Dursley
Encyclopedia
Dursley is a market town in Gloucestershire
, England. It is under the North East flank of Stinchcombe Hill (part of the 'Cotswold Edge'), and about 6 km South East of the River Severn
. The town is adjacent with Cam
which, though a village, is a community of double the size. The two communities (combined population about 12,000) share many facilities.
The Parish Church of St. James the Great dates from the 13th century, but the modern building is largely of 14th and 15th century construction. The original church spire collapsed in January 1699 during a bell-ringing session, causing casualties. The current bell tower, in an imposing 'Gothic Survival' style was built by Thomas Sumsion of Colerne in the years 1708-09.
The pillared market house, complete with statue of Queen Anne and bell turret, dates from 1738, when the town's markets attracted farmers and traders from miles around.
In 1856 a short branch line railway
opened, linking Dursley and Cam to the Bristol
- Gloucester
main line at Coaley
Junction. The branch line was closed in 1968. Coaley Junction station was also closed at about this time. However, in 1994 a new railway station called Cam and Dursley
was opened on the main line near the site of Coaley Junction.
Ancient historical sites in the vicinity give evidence of earlier occupation. Uley Bury
, in nearby Uley
, is an Iron Age hill fort dating from around 300BC, and the village also has neolithic long barrows, which are evident further afield at Selsley Common and Nympsfield
to the north. Notable Roman remains exist at Frocester
, West Hill near Uley
, Woodchester
and Calcot Manor.
escarpment where it drops off towards the Severn Vale and the River Severn
. Dursley's main watercourse is the River Cam, and the town is surrounded by beautiful woodland and countryside. The Cotswold Way
long distance trail passes through Dursley.
Stinchcombe Hill provides a scenic backdrop to much of the town. It has an 18 hole golf course, said to be a favourite of the actor Hugh Grant
. The Hill has had a great deal of work carried out by volunteers (SHV, led by John Smallwood), since 1992, in an attempt to restore the open views over the Severn Vale. The cleared areas can be seen from the M5 motorway. The Cotswold Way has now been re-routed around the Hill to take advantage of this work.
In the 19th and 20th centuries Dursley was a large-scale manufacturing town, and the engines built here by Lister
stationary engine
company were seen around the world. That company's successor, Lister-Petter, is still based in the town, though much of the original 92 acres (372,311.1 m²) factory site was acquired in 2000 by the South West Regional Development Agency and is now part of a large housing development. The Towers, a large gothic-style house, formerly part of the Lister Petter estate, still overlooks the town and the site has been converted into flats and a residential care home.
Historically, other large factories based in the town included Mawdsleys, an electrical equipment manufacturer, Bymacks an upholsterers and the Bailey Newspaper Group, a newspaper printer, all of which have reduced or closed operations in recent years.
A new Sainsburys supermarket opened in March 2010 preceded by the closure of Somerfield. Lidl and Iceland has also opened in the town and a co-op store is located in Rosebery Road. Many people class Dursley as the "supermarket and charity shop" district of Gloucestershire. However, it does have in the town centre a range of shops including a traditional ironmongers, a haberdashery, an old fashioned sweet shop and a butchers, a bakers and a greengrocers.
A range of markets are held at the Market Place in the centre of the town and a Farmers Market is held there on the second Saturday of every month. Continuing urban sprawl now joins Dursley and the near-by village of Cam, making it a souless mass of housing.
Dursley has a number of licensed premises and the Old Spot pub is regularly voted Gloucestershire Pub of the Year. The pub was also named as 2007 CAMRA National Pub of the year
.
Around 1496, the famous Christian writer and martyr, William Tyndale was born here.
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England. It is under the North East flank of Stinchcombe Hill (part of the 'Cotswold Edge'), and about 6 km South East of the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
. The town is adjacent with Cam
Cam, Gloucestershire
Cam is a large village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, situated in the Cotswolds. The Cotswold Way runs less than a mile from the village. It has a boundary with the town of Dursley.Cam had approximately 8,500 residents in the 2001 census...
which, though a village, is a community of double the size. The two communities (combined population about 12,000) share many facilities.
