I.

Introduction

Worcestershire, county, central England; bounded on the north by Staffordshire, Dudley, and Birmingham, on the east by Warwickshire, on the south by Gloucestershire, on the west by Herefordshire, and on the north-west by Shropshire. Under the local government reforms of 1974, the bulk of Worcestershire became the new county of Hereford and Worcester; a small section in the north was included in West Midlands. Following recommendations from the Local Government Commission on the reform of local government, the county of Hereford and Worcester was split to form the administrative bodies of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. On April 1, 1998, Worcestershire reverted to its pre-1974 status as a county with its former boundaries, and the new unitary authority of Herefordshire was created, also with its former county boundaries. Worcestershire has an area of 1,746 sq km (674 sq mi).

II.

Land and Resources

Worcestershire is mainly a lowland area of undulating terrain. In the western part of the county, the Malvern Hills, which rise to a height of over 400 m (1,300 ft), form the border with Herefordshire. In the north-east the Lickey Hills consist of Silurian and Cambrian rocks, and the foothills of the Cotswold Hills in the south are Jurassic. There are coal measures in the Wyre Forest in the north, and the fertile Vale of Evesham in the south-east is underlain by clays.

Worcestershire’s main river is the Severn, which flows in a south-easterly direction through the Wyre Forest to Worcester, and continues on to the south, reaching the Gloucestershire border at Tewkesbury. Other important waterways include the Teme and the Stour, both tributaries of the Severn, and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, which flows north-eastwards from Worcester.

The Malvern Hills, designated by the Countryside Agency as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is rich in wildlife—its heaths, woods, and streams offer diverse habitats for a wide variety of birds, animals, and insects. The Wyre Forest, near Kidderminster, is home to deer, bats, and many birds of prey. In Ravenshill Wood, west of Worcester, badgers, foxes, and other animals abound, and finches, warblers, kingfishers, and many other birds can be seen.

III.

Population and Administration

The population of Worcestershire is 542,107 (2001). The main towns are the cathedral city of Worcester (2001, 93,358) the administrative centre; Bromsgrove (2001, 87,846); and Redditch (2001, 78,813). Other towns of note include Droitwich (1991, 20,966), Evesham (1991, 17,823), Great Malvern (1991, 31,537), Kidderminster (1991, 54,644), and Stourport-on-Severn (1991, 18,283).

The police authority for Worcestershire is the West Mercia Constabulary, with its headquarters in Worcester. A Crown Court sits at Worcester.

IV.

Education and Culture

University College Worcester (UCW, founded 1946) was originally a teacher-training institution, but now offers higher education courses in a wide range of disciplines. Notable public schools in the county include the Royal Grammar School (founded 1291) and the King’s School (1541), both in Worcester, and Malvern College for Boys (1862), in Great Malvern.

The author of Hudibras, Samuel Butler, was born in Strensham in 1612. Sir Rowland Hill, who in 1840 began the “Penny Post”, was a native of Kidderminster, where he was born in 1795. Alfred Edward Housman, the poet, was born in Bromsgrove, and much of his poetry is set against the Worcestershire and Shropshire countryside, and he is very much associated with Bredon Hill, south-west of Evesham; A Shropshire Lad is his best-known collection of verse. The Malvern Hills formed an almost continuous background to the life of Sir Edward Elgar, the composer, who was born in Lower Broadheath, and is buried in Little Malvern. The Malvern Festival, which celebrates the works of Elgar and the playwright George Bernard Shaw, takes place annually.

Worcestershire County Cricket Club plays its home games at New Road in Worcester. Kidderminster Harriers FC, based at the Aggborough Stadium, is the county’s only professional football club.

V.

Places of Interest

Worcester Cathedral Church of St Mary has a Norman crypt, but the main building dates substantially from the early 13th century, having been rebuilt after a fire that destroyed the cathedral as it then was in 1202. The cathedral choir participates, with those of the cathedrals of Hereford and Gloucester, in the annual Three Choirs Festival, which takes place during the summer, and was first held in 1715.

Forge Mill at Redditch is the home of the National Needle Museum. The Avoncroft Museum of Buildings, just south of Bromsgrove, exhibits authentic buildings dating from the 13th century to the present. The Royal Horticultural Society has a centre in Pershore.

Archaeological evidence of ancient settlement can be seen at a number of sites throughout the county. Bronze Age cremations are known to have taken place on Worcestershire Beacon, near Great Malvern. The remains of an Iron Age fort have been found on Bredon Hill. Artefacts from the Beaker Culture, including pottery, axes, flints, and other tools, have also been unearthed at the site. An Iron Age village, with houses, enclosures, and pits was excavated at Beckford in 1979.

VI.

Economy

Worcestershire is largely rural and fruit-growing and dairy farming are among the most important agricultural sectors. The county gave its name to the Worcester Pearmain apple; a wide variety of fruit and vegetables are cultivated—in particular, Pershore is noted for its plums; and hops are also grown. The large-scale production of fruit results in a number of related industries, including cider-making and the canning of fruit. In addition to fruit-growing, market gardening is of importance in the Vale of Evesham.

There is some heavy industry at Worcester and Bromsgrove, and metal industries are carried out in Hereford and Redditch. Gloves and Royal Worcester china from Worcester, carpets from Kidderminster, and salt from Droitwich, where it has been produced for at least 1,000 years, are all old industries that have survived. Droitwich continues to attract visitors as a spa town.

VII.

History

The county was heavily wooded in prehistoric times, and there are comparatively few relics from that period. The Romans came to Worcester, but the first major occupants of the territory was the Anglo-Saxon Hwicca tribe, which arrived in the 6th century. By the late 7th century, Worcester had developed into an important trading post between England and Wales. The area later became part of Mercia. It was conquered by the Danes in the 9th century, and finally emerged as a separate administrative entity in about the mid-11th century, after Mercia had been regained from the Danes.

From the 8th century, the Church exercised considerable control over Worcestershire; and by the 13th century the county was largely in the hands of 13 great monasteries, which maintained their ascendancy until the reign of Henry VIII. At the Battle of Evesham in 1265, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester was killed, and his forces were defeated by Prince Edward, later Edward I. In the Civil War, Worcestershire was firmly on the Royalist side, but by 1646 all resistance to the Parliamentarians was over. In 1651, the young Prince Charles, who would eventually ascend the throne as Charles II, came to the county with a Scottish army, but was defeated by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester.