Gloucester: The Hidden City
Gloucester has more than 2000 years of history. You can see reminders of it all over the city, often hidden away in the most unlikely places. There are far too many to cover in a short article like this, so I would advise that you get a guided tour from a Civic Trust guide (starts from St Michael’s Tower at the Cross in the middle of Gloucester)
Gloucester was founded in AD 97 as a Roman colonia by the Emperor Nerva. This meant it was a retirement colony for legionaries. You can see remains of Roman walls in various places, including in some of the shops in the city.
Gloucester was also rebuilt and fortified by Aelthelflaed, the Lady of Mercia, daughter of Alfred the Great and Britain’s warrior queen, to hold off Viking raids. She was buried in St Oswald’s Priory near the Cathedral in 918 AD
You can see the influence of Aethelflaed in the narrow lanes running into Westgate Street. They were designed to allow soldiers to quickly get to the walls when under attack and were narrow enough to be easily defended if the enemy were to break into the town.
In 679 land in Gloucester was given to King Osric of the Hwicee to build a religious house. This was replaced when the Normans arrived. The man who built St Michael’s Mount in Normandy was commissioned and built the Abbey which was commissioned in 1100 AD.
Since then, the Cathedral has seen a rich and varied history. It has the tomb of a murdered king of England and the writer of the American national anthem. It also hosted the coronation of the boy King, Henry 3rd who was just nine years old at the time.
More recently the Cathedral has been used for several films and TV programmes including Harry Potter. It has also had a makeover with a new square and gardens.
Also worth a look is the New Inn. One of four original Inns built to serve the pilgrims to the Cathedral, it has many original features including covered galleries.
Half a mile from the city centre you will find Gloucester Docks. Today these house restaurants, shops and marinas. It has a large Mall called “Gloucester Quays”. It’s a very pleasant place to stop and drink a beer or a coffee and watch the world go by.
As well as these “headline” tourist sites there are many other interesting places to see around the city. And just outside there is some beautiful countryside to see. You can also see the famous “Severn Bore” which creates a surfing wave which can carry surfers for up to 14 miles up the river.
Or you might like to see some of the festivals and events that take place here each year. September 4th is “Gloucester Day” when we celebrate the raising of the siege of Gloucester. You will find re-enactors all over the city. It commemorates the city holding out against tens of thousands of the Kings troops. The siege is also said to be the origin of the “Humpty Dumpty” rhyme.
The key thing, when visiting this area, is to avoid the well known villages and destinations in the Cotswolds. There are many, many, beautiful places which are off of the tourist trail. If you come here, bring your walking boots and visit Belas Knap.. a 5000 year old burial chamber... complete with several ghost stories.
Then there is the atmospheric ships graveyard at Purton on the Severn. Or visit Stroud, the "alternative" centre of the Cotwolds where the unusual is normal. Every year we have a "Wassail" in January with over 400 performers in the streets and a medieval style Revels.
Villages to visit which you might not have heard of include Broad Campden, Chedworth, Brimpsfield, Cranham and Sapperton.... as well as the better known Chipping Campden, Stow on the Wold, Lower Slaughter and Bourton on the Water.
But the very best thing is to get an Ordnance Survey map and just head off on any of the thousands of miles of public footpaths. My greatest pleasure is in finding truly amazing places... by accident. Lockdown has led me down trails that I would never have considered before... and I have yet to be disappointed. If you want recommendations, please let me know.
If you come in January... come and take part in the Wassail. I guarantee that you will never have been to anything else like it...
You might also like to take part in this annual event... chasing the cheese down a very steep hill. People come from all over the world to take part. Basically you try and run down a hill after a round Gloucester cheese... but soon lose your footing and start tumbling. At the bottom the local rugby team try to catch you...
It has featured on extreme sports on CNN. Health and safety officials want it banned... but it still seems to happen "unofficially" every year. It's at the end of May.
