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Gloucestershire County Council
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Visiting or moving to Gloucestershire?

Find out more here

Gloucestershire's place in the World

Gloucestershire is an English county situated at the northern edge of the south west region of the United Kingdom.

It covers an area of 1,025 square miles including the largest Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the country. Essentially a rural county, it has been known since Roman times for farming, forestry and horticulture with an industrial history featuring the wool trade.

Geographically, it splits into three areas, the Cotswolds, the Royal Forest of Dean and the Severn Vale with a total population of about 582,600. See wordicon.gif icon latest population estimates [26kb] issued mid-2008 for more details.

Gloucester and Cheltenham lie at the heart of the county, linked by the A40 and either side of the M5. There are good connections to the south west via the M5, to the north via the M5/M6 and M42 , Wales using the A40 and the M4 and to London and the south -east using the A40 and the M4. The Fosse Way runs through the county north to south taking travellers from Cirencester to Stow on the Wold and Moreton in Marsh whilst the Ermin Way crosses east to west from Cirencester to Ross.

Typical journey times from Gloucester by car/train would be:

Car

Train

Bristol
London
Cardiff
Birmingham
Manchester

45min
2h 20
1h 15
1h 10
2h 40

45min / 1h 20
1h 55 / 2h 20
1h 10 / 1h 40
54min / 1h 05
2h 40 / 3h03

car timings calculated using www.theaa.com / train times from National Rail Enquiries (quickest/slowest)

There are regular rail services through the county :

  • Between London Paddington and Cheltenham via Swindon, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester
  • Between London Paddington and Moreton in Marsh
  • Between Gloucester and Cardiff
  • Between Birmingham and Bristol via Cheltenham, Gloucester and Dursley

There is a local airport at Staverton, on the M5/A40 junction between Cheltenham and Gloucester.

You can find information about the excellent local schools by on the Find-a-School section of this site.

Look at the BBC website and the the website of The Citizen and the Gloucestershire Echo for information about property and community news.

To see detailed maps of the area go to Where I live - find services in your area.

  • Related Pages:
  • Wing Mirror Travel and Transport
    Getting around in the county: public, private and school transport
  • Walking in Lower Slaughter Leisure and Tourism
    things to do, places to visit, places to stay
  • A crowd of people looking up Jobs with the County Council
    Apply online for jobs with the county council and find out about other job opportunities in the county.
  • Images of Houses Housing
    Who to contact for information about or help with housing.
  • NHS Choices Doctor, dentist, chemist, optician or hospital
    Find local services for your postcode.
    For immediate confidential health advice and information call NHS Direct on 0845 4647 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.
    Calls are charged at local rates
  • The Library Logo Libraries
    Use your library for leisure and learning - borrow books, printed music, plays, audio-books, CDs, films and get free access to the internet.
    There are activities and story times especially for children and families.Find out about these in the Children's Zone.
  • County map with district outlines Where's my nearest..?
    the county mapping service
  • logo County Council
    What we do, where to find us and how to talk to us
© 2010 Gloucestershire County Council, Shire Hall, Westgate Street, Gloucester GL1 2TG.
Telephone: +44 (0)1452 425000