Editing Gloucester (section)

==History==
===Roman Gloucester===
{{See also|Glevum}}

Glevum was established around AD 48 at an important crossing of the River Severn and near to the [[Fosse Way]], the early front line after the Roman invasion of Britain. Initially, a Roman fort was established at present-day Kingsholm. Twenty years later, a larger legionary fortress was built on slightly higher ground nearby, centred on present-day Gloucester Cross, and a civilian settlement grew around it. Probably the Roman Legion [[Legio XX Valeria Victrix|XX Valeria Victrix]] was based here until 66 and then [[Legio II Augusta]]<ref>G Webster, Rome against Caractacus, p 45, {{isbn|978-0415239875}}</ref> as they prepared to invade Roman Wales between 66 and 74 AD, who stayed later until around 87.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=http://www.gadarg.org.uk/essays/e001.htm |title=GADARG – Essay 1 |access-date=9 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927074540/http://www.gadarg.org.uk/essays/e001.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011}} The colonia of Glevum</ref>

Gloucester became a ''[[Colonia (Roman)|Colonia]]'' in 97 as ''Colonia Nervia Glevensium'', or ''Glevum'', in the reign of [[Nerva]]. It is likely that Glevum became the provincial capital of [[Britannia Prima]].<ref name="auto"/>

Within about 15 years new privately constructed properties replaced the earlier barracks and public buildings, temples and bath houses were under construction in stone. Piped water began to be supplied. Drains and sewers were laid. On the site of the legionary ''principia'' an imposing central ''[[Forum (Roman)|forum]]'' was laid out surrounded by colonnades and flanked on three sides by part-timbered ranges of shops. Closing off the south of the forum was the 100m x 40m [[Basilica]]. Many fine homes with [[mosaic]] floors were built in the town.

At its height, Glevum may have had a population of as many as 10,000 people. The entire area around Glevum was intensely Romanised in the second and third centuries with a higher than normal distribution of villas.

At the end of the third century or the start of the fourth, major changes were made to the city's second-century wall. It was replaced in two stages by a stronger and higher one of stone resting on massive reused stone blocks. In the second stage, the blocks rested on deep timber foundation piles. Stone external towers were added; two parallel wide ditches were also cut in front of the new walls.

Remains of the Roman city can still be seen:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/community/discover-the-past/archaeology-in-your-area/gloscat/ |title=Excavating Roman Gloucester |access-date=14 October 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923133508/https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/community/discover-the-past/archaeology-in-your-area/gloscat/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gloucesterarchaeologicalpublications.co.uk/ |title=Gloucester Archaeological Publications |website=Gloucester Archaeological Publications |access-date=14 October 2020 |archive-date=16 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016032419/https://www.gloucesterarchaeologicalpublications.co.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
*Many archaeological artifacts and some in-situ walls in the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery
*The remains of the Roman and mediaeval East Gate in the East Gate Chamber on Eastgate Street.
*Northgate, Southgate, Eastgate and Westgate Streets all follow the line of their original Roman counterparts, although Westgate Street has moved slightly north and Southgate Street now extends through the site of the Roman basilica.

