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Gloucester
City and Non-metropolitan district
Gloucester and its cathedral
Gloucester and its cathedral
Coat of arms of Gloucester
Coat of arms
City of Gloucester shown within Gloucestershire
City of Gloucester shown within Gloucestershire
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Country England
Region South West England
Non-metropolitan county Gloucestershire
Status Non-metropolitan district, city
Admin HQ Gloucester
Government
 • Type Non-metropolitan district council
 • Body Gloucester City Council
Area
 • Total 15.65 sq mi (40.54 km2)
Area rank 289th (of 326)
Population
 (2005 est.)
 • Total 129,128
 • Rank 179th (of 326)
 • Density 8,249.6/sq mi (3,185.2/km2)
 • Ethnicity
84.6% White British
4.6% White Other
4.8% Asian
2.9% Black or Black British
2.9% Mixed Race
0.3% Other
Time zone UTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+1 (BST)
Postcodes
GL1-GL4
Area code(s) 01452
ONS code 23UE (ONS)
E07000081 (GSS)
OS grid reference SO832186

Gloucester ( GLOS-tər) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, 19 miles (31 km) east of Monmouth and 17 miles (27 km) east of the border with Wales. Including suburban areas, Gloucester has a population of around 150,000. It is a port, linked via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal to the Severn Estuary.

Gloucester was founded by the Romans and became an important city and colony in AD 97 under Emperor Nerva as Colonia Glevum Nervensis.

It was granted its first charter in 1155 by Henry II. In 1216, Henry III, aged only nine years, was crowned with a gilded iron ring in the Chapter House of Gloucester Cathedral. Gloucester's significance in the Middle Ages is underlined by the fact that it had a number of monastic establishments, including: St Peter's Abbey founded in 679 (later Gloucester Cathedral), the nearby St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester founded in the 880s or 890s and Llanthony Secunda Priory, founded 1136. The town is also the site of the siege of Gloucester in 1643, during which the city held out against Royalist forces in the First English Civil War.

A major attraction of the city is Gloucester Cathedral, which is the burial place of King Edward II and Walter de Lacy; it features in scenes from the Harry Potter films. Other features of interest include the museum and school of art and science, the former county jail (on the site of a Saxon and Norman castle), the Shire Hall (now headquarters of the County Council) and the Whitefield memorial church. A park in the south of the city contains a spa, a chalybeate spring having been discovered in 1814.

Economically, the city is dominated by the service industries and has strong financial, research, distribution and light industrial sectors. Historically, it was prominent in the aerospace industry.

In 1926, the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company at Brockworth changed its name to the Gloster Aircraft Company because international customers claimed that the name Gloucestershire was too difficult to spell. A sculpture in the city centre celebrates Gloucester's aviation history and its involvement in the jet engine.

History

West prospect of Gloucester by Kip, c.1725.
Kip's West prospect of Gloucester, c. 1725, emphasises the causeway and bridges traversing the water meadows of the floodplain.

The origins of the name Gloucester can be traced to Caerloyw in the modern Welsh. There are various appellations in history such as Caer Glow, Gleawecastre, Gleucestre as an early British settlement is not confirmed by direct evidence. However, Gloucester was the Roman municipality of Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or Glevum, built in the reign of Nerva. Parts of the walls can be traced, and a number of remains and coins have been found, though inscriptions are scarce. In Historia Brittonum, a fabled account of the early rulers of Britain, Vortigern's grandfather, Gloiu (or Gloyw Wallt Hir: "Gloiu Long-hair"), is given as the founder of Gloucester. Part of the foundations of Roman Gloucester can be seen today in Eastgate Street (near Boots), while Roman tombstones and a range of other Roman artefacts can be seen in Gloucester City Museum.

After the withdrawal on the Roman Empire in the late 4th Century the town returned to the control of Celtic Dubonni tribe. By the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Gloucester is shown as part of Wessex from the Battle of Deorham in 577 until 584, when it came under the control of Mercia. The name Gloucester derives from the Anglo-Saxon for fort (Old English ceaster) preceded by Celtic name, which derived from the Roman stem Glev- (pronounced glaiw).Claudia Castra is mentioned in the 18th Century as possible Latin name related to the city.

Gloucester was captured by the Saxons in 577. Its situation on a navigable river, and the foundation in 681 of the abbey of St Peter by Æthelred, favoured the growth of the town; and before the Norman Conquest of England, Gloucester was a borough governed by a portreeve, with a castle which was frequently a royal residence, and a mint. In the early 10th century the remains of Saint Oswald were brought to a small church in Gloucester, bringing many pilgrims to the town. The core street layout is thought to date back to the reign of Ethelfleda in late Saxon times.

