Stroud is a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.
     Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture. The Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty surrounds the town in all directions, and the Cotswold Way path passes by it to the west.
     Although not formally part of the town, the parishes of Rodborough and Cainscross lie adjacent to Stroud and are often considered part of it. Stroud acts as a centre for many surrounding villages and small market towns including Minchinhampton, Amberley, Slad, Bisley, Stonehouse, Woodchester, Painswick, Chalford, Thrupp, Sheepscombe, Nailsworth, Dursley and Oakridge.
     Stroud is known for its involvement in the Industrial Revolution. It was a cloth town; woollen mills were powered by the small rivers which surge through the five valleys, and supplied by Cotswold sheep grazed on the hills above. Particularly noteworthy was the production of military uniforms in the colour Stroudwater Scarlet. The area was made home by a sizable Huguenot community in the 17th century, fleeing persecution in Catholic France, followed by a significant Jewish presence in the 19th century, linked to the tailoring and cloth industries.
     Stroud was a fairly major industrial and trading location in the nineteenth century, and so needed transport links. It first had a canal network in the form of the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames & Severn Canal, both of which struggled to survive until the early 20th century. It is now planned to restore these canals as a leisure facility by a partnership of Stroud District Council and the Cotswold Canals Trust with a multi-million pound Lottery grant. Stroud railway station (on the Gloucester-Swindon the Golden Valley Line) was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
     Though there is much evidence of early historic settlement and transport, Stroud parish was originally part of Bisley, and only began to emerge as a distinct unit by the 13th century, taking its name from the marshy ground at the confluence of the Slad Brook and the River Frome called ‘La Strode’ and was first recorded in 1221. The church was built by 1279, and it was assigned parochial rights by the rectors of Bisley in 1304, often cited as the date of Stroud's foundation.
     Many historic buildings and places of interest can be found in the area. They include the neolithic long barrows(Uley Long Barrow) at Uley, Selsley Common and Nympsfield to the west; Roman era remains at Frocester, West Hill near Uley, and Woodchester; the medieval buildings at Beverston Castle; and the outstanding Tudor houses at Newark Park and Owlpen Manor. Woodchester Mansion is a masterpiece of the Gothic Revival by local architect Benjamin Bucknall.
     From 1837 to 1841, Stroud's MP was Lord John Russell of the Whig party who was later to become Prime Minister. Russell was one of the most important politicians of his day, responsible for passing many acts of parliament such as the Public Health Act of 1848, but he is mainly remembered as one of the chief architects of the Reform Act 1867. This act, also known as the Second Reform Act, gave the vote to every urban male householder, not just those of considerable means. This resulted in the electorate being increased by 1.5 million voters. Lord Russell is remembered in the town by two street names, John Street and Russell Street, as well as in the name of the Lord John public house.
     Stroud has a significant artistic community that dates back to the early part of the twentieth century. Jasper Conran called Stroud 'the Covent Garden of the Cotswolds', the Daily Telegraph referred to it as 'the artistic equivalent of bookish Hay-on-Wye'[11] while the London Evening Standard likened the town to 'Notting Hill with wellies'.
     The town was one of the birthplaces of the Organic food movement and was home to Britain's first fully-organic café, Woodruffs.[13] The Biodynamic Agricultural Association is based in the town. For many years Stroud has hosted a fringe festival on the second weekend in September. The town also hosts a regular Vintage Fashion, Textile and Accessories Fair in the Stroud Subscription Rooms, and the fourth annual International Textile Festival was held in May 2009. This is the U.K’s only festival to celebrate the diverse culture of textiles.
     Stroud has a strong community of independent shops and cafés, which provide the mainstay of the retail experience in the town. Alongside this, the town centre has witnessed two controversial developments in the form of a new cinema (which replaced the bus station) and a branch of McDonalds which, when plans were unveiled in 2004, came against a lot of opposition from locals. The success of small businesses has, in recent years, caused a number of national retail chains to open outlets in the town.
     The Subscription Rooms in the heart of the town centre provide a venue for entertainment and also house the local Tourist Information Centre. On the fringes of the town are Stratford Park, originally the park of a small stately home, now home to a leisure centre with an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and the Museum in the Park, a museum of the history and culture of the Stroud valleys.
     Stroud citizens have a history of protest going back to the Stroudwater Riots of 1825. In the late 1970s Stroud Campaign Against The Ringroad saw off Gloucestershire County Council's attempt to impose unwanted traffic plans. The public won the day at a Planning Inquiry. A few years later Stroud District Council tried to demolish 18th century buildings in the town centre. Stroud High Street Action Group, with some rooftop protests and a high court judgement, came to the rescue. The restored buildings are now a feature of the High Street. After a short occupation a compromise was reached in the demolition of buildings in Cornhill with many being saved, including one identified as a medieval house. This campaign led to the formation of the Stroud Preservation Trust. which has been instrumental in saving many of the town's oldest buildings like Withey's house, the Brunel Goods Shed and the Hill Paul building.
     Stroud Save The Trees Campaign came to national prominence in August 1989 when Stroud District Council tried to implement a road-widening scheme by a midnight raid on thirteen trees it wished to fell within the perimeter of Stratford Park. However local people got wind of the 'secret' and were there first to protect the trees. After a stand-off that lasted till dawn the police called off the operation on the grounds of public safety. The following year instead of road-widening the first 'traffic calming' in the county was installed.
     The trees remain to this day. A few years later Stroud District Council planned to fell the only mature tree in the town centre - the hornbeam on the Subscription rooms forecourt. A quickly mobilised citizenry persuaded them otherwise and the hornbeam survived and survives- just peeping into the photo above.
     In 2000 Stroud District Council gave permission for the Victorian landmark Hill Paul building to be demolished. After thwarting demolition, local activists quickly formed a company and sold enough shares at £500 each to take an option on the building, which they subsequently passed on to a local developer. The building has now been fully restored and converted into apartments (see photo on the right).
     The Save Stroud Hospitals Taskforce has been campaigning since spring 2006 against a range of cuts to health services in and around Stroud, with thousands of people taking part in street demonstrations. Stroud Maternity Hospital was saved in September 2006.
     The Uplands Post Office branch in Stroud was one of 26 in the county to shut as part of a nationwide programme to cut losses. Following massive local opposition, the Post Office agreed to talks with civic chiefs to look at how it could reopen. The town council agreed to provide £10,000 of funding for the service in 2008 and up to £25,000 for 2009. In November 2008 it was confirmed that Stroud has become only the second place in Britain to save one of its Post Offices.
     However, it must be noted that despite the protests, Tesco opened a store near Stratford park in 1989, McDonalds built a fast food restaurant at Rowcroft in 2005 and soon after, the bus station just down the road was replaced with a cinema.