Stroud District is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

in the ceremonial county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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. The county town is the city of ...

, South West England. The district covers many outlying towns and villages. The towns forming the district are Dursley, Minchinhampton,

Nailsworth Nailsworth is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds, on the A46 road (the Roman Fosse Way), south of Stroud and about north-east of Bristol and Bath. The parish had a popula ...

Painswick Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church's yew trees and the local Rococo Garden. The village is mainly ...

, Stonehouse, Berkeley,

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five Va ...

(The administrative centre) and

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...

. The district is geographically located between the

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...

district to the northwest and northeast,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...

district to the north, the

Cotswold The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

district to the north-northeast. east and southeast, The

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

district to the north-northwest, west, and southwest and the

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

unitary authority to the southeast, south, and south-southwest. The largest settlement by far is

, followed by the village of

Cam Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...

and Stonehouse.

History

Stroud District Council was formed under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, on 1 April 1974, by a merger of

and Stroud

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

s, Dursley Rural District, Stroud Rural District, and parts of Gloucester Rural District, Sodbury Rural District and

Thornbury Rural District Thornbury Rural District was a rural district council centred on Thornbury in the south of Gloucestershire. It was originally formed as a Poor Law Union on 5 April 1836 with 26 Guardians representing the 21 parishes in the Union and the Guardian ...

. In 1991 following a boundary review the Parish of Hillesely and Tresham was transferred from Northavon District Council to Stroud. This area was formerly in the Chipping Sodbury Rural District Council area. At the same review the parish of Quedgeley (formerly in Gloucester Rural) was transferred from Stroud to Gloucester City. The area is rich in

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

remnants and is of particular interest to

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

s for its

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

burial grounds, of which there are over 100. Much of its wealth was built on the cloth industry during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

, and its many mills, most of which are now listed buildings, survive as testament to this. Much of the landscape in this area is designated as an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

. The esteemed

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. His ...

walk leads through the area. There are

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is a ...

clubs at Aston Down and

Nympsfield Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around four miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish contains the hamlet of Cockadilly. The population take ...

Politics

Elections to the district council since 2016 are now held on a whole council basis every four years. Previously since 1983 elections by thirds took place in three out of every four years. At the 2016 election, the coalition of Labour, Greens and the Liberal Democrats retained its majority on Stroud District Council. The 2019 general election saw Siobhan Kathleen Baillie, a British Conservative Party politician, elected as Member of Parliament for Stroud. Stroud District Council elects 51 councillors from 27 wards. Following the May 2021 local elections the Green Party and Liberal Democrats both increased their number of seats on the council. On 18 May 2021 the Stroud News and Journal reported that "Stroud District Council will continue to be run by an alliance of Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat councillors." On 30 June 2022, leader of the council, Doina Cornell, left the Labour Party following her removal from the long list of candidates for the Stroud constituency. Three other members of the council also left the Labour Party the day after. On 21 July 2022, leader of the council, Doina Cornell, resigned from her position as leader of the council. The council in turn elected Catherine Braun of the Green Party as leader of the council, as following the resignations the Green Party formed the largest portion of the alliance. Natalie Bennett of the Labour Party was elected deputy leader of the council. The inaugural meeting of the new Council following elections in June 1973 was on 29 June 1973 at Stroud Subscription Rooms.

Responsibilities

Stroud District Council carries out a variety of district council functions including: *Benefits – Housing and Council Tax *Car Parking *Concessionary Travel *Council Tax – Administration and Collection *Elections and Electoral Registration *Environmental Health (includes Domestic and Commercial Premises) *Food Safety and Hygiene Complaints *Noise Pollution and Pest Control *Housing Administration *Licensing *Caravan Sites *Planning, including Planning Applications, Advice and Appeals *Public Conveniences (in some locales) *Health and Leisure Centres *Refuse Collection *Recycling *Tourism and Visitor Information.

Notable Members of Stroud District Council (and predecessors)

Margaret Hills Margaret Hills (née Robertson 1882 – 1967) was a British teacher, suffragist organiser, feminist and socialist. She was first female councillor on Stroud Urban District Council and later served as a Councillor on Gloucestershire County Counci ...

(née Robertson) was the first woman elected to Stroud Urban District Council in 1928. where she stood as a representative of the Stroud Women's Citizens Association (SWCA). She remained a member until 1936 when the council was expanded to cover Cainscross and

Rodborough Rodborough is a large village and civil parish in the district of Stroud, Gloucestershire, in South West England. It is directly south of the town of Stroud, north of the town of Nailsworth and north-west of the town of Minchinhampton. The par ...

. David Drew (politician) is also a former member of the council originally representing the Stonehouse Ward and more recently the Paganhill and Farmhill Ward.

Tom Levitt Tom Levitt (born 10 April 1954) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for High Peak from the 1997 to 2010 general elections. Early life Born in Crewe in 1954, Levitt was raised in Leek, Staffordshire. He w ...

is also a former member and served for a short time before moving to High Peak in the early 1990s.

References

External links

Stroud District CouncilStroud Voices (search page) – oral history site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroud (District) Non-metropolitan districts of Gloucestershire