Gloucester

Whilst in the Cotswolds earlier this year, I visited the City of Gloucester. It was only a 15 minute drive from where we were staying and as I hadn't been there before decided it was a good opportunity to call in on my way back to London. It is not a large city with c130,000 residents but it does have a well known cathedral.

In 679 a minster was built here which later became a cathedral. The present building was begun in 1089 as an abbey. In 1216 Henry III was crowned here. A large fire in 1222 meant it had to be rebuilt. The cathedral contains the shrine of Edward II  who was murdered at the nearby Berkeley Castle. Following the dissolution of the monastries by Henry VIII in 1536, the Abbey was refounded as a cathedral. The cathedral went through much restoration in the 18th century. It is a Grade I (the highest grade).

 

This is St Michael's gate which is the entrance to the Lay Cemetery of the Abbey. It was also used by pilgrims to visit the shrine of Edward II.

Beatrix Potter's 'Tailor of Gloucester',  'lived' in the shop to the left of  this gate.

This is the Shire Hall with the Crown Court at the back of the complex.

In the same vicinity is this Grade II listed building which was the Prison Governor's House. HMP Gloucester opened in 1792 and closed in 2013. The prison stood on the site of Gloucester Castle, whose Norman Keep served as the county jail before it was demolished in the 1780s. The new county jail opened in 1792 with basic sanitary conditions and separate cells, a new idea at the time. It was substantially rebuilt in 1840. More than 120 people were hanged at Gloucester between 1792 and 1939. Those executed were buried in unmarked graves within the prison walls, where they remain today. Guided tours of the prison are available but not on the day I visited.

The River Severn runs through the city.

Gloucester Docks is one of the furthest inland dockyards in the country but does lie close to the River Severn and the Sharpness estuary.

 Elizabeth I gifted the City the status of a customs port in 1580. The main basin at Gloucester was constructed during the 19th century for canal boats that would arrive via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal from the Severn Estuary.

Most of the warehouses around the main basin were built for the storage of grain. They all have thick brick walls, a slate roof and strong wooden floors supported by cast iron columns.

The Mariners Chapel was built in the docks to serve a multicultural mix of seamen and boatmen. The church also provided basic education for their families and established the docks first coffee shop. It opened in 1849.

Newer housing developments .

A Victorian postbox.

I liked Gloucester very much. There was far more to see than I realised and I was very pleased I had made the effort to visit.