Editing Dursley

{{Short description|Market town in Gloucestershire, England}}
{{About||the hamlet in Wiltshire|Dursley, Wiltshire|the fictional Dursleys ([[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]]'s relatives)|Dursley family}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}

{{Infobox UK place
| type = [[Market town]]
| country = England
| official_name = Dursley
| coordinates = {{coord|51.681|-2.354|type:city(10000)_region:GB|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| population = 7,463
| population_ref = (2021 Census)<ref name="bua2011">{{cite web |title=Dursley |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/stroud/E04004347__dursley/ |website=City population |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref> 
| civil_parish = Dursley
| shire_district = [[Stroud (district)|Stroud]]
| shire_county = [[Gloucestershire]]
| region = South West England
| constituency_westminster = [[Stroud (UK Parliament constituency)|Stroud]]
| post_town = DURSLEY
| postcode_district = GL11
| postcode_area = GL
| dial_code = 01453
| os_grid_reference = ST756981
| static_image_name = Dursley Market House (geograph 2838109).jpg
| static_image_caption = [[Dursley Town Hall]] and St James the Great parish church.
}}

'''Dursley''' is a market town and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[Stroud District]] of [[Gloucestershire]], England. It lies between the cities of [[Bristol]] and [[Gloucester]]. It is under the northeast flank of [[Stinchcombe#Stinchcombe Hill|Stinchcombe Hill]], and about {{convert|4|mi|km}} southeast of the [[River Severn]]. The town is adjacent to the village of [[Cam, Gloucestershire|Cam]]. The population of Dursley was 7,463 at the 2021 Census.<ref name="bua2011">{{cite web |title=Dursley |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/stroud/E04004347__dursley/ |website=City population |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:DursleyMarket.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Dursley Town Hall]]]]
Ancient historical sites in the vicinity give evidence of earlier occupation. [[Uley Bury]] is an [[Iron Age]] [[hill fort]] dating from around 300 BC. The area also has neolithic [[long barrow]]s; one called "[[Uley Long Barrow|Hetty Pegler's Tump]]" can be entered. Roman remains exist at [[Frocester]], West Hill near [[Uley]], [[Woodchester]] and [[Calcot Manor]].

Dursley once had a castle, built by Roger de Berkeley in 1153.<ref name="Dursley Location Information">[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/john.wilkes/dursley.htm#preface Dursley Location Information<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025074814/http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/john.wilkes/dursley.htm |date=25 October 2005 }}</ref>

Dursley gained [[borough]] status in 1471 and lost it in 1886. From 1837 to 1851, it was the administrative centre of Dursley Registration District which recorded vital records of people living in the parishes of [[North Nibley]], [[Coaley]], [[Slimbridge]], [[Stinchcombe]], [[Uley]], Dursley, [[Cam, Gloucestershire|Cam]], [[Nympsfield]], [[Kingswood, Stroud District|Kingswood]], [[Wotton-under-Edge]] and [[Owlpen]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/phillimoremaps/?f-F0005DFD=Dursley |title=Smith, Cecil R. Humphery. The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers. Digitized images. Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, Canterbury, Kent, England. Accessed 13 April 2013 via paid subscription site: Great Britain, Atlas and Index of Parish Registers. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. |website=[[Ancestry.com]] |access-date=14 April 2019 |archive-date=21 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200821100411/https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8830/?f-F0005DFD=Dursley |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1886 until 1974 it was the administrative centre of Dursley [[Rural district|Rural District]] (RDC). In 1974 the RDC became part of [[Stroud District]].

The [[Grade I listed]]<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1290832|desc=Church of St James|access-date=14 April 2019}}</ref> [[Church of England parish church|parish church]] of St. James the Great dates from the 13th century. The modern building is largely of 14th and 15th century construction and carries the Tudor coat of arms on the outside below the guttering, indicating that some of its construction was funded by the Tudor royals. The original church spire collapsed in January 1699 during a bell-ringing session, causing casualties. The current belltower, in an imposing [[Gothic survival]] style, was built by Thomas Sumsion of [[Colerne]] in 1708–09.

[[Dursley Town Hall]], a structure complete with statue of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] and bell turret, dates from 1738, when the town's markets attracted farmers and traders from miles around. It is now maintained by the Dursley Town Council.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/474ef311-4448-4dfb-949f-7002370dab72  |title=Dursley Town Trust|publisher=National Archives| access-date= 7 August 2021}}</ref>

In 1856, a short [[Dursley and Midland Junction Railway|branch line railway]] opened,<ref>[http://cotswoldedge.org.uk/dursley/Dursley_Donkey.htm citing from Branch lines of Gloucestershire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331065730/http://cotswoldedge.org.uk/dursley/Dursley_Donkey.htm |date=31 March 2008 }} {{ISBN|0-86299-959-6}}</ref> called the "Dursley Donkey" by locals, linking Dursley and Cam to the [[Bristol]]–[[Gloucester]] main line at [[Coaley]] Junction. The branch line was closed in 1968 and Coaley Junction station was also closed at about this time. However, in 1994, a new station called [[Cam and Dursley railway station|Cam and Dursley]] was opened on the main line, 330 yards north of the site of Coaley Junction.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Dursley was a large-scale manufacturing town; engines built here by the [[R A Lister and Company|Lister engine company]] founded in 1867 were used around the world. 

That company's successor, [[Lister Petter]], was based in the town until 2014, though much of the original {{convert|92|acre|ha|adj=on}} factory site was acquired in 2000 by the [[South West of England Regional Development Agency|South West Regional Development Agency]] and then in 2011 by [[Stroud District|Stroud District Council]]. It is now being developed as a large housing development with some industrial units.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southwestrda.org.uk:80/area-teams/gloucestershire/delkin-village/index.shtm|title=Littlecombe, Dursley|date=2005|website=South West RDA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504103753/http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/area-teams/gloucestershire/delkin-village/index.shtm|archive-date=4 May 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=16 April 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Towers, a large gothic-style house, formerly part of the Lister Petter estate, still overlooks the town and has been converted into flats and a residential care home.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/news/release.asp?releaseid=1458|title=New Lease of Life for Historic Lister Petter Home|date=20 February 2006|website=South West RDA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504103750/http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/news/release.asp?releaseid=1458|archive-date=4 May 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=16 April 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The [[Lister Hall]] theatre is named after the company.
[[File:St James the Great Dursley.jpg|thumb|upright|Church of St James the Great]]

Other large factories based in the town included Mawdsley's, an electrical equipment manufacturer; Bymack's, an upholsterers; and the Bailey Newspaper Group, a newspaper printer, all of which have reduced or closed operations.

==Character and amenities==

The town sits on the edge of the [[Cotswolds]] escarpment where it drops off towards the [[Severn Vale]] and the [[River Severn]]. 

Dursley's main watercourse is the River Ewelme which becomes the [[River Cam, Gloucestershire|River Cam]] when it enters Cam. The town is surrounded by woodland and countryside, and the [[Cotswold Way]] long distance trail passes through Dursley town centre.

In March 2010, [[Sainsbury's]] opened a newly built 20,000 sq ft supermarket within walking distance of the town centre.<ref name="New Sainsburys Supermarket">{{Cite web |url=http://www.retail-week.com/in-business/responsible-retail/green-issue-2010/sainsburys-dursley-the-new-green-norm/5012362.article |title=New Sainsburys Supermarket |access-date=8 January 2012 |archive-date=28 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428045746/http://www.retail-week.com/in-business/responsible-retail/green-issue-2010/sainsburys-dursley-the-new-green-norm/5012362.article |url-status=live }}</ref> Other recent arrivals include Lidl (November 2009, in premises on Kingshill Road previously occupied by the Regal Cinema and then Somerfield<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/4741205.New_supermarket_set_to_open_in_Dursley/ |title=New Lidl Store |date=16 November 2009 |access-date=8 January 2012 |archive-date=1 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101081452/http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/4741205.New_supermarket_set_to_open_in_Dursley/ |url-status=live }}</ref>) and Iceland (July 2010, replacing Somerfield in the town centre<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/8262264.New_supermarket_creates_optimism_among_traders/ |title=New Iceland store |date=8 July 2010 |access-date=8 January 2012 |archive-date=11 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711132149/http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/8262264.New_supermarket_creates_optimism_among_traders/ |url-status=live }}</ref>). [[Co-op Food|The Co-op]] has operated a smaller store in Rosebery Road since 2002. The town centre also has a number of independent shops and cafes.

A range of markets are held at the Market Place in the centre of the town; a farmers' market is held there on the second Saturday of every month and a craft market on the fourth Saturday of each month. There is an active Transition group in Cam and Dursley (part of the global [[Transition town]] network) which looks after Dursley's Secret Garden, among other projects.

Dursley has a number of licensed premises and the Old Spot pub is regularly voted Gloucestershire 'Pub of the Year'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dursely |url=http://www.gloucestershirecamra.org.uk/pubs/raig/DURSLEY.HTM |publisher=Gloucestershire CAMRA |access-date=21 August 2020 |archive-date=31 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131154203/http://www.gloucestershirecamra.org.uk/pubs/raig/DURSLEY.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref> The pub was named as 2007 [[Campaign for Real Ale|CAMRA]] [[National Pub of the year]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=270344 |title=Gloucestershire Pub Voted Best Pub in Britain! 15/02/08 – CAMRA<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=15 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227114654/http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=270344 |archive-date=27 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Demographics==

According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], the population ethnicity breakdown is as follows:
* White: 7,197 people (96.4%)
* Mixed: 135 people (1.8%)
* Asian: 79 people (1.1%)
* Black: 28 people (0.4%)
* Other 23 people (0.3%) 