History
Dursley gained borough status in 1471 and lost it in 1886. From then until 1974 it was the administrative centre of Dursley Rural District (RDC). In 1974 the RDC became part of Stroud District.The Parish Church of St. James the Great dates from the 13th century, but the modern building is largely of 14th and 15th century construction. The original church spire collapsed in January 1699 during a bell-ringing session, causing casualties. The current bell tower, in an imposing 'Gothic Survival' style was built by Thomas Sumsion of Colerne in the years 1708-09.
The pillared market house, complete with statue of Queen Anne and bell turret, dates from 1738, when the town's markets attracted farmers and traders from miles around.
In 1856 a short branch line railway
Dursley and Midland Junction Railway
The Dursley and Midland Junction Railway was a company formed to build a short railway in Gloucestershire, England linking the town of Dursley to the Midland Railway's Bristol to Gloucester line at Coaley. The line was built in 1856 and was long...
opened, linking Dursley and Cam to the Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
- Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
main line at Coaley
Coaley
Coaley is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire roughly 4 miles from the town of Dursley, and 5 miles from the town of Stroud. The village drops from the edge of the Cotswold Hills, overlooked by Frocester Hill and Coaley Peak picnic site, towards the River Cam at Cam and Cambridge and...
Junction. The branch line was closed in 1968. Coaley Junction station was also closed at about this time. However, in 1994 a new railway station called Cam and Dursley
Cam and Dursley railway station
Cam and Dursley railway station is a railway station serving the towns of Cam and Dursley in Gloucestershire. It is located on the main Bristol-Birmingham line, between Yate and Gloucester, at a site close to where Coaley Junction railway station was situated from 1856 to 1965.-The new...
was opened on the main line near the site of Coaley Junction.
Ancient historical sites in the vicinity give evidence of earlier occupation. Uley Bury
Uley Bury
right|thumb|500px|View along the north-eastern rampart of Uley Bury, drawn by E.J. Burrow in 1913Uley Bury is the long, flat-topped hill just outside Uley, Gloucestershire, England. It is an impressive multi-vallate, scarp-edge Iron Age hill fort dating from around 300 B.C...
, in nearby Uley
Uley
Uley is a village in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated in a wooded valley in the Cotswold escarpment, on the road between Dursley and Stroud. The population is around 1,100, but was much greater during the early years of the industrial revolution, when the village was...
, is an Iron Age hill fort dating from around 300BC, and the village also has neolithic long barrows, which are evident further afield at Selsley Common and Nympsfield
Nympsfield
Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around six miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish also contains the hamlet of Cockadilly....
to the north. Notable Roman remains exist at Frocester
Frocester
Frocester is a village and civil parish in Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England. It lies below the Cotswold escarpment, 10 miles south of Gloucester and 4 miles west of Stroud. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 194....
, West Hill near Uley
Uley
Uley is a village in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated in a wooded valley in the Cotswold escarpment, on the road between Dursley and Stroud. The population is around 1,100, but was much greater during the early years of the industrial revolution, when the village was...
, Woodchester
Woodchester
Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth....
and Calcot Manor.
Character and amenities
The town sits on the edge of the CotswoldCotswold
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in central England that give their name to:*Cotswold *Cotswold *Cotswold Chase, a horse race*Cotswold Games, annual games in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire...
escarpment where it drops off towards the Severn Vale and the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
. Dursley's main watercourse is the River Cam, and the town is surrounded by beautiful woodland and countryside. The Cotswold Way
Cotswold Way
The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the Cotswold Edge escarpment of the Cotswold Hills in England. It was officially inaugurated as a National Trail on 24 May 2007 and several new rights of way have been created.-History:...
long distance trail passes through Dursley.
