Roman remains exist at Frocester, West Hill near Uley, Woodchester and Calcot Manor.

However, in 1994, a new station called Cam and Dursley was opened on the main line, 330 yards north of the site of Coaley Junction.

That company's successor, Lister Petter, was based in the town until 2014, though much of the original 92-acre (37 ha) factory site was acquired in 2000 by the South West Regional Development Agency and then in 2011 by Stroud District Council.

[7] The Towers, a large gothic-style house, formerly part of the Lister Petter estate, still overlooks the town and has been converted into flats and a residential care home.

In March 2010, Sainsbury's opened a newly built 20,000 sq ft supermarket within walking distance of the town centre.

Dursley has a number of licensed premises and the Old Spot pub is regularly voted Gloucestershire 'Pub of the Year'.

Author J. K. Rowling, born in nearby Yate, named the Dursley family in the Harry Potter books after the town due to disliking the place.

[18] In Richard II there is reference to "the wolds of Gloucestershire", and when Bolingbrook asks how far it is to Berkeley as "these wild hills and rough uneven ways draw out for miles", the reply given is "there stands the castle beyond that tuft of trees".

Many people understand this as a conversation taking place on Stinchcombe Hill overlooking the Vale of Berkeley and its castle.