The same 2021 census gave the following religious breakdown:
* Christian: 3,393 people (45.5%)
* Hindu: 22 people (0.3%)
* Muslim: 22 people (0.3%)
* Buddhist: 16 people (0.2%)
* Sikh: 9 people (0.1%)
* Jewish: 4 people (<0.1%)
* Other religion: 53 people (0.7%)
* No religion: 3,419 people (45.8%) <ref>{{Cite web|title=Dursley (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/stroud/E04004347__dursley/|date=April 8, 2023|work=City Population|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>

==Railways==
The nearest railway station is at {{stnlnk|Cam and Dursley}} on the [[Bristol and Gloucester Railway]], with trains operated by [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]].

==Notable residents==

* [[William Tyndale]] (ca.1494 – ca.1536) an English biblical scholar, linguist and martyr; probably born at [[Slimbridge]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Tyndale, William | volume= 27 | pages = 498&ndash;499 |short= 1}}</ref>
* [[Edward Foxe]] (ca.1496 – 1538) an English churchman, [[Bishop of Hereford]]; he played a major role in [[Henry VIII]]'s divorce from [[Catherine of Aragon]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Fox, Edward | volume= 10 |last1= Pollard |first1= Albert Frederick |author1-link= Albert Pollard | page = 765 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[John Tippetts]] (1622–1692), [[Surveyor of the Navy]], born and raised in Dursley.<ref>ODNB: John Tippetts</ref>
* [[William Vizard]] (1774–1859) an English lawyer, known for his role in the 1820 [[Pains and Penalties Bill 1820|trial of Queen Caroline]]
* [[Mikael Pedersen]] (1855–1929), a Danish inventor invented the [[Pedersen bicycle]] in Dursley in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/ |title=Dursley Pedersen Bicycle Homepage – The ultimate site of Dursley Pedersen cycles<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=31 October 2005 |archive-date=25 October 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025053140/http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Peter Currell Brown]] (born 1936) writer, wrote the cult classic [[surrealist]] novel ''[[Smallcreep's Day]]'' in Dursley.
* [[Nicholas Wapshott]] (born 1952), journalist, broadcaster and author.
=== Sport ===
* [[Arthur Winterbotham (cricketer)|Arthur Winterbotham]] (1864–1936) an English first-class cricketer
* [[Henry Witchell]] (1906–1965) an English first-class cricketer
* [[Dave Bruton (footballer)|David Bruton]] (born 1952) a former footballer, with over 290 appearances mainly with [[Swansea City A.F.C.]]
* [[Max Hall (racing driver)|Max Hall]] (born 2007), racing driver

==Popular culture==
Author [[J. K. Rowling]], born in nearby [[Yate]], named the [[Dursley family]] in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books after the town due to disliking the place. She has jokingly remarked, "I don't imagine I'm very popular in Dursley".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The real meanings behind 46 different names in the 'Harry Potter' universe—and what they say about the characters|url=https://www.businessinsider.com.au/harry-potter-character-name-meaning-v2-2017-4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428081432/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/harry-potter-character-name-meaning-v2-2017-4|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 April 2017|last=Shamsian|first=Jacob|date=April 28, 2017|work=Business Insider|access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref>

In ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' there is reference to "the wolds of Gloucestershire", and when Bolingbrook asks how far it is to [[Berkeley, Gloucestershire|Berkeley]] as "these wild hills and rough uneven ways draw out for miles", the reply given is "there stands the castle beyond that tuft of trees". Many people understand this as a conversation taking place on Stinchcombe Hill overlooking the [[Vale of Berkeley]] and its [[Berkeley Castle|castle]].

==See also==
*[[Vale Community Hospital]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.dursleychamber.co.uk/ Dursley Chamber of Trade]
*[https://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/ Dursley Gazette]
*[https://www.dursleytowncouncil.gov.uk/ Dursley Town Council]
*[http://www.dursleytowntrust.org.uk/ Dursley Town Trust]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080331065730/http://cotswoldedge.org.uk/dursley/Dursley_Donkey.htm A history of Dursley's railways], archived in 2008
*[http://www.valevision.org.uk/ Vale Vision Community Development Trust], covering Dursley, Cam and surrounding villages
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120402054614/http://www.camanddursley.org/ Community Plan for Cam and Dursley area for 2012 onward]
*[https://dursley.stroudvoices.co.uk Stroud Voices (Dursley filter)] – oral history site
*[http://www.dursleyglos.org.uk/ Dursley local history] – personal website

{{Cotswold Way|[[Wotton-under-Edge]]|[[Stroud, Gloucestershire|Stroud]]|{{convert|11|km|mi|abbr=on}}|{{convert|14|km|mi|abbr=on}}}}

{{Gloucestershire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Dursley| ]]
[[Category:Market towns in Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Towns in Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Stroud District]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Gloucestershire]]