GLOCESTERSHIRE, a county of England, is bounded on the weſt by Monmouthſhire and Herefordſhire, on the north by Worceſterſhire, on the eaſt by Oxfordſhire and Warwickſhire, and on the ſouth by Wiltsſhire, and part of Somerſetſhire. It is ſixty miles in length, twenty-fix in breadth, and one hundred and ſixty in circumference; containing 1,100,000 acres, 26,760 houſes, 162,560 inhabitants, 290 pariſhes, 140 are impropriations, 1229 villages, 2 cities, and 28 market towns. It ſends only 8 members to parliament, 6 for three towns, viz. Gloceſter, Tewkeſbury, and Cirenceſter; and two for the county. Its manufactures are woollen cloths of various kinds, men's hats, leather, pens, paper, bar iron, edge tools, nails, wire, tinned plates, braſs, &c.: and of the principal articles of commerce of the county, it exports cheeſe 8000 tons; bacon, grain, cyder, 5000l. worth; perry, fiſh, 4000l. worth, &c. It lies in the dioceſe that takes its name from the capital, and in the Oxford circuit. The air of the county is very wholeſome, but the face of it is very different in different parts: for the eaſtern part is hilly, and is called Cottetſwold; the weſtern woody, and called the Forest of Dean; and the reſt is a fruitful valley, through which runs the river Severn. This river is in ſome places between two and three miles broad; and its courſe through the county, including its windings, is not leſs than ſeventy miles. The tide of flood, called the Boar, riſes very high, and is very impetuous. It is remarkable, that the greateſt tides are one year at the full moon, and the other at the new; one year the night tides, and the next the day. This river affords a noble conveyance for goods and merchandize of all ſorts to and from the county; but it is watered by ſeveral others, as the Wye, the Avon, the Iſis, the Leyden, the Frome, the Stroud, and Windruſh, beſides leſſer ſtreams, all abounding with fiſh, the Severn in particular with ſalmon, conger eels, and lampreys. The ſoil is in general very fertile, though pretty much diverſified, yielding plenty of corn, paſture, fruit, and wood. In the hilly part of the county, or Cottetſwold, the air is ſharper than in the lowlands; and the ſoil, though not ſo fit for grain, produces excellent paſture for ſheep; ſo that of the four hundred thouſand that are computed to be kept in the county, the greater part are fed here. Of theſe ſheep the wool is exceeding fine; and hence it is that this ſhire is ſo eminent for its manufacture of cloth, of which fifty thouſand pieces are ſaid to have been made yearly, before the practice of claudeſtinely exporting Engliſh wool became ſo common. In the vale, or lower part of the county, through which the Severn paſſes, the air and ſoil are very different from thoſe of the Cottetſwold: for the former is much warmer, and the latter richer, yielding the moſt luxuriant paſtures; in conſequence of which, numerous herds of black cattle are kept, and great quantities of that excellent cheeſe, for which it is ſo much celebrated, made in it. The remaining part of the county, called the
Glocester-shire Glory. Forest of Dean, was formerly almost entirely overrun with wood, and extended 20 miles in length, and 10 in breadth. It was then a nest of robbers, especially towards the Severn; but now it contains many towns and villages, consisting chiefly of miners, employed in the coal pits, or in digging for or forging iron ore, with both which the forest abounds. These miners have their particular laws, customs, courts, and judges: and the king, as in all royal forests, has a swain-mote for the preservation of the vert and venison. This forest was anciently, and is still noted for its oaks, which thrive here surprisingly; but as there is a prodigious consumption of wood in the forges, it is continually dwindling away. A navigable canal is made from Stroud to Framilode, forming a junction between the Severn and Thames. Its chalybeate springs are, St Anthony's well, in Abbenhall parish; at Barrow and Maredon, in Bodington parish; at Ash-church, near Tewkesbury; at Dumbleton, near Winchcombe; at Easington, near Dursley; and at Cheltenham. Its ancient fortifications, attributed to the Romans, Saxons, or Danes, are Abston and Wick, and at Dointon, Dixton, Addlesthorpe, Knole, Over Upton, Hanham Bodington, and Bourton on the Water.