Stroud District

Stroud District Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974, by a merger of Nailsworth and Stroud urban districts, Dursley Rural District, Stroud Rural District, and parts of Gloucester Rural District, Sodbury Rural District and Thornbury Rural District.

The area is rich in Iron Age and Roman remnants and is of particular interest to archaeologists for its Neolithic burial grounds, of which there are over 100. Much of its wealth was built on the cloth industry during the Victorian era, and its many mills, most of which are now listed buildings, survive as testament to this. Much of the landscape in this area is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The esteemed Cotswold Way walk leads through the area. There are gliding clubs at Aston Down and Nympsfield.

Elections to the district council since 2016 are now held on a whole council basis every four years. Previously since 1983 elections by thirds took place in three out of every four years. At the 2016 election, the coalition of Labour, Greens and the Liberal Democrats retained its majority on Stroud District Council. The 2019 general election saw Siobhan Kathleen Baillie, a British Conservative Party politician, elected as Member of Parliament for Stroud.

• Stroud District Council
• Stroud Voices (search page) - oral history site