Map of Gloucester in 1805 engraved by J.Roper from a drawing by G.Cole
Gloucester in 1805

In 1051 Edward the Confessor held court at Gloucester and was threatened there by an army led by Godwin, Earl of Wessex, but the incident resulted in a standoff rather than a battle. A unique coin, dated to 1077–80, was discovered, just north of the city, in November 2011. It features the name of the moneyer Silacwine and its place of minting. The Portable Antiquities Scheme said that, until the coin was discovered, there had been no known examples of William I coins minted in Gloucester in this period.

After the Norman Conquest, William Rufus made Robert Fitzhamon the first baron or overlord of Gloucester. Fitzhamon had a military base at Cardiff Castle, and for the succeeding years the history of Gloucester was closely linked to that of Cardiff. During the Anarchy, Gloucester was a centre of support for the Empress Matilda who was supported in her claim to the throne by her half-brother, Fitzhamon's grandson, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (also known as Robert of Gloucester). After this period of strife ended with the marriage of Matilda to Henry I of England, Henry granted Robert possession of Cardiff Castle, and it later passed to Mathilda's son Robert Curthose and his son, William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester. The story of the Anarchy is vividly told in a series of nineteenth-century paintings by William Burges at the Castle.

King Henry II granted Gloucester its first charter in 1155, which gave the burgesses the same liberties as the citizens of London and Winchester. A a second charter of Henry II gave them freedom of passage on the River Severn. The first charter was confirmed in 1194 by King Richard I. The privileges of the borough were greatly extended by the charter of King John (1200), which gave freedom from toll throughout the kingdom and from pleading outside the borough.

In 1216 King Henry III, aged only ten years, was crowned with a gilded iron ring in the Chapter House of Gloucester Cathedral.

Gloucester's significance in the Middle Ages is underlined by the fact that it had a number of monastic establishments, including St Peter's Abbey founded in 679 (later Gloucester Cathedral), the nearby St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester founded in the 880s or 890s, Llanthony Secunda Priory, founded 1136 as a retreat for a community of Welsh monks (now near the western bypass), the Franciscan Greyfriars community founded in 1231 (near Eastgate Shopping Centre), and the Dominican Blackfriars community founded in 1239 (Ladybellegate Street). It also has some very early churches including St Mary de Lode Church, Gloucester near the Cathedral and the Norman St Mary de Crypt Church, Gloucester in Southgate Street.

In the Middle Ages the main export was wool which came from the Cotswolds and was processed in Gloucester; other exports included leather and iron (tools and weapons). Gloucester also had a large fishing industry at that time. In 1223 thatched roofs were banned after a massive fire that destroyed a part of Gloucester.

One of the most significant periods in Gloucester's history began in 1378 when Richard II of England convened Parliament in the city. Parliaments were held there until 1406 under Henry IV of England. The Parliament Rooms at the Cathedral remain testimony to this important time.

Gloucester was incorporated by King Richard III in 1483, the town being made a county in itself. This charter was confirmed in 1489 and 1510, and other charters of incorporation were received by Gloucester from Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. The Siege of Gloucester in 1643 was a battle of the English Civil War in which the besieged parliamentarians emerged victorious.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the foundation of two of Gloucester's grammar schools: the Crypt School in 1539 and Sir Thomas Rich's School in 1666. Both still flourish as grammar schools today, along with Ribston Hall and the High School for Girls, Gloucester (Denmark Road).

Gloucester's most important citizens include Robert Raikes (founder of the Sunday School movement) who is still commemorated by the name of a pub in Southgate Street. Its most infamous citizen was Fred West.

In July 2007, Gloucester was hit badly by a flood that struck Gloucestershire and its surrounding areas. Hundreds of homes were flooded, but the event was most memorable because of its wider impact – about 40,000 people were without power for 24 hours, and the entire city (plus surrounding areas) was without piped water for 17 days.

In 2009, Gloucester Day was revived as an annual day of celebration of Gloucester's history and culture. The day originally dates from the lifting of the Siege of Gloucester in 1643, during which the city held out against Royalist forces during the First English Civil War.