===Post-Roman Gloucester===

{{See also|Roman withdrawal from Britain|Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Heptarchy|Kingdom of England}}
Withdrawal of all Roman forces and many societal leaders in about the year 410 may have allowed leading families of the [[Dobunni]] tribe to regain power within the now Roman-influenced, interconnected and intermixed Celtic Brythonic local people. This intermix is reflected by the fact a large minority of basic words and available synonyms in Welsh have a Latin base. In the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' Gloucester is shown as part of [[Wessex]] from the [[Battle of Deorham]] in 577. At some point afterwards, along with the rest of its shire excluding the [[Forest of Dean]], Gloucester was part of the minor kingdom of the [[Hwicce]]. In 628, as a result of the [[Battle of Cirencester]], that kingdom became a client or sub-kingdom of [[Mercia]]. From about 780, the Hwicce was no longer feigning any pretence as a kingdom and became part of [[Mercia]]. Mercia, allied by matrimony and sharing a desire to counter the Danish onslaught as had conquered swathes of the wider island at large, submitted to [[Alfred the Great]]'s [[Kingdom of Wessex]] in about 877–883. A 20th-century writer intuitively adds that Roman stem Gleu- Glev- was, doubtless, pronounced without any final consonant.<ref>Kenneth Cameron: ''English Place Names''</ref> ''Claudia Castra'' is mentioned in the 18th century as a possible Latin name related to the city.<ref name="Claudia">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rzZLAAAAcAAJ&q=Claudia+Castra&pg=RA3-PA15 |title=Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendiarius |publisher=Mount, 1752 – 802 pages |author=Robert Ainsworth |year=1752 |access-date=13 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923133100/https://books.google.ie/books?id=rzZLAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA3-PA15&lpg=RA3-PA15&dq=Claudia+Castra&source=bl&ots=XmY1akd68l&sig=8_4DyXQUfe3ibPQmaer360A2-AI&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Claudia%20Castra&f=false |archive-date=23 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The first bridging point on a navigable, defensive barrier, great river and the foundation in 681 of the abbey of St Peter by [[Æthelred of Mercia]], favoured town growth; and before the [[Norman conquest of England]], Gloucester was a borough governed by a [[sheriff|portreeve]], with a castle which was frequently a royal residence, and a mint. In the early 10th century, the remains of [[Oswald of Northumbria|Saint Oswald]] were brought to a small church here and shrine built there, a draw for pilgrims. The core street layout is thought to date to the reign of [[Æthelflæd]] in late Saxon times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp5-12 |title=Anglo-Saxon Gloucester: c.680 – 1066 |work=british-history.ac.uk |access-date=22 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222220156/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp5-12 |archive-date=22 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1051, [[Edward the Confessor]] held court at Gloucester and was threatened there by an army led by [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]], but the incident resulted in a standoff rather than a battle.

===Middle ages===
After the Norman Conquest, [[William Rufus]] made [[Robert Fitzhamon]] the first baron or overlord of Gloucester. Fitzhamon had a military base at [[Cardiff Castle]], and for the succeeding years the history of Gloucester was closely linked to that of Cardiff.
<!--<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-17027300 |title='Unique' 11th Century coin discovered near Gloucester |publisher=BBC Gloucestershire |date=16 February 2012 |access-date=20 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426211434/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-17027300 |archive-date=26 April 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>-->

During [[the Anarchy]], Gloucester was a centre of support for the [[Empress Matilda]],<ref>Gesta Stephani, §47</ref> who was supported in her claim to the throne by her half-brother, Fitzhamon's grandson, [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester]] (also known as Robert of Gloucester). After this period of strife ended with the ascent of her son Henry to the throne [[Henry II of England]], Henry granted Robert possession of [[Cardiff Castle]], and it later passed to [[William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester]] son of Robert. The story of the Anarchy is vividly told in a series of 19th-century paintings by [[William Burges]] at the Castle.

Henry granted Gloucester its first charter in 1155, which gave the burgesses the same liberties as the citizens of London and [[Winchester]]. A second charter of Henry&nbsp;II gave them freedom of passage on the [[River Severn]]. The first charter was confirmed in 1194 by [[Richard I of England|King Richard&nbsp;I]]. The privileges of the borough were greatly extended by the charter of [[John of England|King John]] (1200), which gave freedom from toll throughout the kingdom and from pleading outside the borough.

In 1216, [[Henry III of England|King Henry III]], aged only ten years, was crowned with a gilded iron ring in the Chapter House of [[Gloucester Cathedral]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannia.com/history/city/glos.html |title=Short History of the City of Gloucester, Gloucestershire |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902133048/http://www.britannia.com/history/city/glos.html |archive-date=2 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> During his reign, [[Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany]] his cousin was briefly imprisoned at Gloucester Castle as state prisoner from 1222 to 1223, and from 1237 to 1238, in addition to sometime during the reign of King John.<ref>Seabourne, Gwen. Imprisoning Medieval Women (2013) pp. 67, 70, 79, 81–83</ref>

