Gloucester

Gloucester stands on the River Severn, where a Roman settlement became a medieval city and a centre of trade for the surrounding country. Its great abbey church became a cathedral after the dissolution of the monasteries. The river crossing and city walls made Gloucester an important position in the Severn valley. In 1643 the city held for Parliament against a Royalist siege. Its defenders prepared stores and destroyed buildings outside the walls to deny cover to the attackers. The siege ended in September when the Earl of Essex brought a relieving army. Gloucester's resistance preserved a Parliamentary foothold on the Severn during a critical phase of the Civil War.