Coat of arms

Left: the arms of the Clare family; centre: the arms of the Bishop of Worcester; right: the arms of the city of Gloucester

Gloucester is one of few cities in England with the distinction of having two coats of arms. The first consists of three chevrons surrounded by ten roundels. The chevrons come from the arms of the Clare family, who were earls of Gloucester from the 12th to the 14th centuries, while the roundels come from the arms of the Bishop of Worcester, whose bishopric historically encompassed Gloucester. This coat is the older of the two, though it is usually termed the "Commonwealth coat", as it was not officially granted to the city until 1652, during the Commonwealth period. The crest and supporters (lions bearing broadswords and trowels) were also adopted at this time, along with the motto Fides Invicta Triumphat ("unconquered faith triumphs", in reference to the royalist siege withstood by the city in 1643).

The second coat, termed the "Tudor coat", was granted in 1538. It features the roses of York and Lancaster, the boar's head of Richard III, a ceremonial sword and cap, and two horseshoes surrounded by nails, to represent Gloucester's historical association with ironworking.

Though grants made by Commonwealth heralds were nullified after the restoration, the Commonwealth coat continued to be used by the city in favour of the uglier Tudor coat. The Commonwealth coat, along with the crest and supporters, was legally granted to the city by letters patent dated 16 April 1945. This was reconfirmed in 1974 following the local government changes of that year.

On 23 June 2016 the people of Gloucester voted to leave the European Union, in accordance with the overall outcome of the UK-wide referendum.

Geography

Gloucester Docks at Night
Gloucester Docks at night

Gloucester is the county town of Gloucestershire, and is the 53rd largest settlement in the United Kingdom by population. In 2002, its population was 110,600. By 2011 the city had a population of 121,900, and by 2012 its population was 123,400. Growth extends beyond city boundaries, with several outlying districts. The 2011 census gave the population of the Gloucester Urban Area as 149,820.

The city is located on the eastern bank of the River Severn, sheltered by the Cotswolds to the east, while the Forest of Dean and the Malvern Hills rise to the west and north, respectively. Gloucester is a port, linked via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal which runs from Gloucester's docks to the Severn Estuary, allowing larger ships to reach the docks than would be possible on the tidal reaches of the river itself, which go well north of the city to Haw Bridge. The wharfs, warehouses and the docks themselves fell into disrepair until their renovation in the 1980s. They now form a public open space. Some warehouses now house the Gloucester Waterways Museum, others were converted into residential flats, shops and bars. Additionally, the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum is located in the Custom House. Next to the museum is Gloucester Yacht Club. The port still houses the most inland RNLI lifeboat in the United Kingdom.

Gloucester is made up of a variety of neighbourhoods, some of which correspond to electoral divisions of the City Council.

2

†Quedgeley is the only civil parish within the city boundary, and as such has its own parish council. Quedgeley was transferred to the district of Gloucester in 1991. The remainder of the city (the former county borough of Gloucester) is unparished.

Attractions

Gloucester Cathedral, in the north of the city near the river, originates in the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter in 681. It is the burial place of King Edward II and Walter de Lacy. The cathedral (mainly its cloisters) was used for corridor scenes in the films Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince It was also used for a scene in Sherlock Christmas special, where upon the crypt was used. Attached to the deanery is the Norman prior's chapel. In St Mary's Square outside the Abbey gate, the Bishop of Gloucester, Bishop John Hooper, was martyred under Queen Mary I in 1555.

A good number of medieval and Tudor period gabled and half timbered houses survive from earlier periods of Gloucester's history. At the point where the four principal streets intersected stood the Tolsey (town hall), which was replaced by a modern building in 1894. None of the old public buildings are left except for the New Inn in Northgate Street. It is a timbered house, with strong, massive external galleries and courtyards. It was built around 1450 by John Twyning, a monk.

King's Square, Gloucester - geograph.org.uk - 469564
Kings Square (1976)

Kings Square is at the heart of the city centre and occupies what was once a cattle market and bus station. Officially opened in 1972, it was the centrepiece of a radical redesign of the city, The Jellicoe Plan, which was first proposed in 1961. It stands beside the Debenham's (formerly Bon Marché) store built in the early 1960s. Many of the features of the redevelopment have since been dismantled; the brutalist concrete fountains in the middle of the square have gone and the overhead roadways which linked three multi storey car parks around the centre have been either closed or dismantled. The present main bus station received a Civic Trust Award in 1963 but is now in a state of disrepair. In 2012 a £60 million plan was unveiled to revamp the square. In 2014 the prominent Golden Egg restaurant was demolished and a new look public space was created. A prior archaeological dig revealed a Roman house underneath.

An indoor market opened in Eastgate Street in 1968, followed by the Eastgate Shopping Centre in 1973. The Kings Walk Shopping Centre was built between 1969 and 1972. The corner of Eastgate Street and Brunswick Road was redeveloped around this time; Roman remains unearthed below street level in 1974 may be seen through a glass observation panel outside the Boots building, which opened in 1980. The HSBC building on the Cross was renovated and a modern extension added to the Westgate Street aspect in 1972 which received a Civic Trust Award. Sainsbury's opened a supermarket in Northgate Street in 1970; it retains its original interior. Opposite, Tesco opened a large two-storey supermarket in 1974 on the site of a demolished chapel. This is now occupied by Wilkinson's after Tesco moved to Quedgeley in 1984.

Gloucester Leisure Centre opened on the corner of Eastgate Street and Bruton Way in September 1974 and was redeveloped and rebranded (as "GL1") in August 2002. Gloucester Central railway station was rebuilt in 1977 to serve both the original traffic to that railway station and the services from the closed Gloucester Eastgate railway station (former Midland Railway) which had stood on another site further east along the same road. Opposite the station stands one of the city's largest office blocks, Twyver House, opened in 1968, which houses the regional Land Registry. The main shopping streets were pedestrianised in the late 1980s.

The 1966 Heights Plan for Gloucester sought to restrict construction of tall buildings and defend spiritual values by protecting views of Gloucester Cathedral. The tower of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, started in 1970 and completed in August 1975, can be seen from miles around. In Brunswick Road, a brown concrete tower, which housed classrooms at the Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology (now moved to a site near Llanthony Bridge). The tower was added incongruously to the existing 1930s Technical College buildings in 1971 which has now been demolished. Clapham Court, a tall block of flats, stands in Columbia Close, between London Road and Kingsholm Road. It was built in 1972 and stands on what was once Columbia Street in a small district formerly known as Clapham.

Other features of interest include the museum and school of art and science, the former county jail (on the site of a Saxon and Norman castle), the Shire Hall (now headquarters of the County Council) and the Whitefield memorial church. A park in the south of the city contains a spa, a chalybeate spring having been discovered in 1814. West of this, across the canal, are the remains (a gateway and some walls) of Llanthony Secunda Priory, a cell of the mother abbey in the Vale of Ewyas, Monmouthshire, which in the reign of King Edward IV became the secondary establishment.

Culture

View of Gloucester Thomas Hearne
View of Gloucester by Thomas Hearne, watercolour

The Three Choirs Festival, originating in the 18th century and one of the oldest music festivals in the British Isles, is held in Gloucester every third year, the other venues being Hereford and Worcester. Gloucester hosted the festival in 2016, and it is next due in the city in 2019.

The city's main theatre and cultural venue is the Guildhall. The Guildhall hosts a huge amount of entertainment, including live music, dance sessions, a cinema, bar, café, art gallery and much more. The Leisure Centre, GL1, hosts concerts and has a larger capacity than the Guildhall.

The annual Gloucester International Rhythm and Blues Festival takes place at the end of July and early August. Gloucester International Cajun and Zydeco Festival, the largest in the UK and longest-running in Europe, runs for a weekend in January each year. A Medieval Fayre is held in Westgate Street each year during the summer.

Gloucester is also noted as the home of the Frightmare Halloween Festival, the largest Halloween festival in the South West.

The main museum in the city is the The Museum of Gloucester but there are several other important museums.

The Tailor of Gloucester House which is dedicated to the author Beatrix Potter can be found near the cathedral.

Since 2013 Gloucester has marked Armed Forces Day with a Drum Head Service held on College Green in the shadow of the cathedral. This is followed by a parade of serving forces, veterans and cadets through the city centre to the docks for a family day with military and military-related charity displays and entertainment in Back Badge Square in front of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum.

Nature in Art is a gallery dedicated to the display of works of art inspired by the natural world.

A popular and well known rhyme about the city: Doctor Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain, he stood in a puddle right up to his middle and never went there again.

Transport

Gloucester c1798
Cargo boats known as trows navigating under a bridge at Gloucester

Roads

The M5 motorway, opened in 1971, runs east of the city bounds. Junction 12 serves south Gloucester and Quedgeley; junction 11a serves central Gloucester; and junction 11 serves north Gloucester. The A38 runs north–south through Gloucester, connecting the city with Tewkesbury and Bristol. The A40 runs west to east, connecting Gloucester with Cheltenham to the east (via a dual carriageway section known as The Golden Valley Bypass) and the Forest of Dean and South Wales to the West. The A46 and A4173 links Stroud, and the A417 links Cirencester in the south-east and Ledbury in the north-west. Gloucester has a network of cycle paths.

