One of the strangest results of the coming of the railways was the end of 'Stroud time'.
Before 1845, Stroud set its time by the sun. Being some 90 miles west of the meridian, noon was nine minutes later in Stroud than it was at Greenwich.
However, the railways had complicated timetables which were all set to London time (Greenwich Mean Time) as this 1845 poster made clear - 'Calculated throughout at London time'.
Eventually, Stroud had to give in and adopt 'Railway time' like everyone else. In 1858, a new clock set to Railway time was installed at the top of Gloucester Street. This clock can now be found at the Museum in the Park.
From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local
History Society
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