Dairy
Double Gloucester
Double Gloucester is a firm British cow’s-milk cheese traditionally made in Gloucestershire with a smooth, close texture and a mellow, buttery, slightly nutty flavour. The “double” name reflects richer milk or fuller cream content compared with Single Gloucester, and the paste is pressed into large wheels or truckles that age to a firm slicing cheese, often with a natural or cloth-bound rind. It is used as a table and sandwich cheese, in cooking, and famously in the Cooper’s Hill cheese-rolling event. Colour ranges from pale gold to deeper orange when annatto is used.
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Characteristics
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History
Gloucestershire farmhouses produced pressed cow’s-milk cheeses that became known as Gloucester types.
Double Gloucester was distinguished from Single Gloucester by richer milk and fuller body for longer keeping.
Railway trade and London markets expanded demand for cloth-bound Double Gloucester wheels.
Industrial block production standardised milder Double Gloucester for national retail.
Single Gloucester PDO protection highlighted the traditional county pair while Double remained widely made.
Artisan makers revived farmhouse Double Gloucester with longer aging and natural rinds.