Coaley is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire roughly 4 miles from the town of Dursley, and 5 miles from the town of Stroud. The village drops from the edge of the Cotswold Hills, overlooked by Frocester Hill and Coaley Peak picnic site, towards the River Cam at Cam and Cambridge and the Severn Estuary beyond. It has a population of around 770.

Coaley
Coaley church
Coaley is located in Gloucestershire
Coaley
Coaley
Location within Gloucestershire
Population828 (2021 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSO771015
Civil parish
  • Coaley
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDURSLEY
Postcode districtGL11
Dialling code01453
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°42′42″N 2°19′58″W / 51.7118°N 2.3328°W / 51.7118; -2.3328

Coaley has many amenities, including a 300-year-old pub, the Old Fox (was The Fox and Hounds until November 2018 [2]), awarded the Cotswold Life Food & Drink Awards Pub of The Year 2022,[3] the Coaley C of E Primary School, a church, a village hall, and a community shop, recently re-opened in a new building, with coffee shop facilities. Cam and Dursley railway station (near the former Coaley Junction station) was reopened in 1994 (the original closed in 1965) and is situated on the South-Western border of the village.

Coaley used to have a football team, Coaley Rovers, who were also known as Coaley Crows. They competed in the Stroud and District League. There is also a Coaley Cricket Club. Coaley also holds an annual produce show, which has been held since 1942 on the first Saturday in September.

In 2003, Coaley was crowned Gloucestershire village of the year in a Calor-sponsored competition organised by Gloucestershire Rural Community Council, and went on to pick up a runner-up prize in the national competition, in recognition of local residents' efforts to develop community organisations and enterprises.

Local legend has it that one of the original script writers of The Archers, Geoffrey Webb, drank regularly in the (now closed) Swan Public House in the village, and his experiences helped inspire the long-running radio serial.

Governance

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The village falls in 'Coaley and Uley' electoral ward. This ward starts in the north near the M5 motorway and stretches south to Uley. The total population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 2,299.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "COALEY". City population. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Coaley Parish Newsletter Oct/Nov 2018" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Cotswold Life Food & Drink Awards 2022".
  4. ^ "Coaley and Uley ward 2011". Retrieved 29 March 2015.
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