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The Twentieth Century Legacy
The centre of Gloucester changed considerably in the twentieth century as much of its historic fabric was demolished to make way for some brutally modern retail developments. Vast housing estates grew to the south and east of the city and a network of ring roads were introduced to assuage traffic congestion.
The city centre became virtually unpopulated and by the First World War it was entirely dominated by commercial interests, many of which were in decline.
This deterioration continued after the Second World War and the once magnificent Docks became a derelict wasteland. The city was failing to cope with large scale post-industrial decline and its centre was considered to be ‘unworthy’ of a historic city. This caused the city council to commission the distinguished civic architect G.A. Jellico to construct a new Masterplan for Gloucester.
The ‘Jellico Plan’ was delivered in 1962 and this presaged another period in which the historic fabric of the city was sacrificed to accommodate large scale redevelopment projects, notably Kings Square and two large pedestrian shopping precincts, with rooftop car parks linked by cross street bridges.
The opening of the first Severn Bridge in 1966 and the construction of the M5 in 1971 further relieved systemic traffic congestion, caused by a huge growth in the city population, housed in many large council estates, but the city centre remained largely unpopulated and culturally barren.
Then, at the end of the century, Gloucester′s recovery began with the tourism-led regeneration of the Docks and the city council′s courageous decision to transfer its activities to The North Warehouse, symbolically the earliest and most derelict warehouse in the historic port. The Victorian Guildhall was subsequently converted into a successful Arts Centre.
The city centre was pedestrianised in the mid 1990′s and the city council obtained a £10.5m Sports Lottery Fund award to help finance the £17m reconstruction of Gloucester Leisure Centre and a number of smaller projects began to uplift the city.
Nevertheless, nearly all of the other major redevelopment projects in the city, including the regeneration the Docks, the remodelling of Kings Square, Blackfriars Priory, the Cattle Market and important transport infrastructure improvements were to fail or stumble, thus stimulating the involvement in the city of the South West of England Regional Development Agency and the launch of the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company in early 2004.
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The Victorian Legacy
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