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Map Dursley nestles amidst beautiful scenery on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment, above the Vale of Berkeley and the River Severn. Gaining borough status in 1471, Dursley was once the market centre for the whole Vale of Berkeley, also having a significant role in the local wool industry. |
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The town's distinctive Market House was built by the Estcourt family in 1738. The upper part of the building stands on pillars and has a bell turret. Its east face bears a statue of Queen Anne, while the South face has the coat of arms of the Estcourt family. Once famous for its butter and cheese markets the building now serves as the Town Hall. |
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The parish church of St James the Great stands opposite the Market House.
It was started in the thirteenth century but is mostly a product of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The church once had a steeple, but this
collapsed in the seventeenth century upon the unfortunate bell-ringers
below and was never rebuilt.
The tower fell on January 7th 1699, ironically, this was during a peal
being rung to celebrate completion of repairs to the church roof.
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Other landmarks include the Broadwell, a natural spring which rises at the bottom of Silver Street and forms a tributary of the Ewelme and the Priory, an ancient building at the bottom of Long Street. |
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The town is surrounded by an impressive backdrop of ancient beechwoods. |
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The Cotswold Way passes through the town. The route enters the town with a steep drop down Drake Lane to the Lister factory at the bottom of Long Street. It follows Long Street up the hill again to the Market Place. From here it turns west up the pedestrianised main street Parsonage Street. Turning south into May Lane it passes the library and bus station. The Way leaves the town via the very steep Hill Road which leads to Stinchcombe Hill Golf Course.
Tourist Attractions nearby include :
Dursley is situated in the administrative district of Stroud in the county of Gloucestershire. It is 15 miles south of the City of Gloucester and 25 miles north of Bristol. Cheltenham is 23 miles to the north-east and Bath is 28 miles to the south-east. The town is 112 miles to the west of London.
The railway came to Dursley in 1856. Dursley station was at the bottom of Long Street next to the Listers factory. The branch line ran from Dursley along the valley via a station at Cam to Coaley Junction, where it joined the main Gloucester-Bristol line. The last train left Dursley station in 1968. A new station called Cam and Dursley was opened in 1994 at a site just north of the old Coaley Junction. There are regular trains in both directions, a shuttle bus meets every train and conveys passengers to and from Dursley town centre.
The nearest airport is Bristol Lulsgate which is around 35 miles away and journey time by car is 1 hour.
| Dursley is twinned with the town of Bovenden, near Göttingen in Germany. |
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| Bovenden |
Industry around Dursley
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