Hucclecote

Hucclecote is a suburb in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, comprising a ward (population 8,826) in the City of Gloucester. It is located on the periphery of the city, between Barnwood and Brockworth, along Ermin Way, an old Roman road connecting Gloucester with Cirencester and the Cotswolds. Hucclecote has been settled since ancient times, and a Roman villa dating from the second or third century AD has been found at Hucclecote. By the time that the Domesday Book was written in 1086, the village comprised 16 households. Administratively, it was recorded as lying within the hundred of Dudstone, in the county of Gloucestershire. Later, Hucclecote was a hamlet in the ancient parish of Churchdown. Hucclecote was a small village until development began prior to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Development was halted during the war and the area was bombed by the Luftwaffe due to the aircraft factories and other industrial facilities in the area, which were originally within the boundary of Brockworth. Due to redistricting, the airfield from which the world's first jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor, took off for test flights is now within the boundary of Hucclecote. The area bordering Brockworth is currently undergoing redevelopment, with the derelict land that formerly housed the airfield and factory having made way for Coopers Edge, a housing development of 1,900 homes, as well as shops and a school. The nearby Gloucester Business Park currently has a Tesco Supermarket, a Premier Inn, and many office buildings, with restaurants and other retail facilities currently being added. Ermin Way through Hucclecote was a major trunk route until the construction of the Brockworth Bypass in 1995. Until the construction of the Severn Bridge in 1966, this was a strategic route from the south of England to south Wales, as the lowest bridge crossing of the River Severn was at Gloucester. Hucclecote is split into two parts; with the dividing line being the M5 Motorway bridge.