Barnwood is a suburb and former
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the city of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
, in the county of
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
, England. It lies about east of the centre of the city.
Barnwood was originally a small village on the
Roman road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
that links Gloucester with
Hucclecote,
Brockworth
Brockworth is a village and parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, situated on the old Roman road that connects the City of Gloucester with Barnwood. It is located southeast of central Gloucester, southwest of Cheltenh ...
and
Cirencester
Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...
. The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
is dedicated to St Lawrence.
Economy
The Generation Design and Construction Division of the
CEGB became the centre of a new office development when it moved here in the early 1970s. This then became the corporate headquarters of
Nuclear Electric, and later the English offices of the (nominally Scottish-based)
British Energy, which in 2009 became part of
EDF Energy. Other major companies in Barnwood include
Claranet,
Cheltenham & Gloucester,
Unilever Gloucester (
ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...
) and InterCall. There is also a
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...
,
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
,
Virgin Active and
Tenpin Ltd in the area.
Education
Barnwood Park School is a
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
.
Arboretum
Barnwood
Arboretum
An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
is set on the grounds of the
Barnwood House Hospital
Barnwood House Hospital was a private mental hospital in Barnwood, Gloucester, England. It was founded by the Gloucester Asylum Trust in 1860 as Barnwood House Institution and later became known as Barnwood House Hospital.[Gloucester City Council
Gloucester City Council is the local authority for the city of Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. Gloucester has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 Gloucester has been a non-metropo ...]
in conjunction with the Friends of Barnwood Arboretum (FOBA). The Arboretum's main entrance is off Church Lane, Barnwood. It has with various habitats including
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
and
wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
, and is set amongst a collection of mature native and exotic specimen trees.
The Friends of Barnwood Arboretum & Park organise events throughout the year to encourage local citizens to use the area in an educational manner.
Football
Barnwood United Association Football Club plays its home games at Walls Club, Barnwood. Nicknamed 'The Barny Boys', the club competes in the
Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division 2. The club is affiliated to
Gloucestershire FA. They also have a reserve side who are members of
Stroud and District Football League Division 3.
Notable people
Samuel and Anne Bubb, who were grandparents of the inventor Sir
Charles Wheatstone
Sir Charles Wheatstone (; 6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875) was an English physicist and inventor best known for his contributions to the development of the Wheatstone bridge, originally invented by Samuel Hunter Christie, which is used to m ...
(1802–75), lived at Barnwood Manor House. Biographical notes of 1887 say that Sir Charles stated that he was born in the house and lived there as a young child, and this was the scene of some of his earliest experiments. In later years Wheatstone often returned to Barnwood. A local
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
is named The Wheatstone Inn after him.
The architect
Frederick S. Waller (1822–1905), sometime resident architect at
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...
, lived and died at Barnwood.
Civil parish
On 1 April 1966 the parish was abolished and became part of Gloucester, Hucclecote and
Upton St. Leonards. In 1961 the parish had a population of 2160.
References
External links
*
{{Areas of Gloucester
Areas of Gloucester
Former civil parishes in Gloucestershire