Gloucestershire summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire , Administrative (pop., 2001: 564,559), geographic, and historic county, southwestern England. It is located at the head of the River Severn estuary on the Welsh border; Gloucester is the county seat. The Severn bisects the county from north to south. Prehistoric peoples were active in the area, as the numerous burial mounds indicate; later, the Romans had military camps within the county, and Gloucester was a Roman town of note. After the departure of the Romans, the Saxons occupied the area. Throughout the Middle Ages Gloucestershire was a battlefield, reflected in the imposing Norman defensive castles built on the Welsh frontier. The county’s Cotswold area is important economically. Most of its eastern half is scenic, and a large area is set aside as the Dean National Forest Park.

England Summary

England, predominant constituent unit of the United Kingdom, occupying more than half of the island of Great Britain. Outside the British Isles, England is often erroneously considered synonymous with the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and even with the entire United

United Kingdom Summary

United Kingdom, island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom comprises the whole of the island of Great Britain—which contains England, Wales, and Scotland—as well as the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The name Britain is sometimes used to