principal rivers conncd^.cd with Glouccfterfiiire, are 

 tlie Severn, the Frome, the V>'ye, and the Ills or Thames. 

 Tlie canals that interfeft the county are diftinguiftied by the 

 names of the Thames and Severn,, the Stroudwater, the 

 Berkeley, and the Hereford and CTlouctfter. The Severn, 

 the fecond eommercial river in England, renders cflential 

 fervice to a large portion of this county. It enters GIou- 

 ceftecfiiire near the ancient town of Tewkefbury, where, 

 uniting its waters with the Uj^per Avon, and purfuing a 

 fouth-weftcrly courfe, it traverfes a wide vale, which is rich- 

 in pafturage, and in fome places abundantly wooded. About 

 one mile above Gloucefter, it divides into t«o dreams :- 

 tliefe again unite a little below the city, forming the tract 

 of l.inj called Alney ifland. In the eourfe of its padage 

 thrjugh the county, it receives the ftreams of the Upper 

 Avon, the Chelt near Wainlode. tlie Leden near Ovec's- 

 bridge, the Frome at Framiiode, the Avon at Berkeley, 

 and the Lower Avon below Brillol. The Wve feparates 

 part of this county from Monmouthfliire and Herefordlhia*, 

 and forms the grand natural v.eftern boundary to tlie foreft 

 of Dean, v.hoie noble wooded eminences conllitute many 

 fine features on its meandering banks. The Thames, the 

 moft importint of the Brilifli rivers, has its fource in this 

 county, at a place called the Thames-head, near the village 

 of Cotes, about two miles foi:th-well of Cirencefter. Near 

 this place the Thames and Severn canal emerges from under 

 ground, and receives a conliderable quantity ot water, occa- 

 fion;dly from this fpring. The junction cf the Thames and 

 Severn was an objeCl of favourite fpeouhition with the Lon- 

 don and Briliol merchants for many generations; but was 

 not completed till near th.e clofe of the laft century, an acl for 

 that purpofe was obtained in 1783, and the dehgn was 

 brought to perfeClion in 1792, when the full vefiel paffed 

 from the Severn into the Tliames. This c.".iial begins at 

 Wallbridge, near Stroud, (at the place where the Stroud 

 navigation ends,) and proceeds in a devious eourfe through 

 the county to Lechlade, where it joins the Thames. This 

 eourfe includes a diftance of thirty miles, fevcn chains and a 

 half. Th.e water, in its progrefs from Stroud to Sappertop,- 

 ( fevcn miles three furlongs), is raifed by means of locks 

 241 feet 3 ir.ches: between Sapperton and Lechbdc it falls 

 130 feet 6 inches. The Stroadwater canal encounters many 

 obftaelcs; yet in defiance of all oppofition, an aCt was ob- 

 tained in 1775, under the operation of which it was finilhcd. 

 The manufaftures of Glouceftcriliire are numerous: 

 clothing ftuffs, blankets, rugs, carpets, ftockings, &c. arc 

 made in different p.irts of the county. Bar iron, cdj^e tools, 

 wire, nails, and many oth.cr articles, aix- alfo mani.hic"tur«d 

 -in large qwantilies Near Bridol a«c fome extmlive foun- 

 derics ; as well as different works for making brals and wire, 

 vitriol, rcd-kad, ial-ummoiii.ic, &c. At Gloucefter, vail 

 Quantities of gins aie made; and. at Frampton-Cotlercl is a 



conliderable 