Gloucester's significance in the Middle Ages is underlined by the fact that it had a number of monastic establishments, including St Peter's Abbey founded in 679 (later [[Gloucester Cathedral]]), the nearby [[St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester]] founded in the 880s or 890s, Llanthony Secunda Priory, founded 1136 as a retreat for a community of Welsh monks (now near the western bypass),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.llanthonysecunda.org/ |title=Llanthony Secunda Priory |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416012846/http://www.llanthonysecunda.org/ |archive-date=16 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> the Franciscan Greyfriars community founded in 1231 (near [[Eastgate Shopping Centre, Gloucester|Eastgate Shopping Centre]]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/greyfriars/history/ |title=History of Greyfriars – English Heritage |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817110921/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/greyfriars/history/ |archive-date=17 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Dominican Blackfriars community founded in 1239 (Ladybellegate Street).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gloucesterblackfriars.co.uk/ |title=Blackfriars Priory |work=Gloucesterblackfriars.co.uk |access-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114161600/http://www.gloucesterblackfriars.co.uk/ |archive-date=14 January 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> It also has some very early churches including [[St Mary de Lode Church, Gloucester]] near the Cathedral and the Norman [[St Mary de Crypt Church, Gloucester]] in [[Southgate Street]].

Additionally, there is evidence of a [[Jews|Jewish]] community in Gloucester as early as 1158–1159; they lived around present-day East Gate Street and had a synagogue on the south side, near St Michael's church.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jewish Community of Gloucester |url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/gloucester |publisher=The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot |access-date=3 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703133736/https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/gloucester |archive-date=3 July 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillaby |first1=Joe |last2=Hillaby |first2=Caroline |title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History |year=2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=9780230278165 |ol=OL28086241M |pages=151–3}}</ref> Gloucester was probably the home of Rabbi Moses, who established an important Anglo-Jewish family. The Jews of the town were falsely accused by the Dominican monks of murdering a child, [[Harold of Gloucester]], in an attempt to establish a cult similar to that of [[William of Norwich]], which failed entirely. Nevertheless, the accusations were recycled around the time of the [[Edict of Expulsion]]. In January 1275, [[Eleanor of Provence]] expelled Jews from all of the towns within her dower lands, and the Jews of Gloucester were ordered to move to [[Bristol]] but finding an especially difficult situation there, relocated to [[Hereford]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillaby |first1=Joe |last2=Hillaby |first2=Caroline |title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History |year=2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=9780230278165 |ol=OL28086241M |pages=143–4, 147–53}}</ref>

[[File:Gloucester Cathedral Exterior.jpg|thumb|[[Gloucester Cathedral]] housed the Parliament between 1378 and 1406.]] In the [[Middle Ages]], the main export was wool, which came from the [[Cotswolds]] and was processed in Gloucester; other exports included [[leather]] and [[iron]] (tools and weapons). Gloucester also had a large fishing industry at that time.

In 1222, a massive fire destroyed part of Gloucester.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t3806c15s |title=The history and description of the city of Gloucester, from the earliest period to the present time |last=Counsel |first=George Worrall |year=1829 |location=Gloucester |pages=21 |publisher=Printed for J. Bulgin |hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t3806c15s |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-date=3 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503115727/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t3806c15s |url-status=live}}</ref>

One of the most significant periods in Gloucester's history began in 1378 when [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] convened Parliament in the city. Parliaments were held there until 1406 under [[Henry&nbsp;IV of England]]. The Parliament Rooms at the Cathedral remain as testimony to this important time.

Gloucester was incorporated by [[Richard III of England|King Richard III]] in 1483, the town being made a [[county corporate|county]] in itself.

===Early modern era to contemporary period===
[[File:Ancient Gloucester from Speed's map of 1610 and Hall & Pinnell, ex Fosbroke.jpg|thumb|''Ancient Gloucester'' from Speed's map of 1610 with fortifications from Hall & Pinnell, ex [[Thomas Dudley Fosbroke|Fosbroke]]'s history (contains inaccuracies)<ref>Fosbroke, Thomas Dudley. (1819) ''[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t9x06cq2v;view=1up;seq=15 An Original History of the City of Gloucester &c] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503115725/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft9x06cq2v;view=1up;seq=15|date=3 May 2021}}''. London: John Nichols. p. viii.</ref>]]

