River Severn In and Around Gloucester
Channel: Chris Witts of Severn Tales
Date: 2021-02-17

Between the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds there is a large plain of fertile land crossed by the River Severn. Although the longest river in Britain it is quite shallow when compared to other similar rivers. Thus, why Gloucester was chosen as a settlement in early times, the lowest point where it is safe to cross the river. Below Gloucester the Severn becomes dangerous, especially along the estuary where fortnightly spring tides sweep in from the sea.
     From the many excavations in and around the city of Gloucester it has been found that settlers were here some 6,000 years ago. It is said that a tribe known as the Dobunni lived in the Severn Vale the century before the arrival of the Romans. Six years following the invasion of Britain by the Romans, in AD 49, they came to build a fortress in Gloucester. First at Kingsholm, close to the River Severn, then when they discovered the problems associated with the river in flood, moved to what is now the centre of the city.
     The Romans named the city Glevum and when they left in AD 407 it left many inhabitants behind to fend for themselves. The city fell into ruin and when in AD 577 the Saxons appeared they preferred to live nearer the Severn, not in the ruined palatial Roman buildings.
     It was around c900 that the fortunes of Gloucester changed when Aethelflaeda, daughter of King Alfred the Great, ordered that the city fortifications be rebuilt and the roads improved. 
     The church of St Mary de Lode is the oldest church in Gloucester with the present building dating from the 12th century. Beneath the church are the remains of an entire Roman pavement. It is said that King Lucius was buried on the site in the 2nd century.
     Saxon rule came to an end following the 1066 Battle of Hastings when Harold was defeated by William the Conqueror, who was then proclaimed the Norman King of England.
     One of the finest cathedrals in Britain is at Gloucester. But first it was an abbey when from 1089 monks would pray seven times each day. In actual fact the story of religion in Gloucester dates right back to AD 678 when King Ethelred of Mercia gave Osric, the prince of the province of Hwicce, a piece of land in the city to build a religious building dedicated to St Peter.