Until the construction of the Severn Bridge in 1966, Gloucester was the lowest road bridging point on the river and hence was an important settlement between South Wales and the southernmost counties of England including London. The Severn has a small anabranch here to reach Alney Island and then the main western bank. A bridge at Over, built by Thomas Telford in 1829, still stands, notable for its very flat arch, but its fragility and narrowness means it is disused; since 1974, it has been paralleled by a modern bridge. The Gloucester to Newport Line railway bridge is close to both, the lowest crossing of the UK's longest river until the Severn Railway Bridge 1879–1970, which was coupled with the Severn Tunnel in 1886, the present holder of that status.

Railway

Gloucester railway station has frequent trains to London Paddington, via Reading, Bristol, Cardiff Central, Nottingham and Birmingham. Gloucester was the site of the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company railway works, which have now closed. A Hunts Grove railway station has been floated on the southern edge of the city near Quedgeley as part of MetroWest plans to extend Bristol commuter services to the city.

Buses and coaches

Most local buses are run by Stagecoach West centred at a depot on London Road with connections to Cheltenham, Stroud and Ross-on-Wye, as well as other smaller communities. For many years, there were both stopping and express services to Worcester and Birmingham operated by Midland Red and later Midland Red West, but this connection was lost due to service reductions.

National Express Coaches operate the 444 to London; previously an additional service to Heathrow Airport also operated.

Canals

Gloucester is linked to the Severn Estuary by the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, which is navigable by small coasters. The city is linked to the River Avon and Stourport-on-Severn by the navigable part of the River Severn, which is navigable by river craft of a few hundred tonnes' displacement. Gloucester Docks mark the Normal Tidal Limit (NTL) of the river. Gloucester was formerly linked to Ledbury and Hereford by the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal; and subsequently by the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway, which used the southern section of the former canal, until it also closed in 1964. This canal is now being restored and the restored canal basin in the adjacent village of Over is a local attraction.

Air

Commercial airports with scheduled services are Bristol and Cardiff International Airport 40–60 miles away; global hub Heathrow is about 100 miles by road and shares with Gloucester its main rail interchange at London Paddington. Gloucestershire Airport 8 miles east is a private and special charters airfield.

Aerial of Gloucestershire Airport, Gloucestershire, England 24May2017 arp
Gloucestershire Airport in 2017, looking east. On the left is the straight A40 road and at the bottom the M5 motorway. Innsworth and Gloucester are at the top.

Sport and leisure

  • Gloucester was a host city for the Rugby World Cup in 1991 and in 2015 when it hosted four matches at the Kingsholm Stadium with national teams from Japan, Georgia, USA, Scotland, Tonga and Argentina.
  • Kingsholm Stadium is the ground of Gloucester Rugby, founded in 1873, one of Europe's top rugby union clubs and a member of the Aviva Premiership.
  • Meadow Park is the home of Gloucester City A.F.C., founded in 1883, of the National League North. The club played outside of the city from 2007 until 2020 due to the 2007 floods.
  • Horton Road Stadium was the home of Gloucester City A.F.C. from 1964 to 1986 and a short lived greyhound racing stadium.
  • The Gloucester Cricket Festival is held in Gloucester at the King's School.
  • Gloucester City Swimming Club competes in county and national swimming championships.
  • Gloucester City Hockey Club is based at the Oxstalls Sports Park, with teams entered in the West Hockey Leagues.
  • The Gloucester Banshees American Football are based in the city at Oxstalls Tennis Centre, and play at a national level in the British American Football League
  • The University of Gloucestershire All Golds is the city's only professional Rugby league club, playing in the semi professional Championship 1 from 2013. They play their home games at the Prince of Wales Stadium in Cheltenham
  • Gloucestershire Warriors founded in 1997 are an amateur Rugby league team that play in the Conference League South playing home games at the Oxstalls Sports Park
  • University of Gloucestershire run Rugby league teams in the BUCS league
  • Public sports facilities are focused on the GL1 leisure centre, a large modern sports centre with several swimming pools, a multi-use sports hall, indoor bowls room, squash courts, gym and health spa.

Twin cities

Gloucester is twinned with Metz, France, since 1967; Trier, Germany, since 1957; Saint Ann, Jamaica, since 1987; and Gouda, Netherlands, since 1972.