The city's charter was confirmed in 1489 and 1510, and other charters of incorporation were received by Gloucester from [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] and [[James I of England|King James I]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Medieval Gloucester: Town government, 1483–1547 Pages 54–57 A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp54-57 |website=British History Online |publisher=Victoria County History |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302144800/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp54-57 |archive-date=2 March 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Queen Mary I of England|Princess Mary]] visited Gloucester in September 1525 accompanied by her ladies and gentlewomen. She was met by the Mayor, [[John Rawlins (MP)|John Rawlins]], at [[Quedgeley]].<ref>''Historical Manuscripts Commission, 12th Report, Appendix 9: Gloucester'' (London, 1891), pp. 442–3.</ref> Her father [[Henry VIII]] and his then Queen, [[Anne Boleyn]], visited in July 1535.<ref>{{cite web |title=Medieval Gloucester: Crown and Borough, Military History Pages 18–22 A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp18-22#p11 |website=British History Online |access-date=10 June 2023 |archive-date=10 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610124556/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp18-22#p11 |url-status=live }}</ref> They used Gloucester as a base for hunting trips to [[Painswick]], [[Coberley]], and [[Miserden]]. They left Gloucester for [[Leonard Stanley]], on their way to [[Berkeley Castle]].<ref>''Historical Manuscripts Commission, 12th Report, Appendix 9: Gloucester'' (London, 1891), p. 444.</ref>

Gloucester was the site of the execution by burning of [[John Hooper (bishop)|John Hooper]], Bishop of Gloucester, in the time of [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] in 1555. In 1580, Gloucester was awarded the status of a [[port]] by Queen Elizabeth I.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2005/07/04/coast05walks_stage3.shtml |title=Point 3 – Gloucester Quay |work=BBC News |date=28 October 2014 |access-date=30 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212122900/http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2005/07/04/coast05walks_stage3.shtml |archive-date=12 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The 16th and 17th centuries saw the foundation of two of Gloucester's grammar schools: [[the Crypt School]] in 1539 and [[Sir Thomas Rich's School]] in 1666. Both still flourish as grammar schools today, along with [[Ribston Hall High School|Ribston Hall]] and [[Denmark Road High School]].

During the [[English Civil War]], the fall of nearby Bristol encouraged the reinforcement of the existing town defences. The [[siege of Gloucester]] commenced in 1643 in which the besieged parliamentarians emerged victorious. The Royalist's plan of bombardment and tunnelling to the east gate failed due to the inadequacy of the Royalist artillery and the besieged sniping and conducting artillery fire on the Royalist encampment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Day |first=Jon |url= |title=Gloucester and Newbury, 1643: The Turning Point of the Civil War |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84415-591-0 |location=Barnsley |pages=65–66, 107–109, 136–140 |language=en |oclc=137313537}}</ref>
[[File:West_prospect_of_Gloucester_by_Kip,_c.1725..jpg|left|thumb|[[Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff|Jan Kip]]'s West prospect of Gloucester, c.&nbsp;1725, emphasises the causeway and bridges traversing the water meadows of the floodplain.]]
By the mid-17th century, only the gatehouse and keep of [[Gloucester Castle]] remained, the latter of which was being used as a gaol until it was deemed unsuitable and demolished in the late 1780s. By 1791, the [[HM Prison Gloucester|new gaol]] was completed leaving no trace of the former castle.<ref name="bho">{{cite web |last=Herbert |first=N. M. |year=1988 |title='Gloucester: The castle', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp245-247 |access-date=19 September 2019 |publisher=British History Online |pages=245–247 |location=London}}</ref>

[[File:Map of Glocester (Gloucester) drawn and engraved under the direction of Edward Wedlake Brayley.jpg|thumb|Map of Gloucester in 1805]]

In the 19th century, the city grew with new buildings including [[Wellington Parade]] and the Grade II [[Listed building|listed]] Picton House (c. 1825).<ref>{{NHLE|num= 1245437|desc=Picton House|access-date=19 April 2019}}</ref>

