Gloucestershire, a county with a bit of everything!

The western boundary of the county is formed by the River Wye famous for its wooded gorges. This blends into the Royal Forest of Dean, an ancient hunting forest that still has 27,000 acres of woodlands. Here are secret glades of foxgloves intermingled with sites of industrial archaeology, the area once being extensively mined for iron and coal.

Eastwards the landscape opens out into the green and fertile vale of the River Severn, Britain’s longest river, famous for its tidal bore. The river is bridged at Gloucester, an ancient city famed for its cathedral and restored docks.

The Leadon Valley occupies the north west corner of the county with market gardens, orchards and vineyards based around the market town of Newent. Tewkesbury is renowned for its half-timbered buildings and Norman abbey.

Cheltenham is celebrated for its Regency architecture and cultural festivals besides being a winner of the Britain in Bloom contest.

The Stroud valleys were once the centre of the West of England cloth trade and the steep valleys are interspersed with Cotswold grassland commons. Eastwards brings us to the Cotswolds with their gently rolling hills, mellow villages and fertile valleys. The south east corner of the county is home to the Cotswold Water Park, an area of old gravel workings now enjoyed for nature conservation and recreation.

For a complete listing of the Gloucestershire towns and villages featured as stock photographs in the Cotswolds Photo Library, please click Towns and Villages in the Cotswolds.