Stinchcombe Hill provides a scenic backdrop to much of the town. It has an 18 hole golf course, said to be a favourite of the actor Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
. The Hill has had a great deal of work carried out by volunteers (SHV, led by John Smallwood), since 1992, in an attempt to restore the open views over the Severn Vale. The cleared areas can be seen from the M5 motorway. The Cotswold Way has now been re-routed around the Hill to take advantage of this work.
In the 19th and 20th centuries Dursley was a large-scale manufacturing town, and the engines built here by Lister
R A Lister and Company
R A Lister & Company was founded in Dursley, Gloucestershire, in 1867 by Sir Robert Ashton Lister , to produce agricultural machinery. The family was originally from Yorkshire but Ashton's father relocated to Dursley in 1817....
stationary engine
Stationary engine
A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. It is normally used not to propel a vehicle but to drive a piece of immobile equipment such as a pump or power tool. They may be powered by steam; or oil-burning or internal combustion engines....
company were seen around the world. That company's successor, Lister-Petter, is still based in the town, though much of the original 92 acres (372,311.1 m²) factory site was acquired in 2000 by the South West Regional Development Agency and is now part of a large housing development. The Towers, a large gothic-style house, formerly part of the Lister Petter estate, still overlooks the town and the site has been converted into flats and a residential care home.
Historically, other large factories based in the town included Mawdsleys, an electrical equipment manufacturer, Bymacks an upholsterers and the Bailey Newspaper Group, a newspaper printer, all of which have reduced or closed operations in recent years.
A new Sainsburys supermarket opened in March 2010 preceded by the closure of Somerfield. Lidl and Iceland has also opened in the town and a co-op store is located in Rosebery Road. Many people class Dursley as the "supermarket and charity shop" district of Gloucestershire. However, it does have in the town centre a range of shops including a traditional ironmongers, a haberdashery, an old fashioned sweet shop and a butchers, a bakers and a greengrocers.
A range of markets are held at the Market Place in the centre of the town and a Farmers Market is held there on the second Saturday of every month. Continuing urban sprawl now joins Dursley and the near-by village of Cam, making it a souless mass of housing.
Dursley has a number of licensed premises and the Old Spot pub is regularly voted Gloucestershire Pub of the Year. The pub was also named as 2007 CAMRA National Pub of the year
National Pub of the Year
The National Pub of the Year is an annual competition held by CAMRA in February that finds the best pub in the UK. Established in 1988, the competition helps to highlight quality pubs around the UK that are worth seeking out and visiting. Each year, each local CAMRA branch nominates one pub in...
.
Around 1496, the famous Christian writer and martyr, William Tyndale was born here.
Trivia
- Mikael PedersenMikael PedersenMikael Pedersen was a Danish inventor much associated with the English town of Dursley. He is chiefly known today for the highly distinctive Pedersen bicycle...
invented the Pedersen bicyclePedersen bicycleThe Pedersen bicycle, also called the Dursley Pedersen bicycle is a bicycle that was developed by Danish inventor Mikael Pedersen and produced in the English town of Dursley. Though never hugely popular, they enjoy a devoted following and are still produced today...
in Dursley in the 19th Century.
- Dursley once had a castle, built by Roger de Berkeley in 1153.
- Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
author JK Rowling, born in nearby YateYateYate is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, at the southwest extremity of the Cotswold Hills, 12 miles northeast of the city of Bristol. At the 2001 census the population was 21,789. The town of Chipping Sodbury is continuous with Yate to the east...
, used to visit the town as a child with her parents and named the Dursley family in the Potter books after the town. J. K. Rowling has commented that she visited the place as a child and hated it, which likely affected her choice of surname for the awful family, remarking "I don't imagine I'm very popular in Dursley"
External links
- Dursley Chamber of Trade Website
- Dursley Gazette Website
- Dursley Town Council
- A history of Dursley's railways
- Coaley Junction Action Committee
- Vale Vision Community Development covering Dursley, Cam and the surrounding villages
- Rednock School website
- Community Plan for Cam and Dursley area for 2012 onward
- About the Dursley Pedersen Bicycle