The [[1896 Gloucester smallpox epidemic]] affected some 2000 residents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lillywhite |first=Maisie |date=28 February 2021 |title=Epidemic that gripped Victorian Gloucester 125 years before Covid |url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/epidemic-gripped-victorian-gloucester-came-5038513 |access-date=10 May 2022 |website=GloucestershireLive |language=en |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301070833/https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/epidemic-gripped-victorian-gloucester-came-5038513 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the Second World War, two petroleum storage depots were constructed in Gloucester. A Government Civil Storage depot with six 4,000-ton semi-buried tanks was constructed on the [[Gloucester and Sharpness Canal|Berkeley Canal]] in 1941/42 by [[Shell-Mex and BP]] and connected to the pipeline that ran from the Mersey to the Avon. It was also connected to the Air Force Reserve Depot and a Shell Mex and BP facility for road and rail loading. Due to severe tank corrosion, it was demolished in 1971/2 and disposed of in 1976. The second depot was an Air Force Reserve Depot with four 4,000-ton semi-buried tanks constructed in 1941/42 by Shell, Shell-Mex and BP at the Monk Meadow Dock on the Canal. Originally, delivery was by road, rail and barge and pipeline. It was also connected to the docks and to the Shell Mex and BP installation for rail and road loading facilities and the civil storage site. It was transferred from the Air Ministry to the Ministry of Power in 1959, closed in the 1990s and disposed of in the later 2000s.<ref>Whittle, Tim: ''Fuelling the Wars – PLUTO and the Secret Pipeline Network 1936 to 2015'', 2017, {{ISBN|9780992855468}}, p. 213.</ref>

Gloucester's most important citizens include [[Robert Raikes]] (founder of the [[Sunday School]] movement) who is still commemorated by the name of [[Robert Raikes' House]] in Southgate Street. Its most infamous citizen was [[Fred West]].

In [[2007 United Kingdom Floods|July 2007]], Gloucester was hit badly by a [[Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods#Gloucestershire|flood]] that struck Gloucestershire and its surrounding areas. Hundreds of homes were flooded, but the event was most memorable because of its wider impact&nbsp;– about 40,000 people were without power for 24 hours, and the entire city (plus surrounding areas) was without piped water for 17 days.

In 2009, [[Gloucester Day]] was revived as an annual day of celebration of Gloucester's history and culture. The day originally dates from the lifting of the Siege of Gloucester in 1643, during which the city held out against Royalist forces during the [[First English Civil War]].<ref name=bbc1>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8239588.stm "Tradition revived for city pride"], BBC News, 5 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2011.</ref>

===Coat of arms===
{{multiple image
| align             = left
| image1            = Coat of arms of Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford.png
| width1            = 100
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = 
| image2            = Arms displayed by Walter de Gray, Bishop of Worcester, at the signing of Magna Charta.png
| width2            = 100
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = 
| image3            = Coat of arms of the City of Gloucester.png
| width3            = 125
| alt3              = 
| caption3          = 
| footer            = Left: the arms of the [[de Clare|Clare family]]; centre: the arms of the [[Bishop of Worcester]]; right: the arms of the city of Gloucester
}}

Gloucester is one of the few cities in England with two coats of arms. The first consists of three chevrons surrounded by ten roundels. The chevrons come from the arms of the [[de Clare|Clare family]], who were earls of Gloucester from the 12th to the 14th centuries, while the roundels come from the arms of the [[Bishop of Worcester]], whose bishopric historically encompassed Gloucester. This coat is the older of the two, though it is usually termed the "Commonwealth coat", as it was not officially granted to the city until 1652, during the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]] period. The crest and supporters (lions bearing broadswords and trowels) were also adopted at this time, along with the motto ''Fides Invicta Triumphat'' ("unconquered faith triumphs", in reference to the royalist siege withstood by the city in 1643).

The second coat, termed the "Tudor coat", was granted in 1538. It features the roses of York and Lancaster, the boar's head of Richard&nbsp;III, a ceremonial sword and cap, and two horseshoes surrounded by nails, to represent Gloucester's historical association with ironworking.

Although grants made by Commonwealth [[herald of arms|heralds]] were nullified after the [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration]], the Commonwealth coat continued to be used by the city rather than the Tudor coat. The Commonwealth coat, along with the crest and supporters, was legally granted to the city by letters patent dated 16 April 1945. This was reconfirmed in 1974 following the local government changes of that year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gloucester City Council |publisher=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales |url=http://civicheraldry.co.uk/severn_valley_marches.html#gloucester%20city |access-date=22 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304190610/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/severn_valley_marches.html#gloucester%20city |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Gloucester |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |editor-first=N. M. |editor-last=Herbert |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp368-371 |access-date=22 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401183203/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp368-371 |archive-date=1 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>