Education

There are three endowed schools: the historic The King's School, refounded by Henry VIII as part of the cathedral establishment; the school of St Mary de Crypt now known as "The Crypt School, Gloucester" since it moved to a mile from town centre to Podsmead, founded by Dame Joan Cooke in the same reign (1539), Sir Thomas Rich's School, previously known as Sir Thomas Rich's Bluecoat Hospital for Boys (1666); The High School for Girls (1883) ; and Ribston Hall High School for Girls. Comprehensives include Henley Bank High School, Beaufort Co-operative Academy, St Peter's High School (Catholic school), Chosen Hill School, Severn Vale School, Gloucester Academy, Barnwood Park School and Churchdown School Academy. There is a Steiner Waldorf School founded in 1937 with a High School added just after the Second World War.

The city is home to one of three campuses of the University of Gloucestershire, based at Oxstalls, just outside the city centre. The University has also purchased the former Debenhams store in the city centre with a new campus due to open there in 2023. The University also manages student accommodation and halls of residence in the city, with the other campuses based in Cheltenham 7 miles away.

Notable people

Notable residents of Gloucester have included:

  • Æthelflæd (c.870–918), Lady of the Mercians
  • Yasmin Bannerman (b. 1972), actress
  • Piers Bizony (b. 1959), science historian and journalist
  • Capel Bond (1730–1790), organist and composer
  • Hubert Cecil Booth (1871–1955), inventor of the vacuum cleaner
  • Samuel Bowly (1802–1884), slavery abolitionist
  • Herbert Brewer (1865–1928), organist and composer
  • Bridget Christie (b. 1972), comedian
  • Sir Alastair Cook (b. 1984), cricketer
  • George Worrall Counsel (1758–1843), solicitor and antiquarian
  • Alex Cuthbert (b. 1990), Welsh international, British & Irish Lions rugby player
  • Samuel Daukes (1811–1880), architect
  • Dynamite MC (b. 1973), musician
  • William Eassie (1805–1861), prefabricated building pioneer
  • Janet Evra (b. 1988), jazz musician
  • Marcel Garvey (b. 1983), rugby player
  • Tom Goddard (1900–1966), cricketer
  • Lynval Golding (b.1951), musician
  • Phil Greening (b. 1975), rugby player
  • Paul Groves (b. 1947), poet
  • Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), composer and poet
  • Button Gwinnett (1735 – 19 May 1777), second signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence
  • William Hayes (1708–1777), composer
  • Andy Hazell (b. 1978), rugby player
  • William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), poet, critic and editor.
  • John Hooper (1495–1555), bishop
  • Tom Kerridge (b. 1973), chef and media personality
  • Leopold Kohr (1909–1994), philosopher and economist
  • David Lawrence (b. 1964), former England cricketer.
  • Mary-Jess Leaverland (b. 1990), singer
  • Jamie McDonald (b. 1986), adventurer and author
  • Thomas Machen (c. 1541–1614), mayor of Gloucester three times and Member of Parliament (MP) once
  • Edward Massey (1619–1674), soldier, governor and MP
  • Tina May (b. 1961), jazz vocalist
  • Osric, king of the Hwicce (7th century)
  • Simon Pegg (b. 1970), actor, comedian and writer
  • Sir John Powell (1645–1713), lawyer and MP
  • Robert Raikes the Elder (1690–1757), "the printer of Gloucester", founder of the Gloucester Journal, early pioneer of press freedom, buried in church of St Mary de Crypt
  • Robert Raikes (1735–1811), English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools
  • Thomas Raikes (1741–1813), banker and merchant in London, who as Bank of England governor issued the first £1 and £2 English pound notes in 1797
  • Scott Redding (b. 1993), motorcyclist
  • Tyler Roberts (b. 1999), football player
  • John Stafford Smith (1750–1836), composer of the American national anthem
  • Charlie Stayt (b. 1962), journalist and presenter
  • Nathan Sykes (b. 1993), former member of British boyband the Wanted
  • John Taylor (1578–1653), poet
  • Mike Teague (b. 1960), former England rugby union footballer
  • Josiah Tucker (1713–1799), dean, economist and political writer
  • Abel Wantner (c. 1639-1714) Historian
  • Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), scientist and inventor
  • George Whitefield (1714–1770), Church of England minister and a leader in the Methodist movement
  • John Clarke Whitfield (1770–1836), organist and composer
  • Chris Whitty (born 1966), Chief Medical Officer for England
  • Charles Henry Wilton (1761–1832), violinist and composer
  • Jemmy Wood (1756–1836), legendary miser and owner of the Gloucester Old Bank.

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