Gloucestershire: History
Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe and the Forest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century.
Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. Members of local rural communities moved to the port city (which was to become Bristol), and Bristol's population grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset, in 1373. It later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Some northern parts of the county, including Long Marston and Welford-on-Avon, were transferred to Warwickshire in 1931.
Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the region north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. In March 2008, the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire adopted a flag through a contest judged by the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, Jonathan Carr.
In July 2007, Gloucestershire was subject to some of the worst flooding in recorded British history, with tens of thousands of residents affected. The RAF conducted the largest peacetime domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood-affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion.