The River Severn flows through the centre of the county from north to south, forming a wide plain. The southwest of the county contains part of theMalvern Hills, aNational Landscape which containsWorcestershire Beacon, at 425 m (1,394 ft) the county's highest point. The southeast contains a small part of theCotswolds, and in the northwest is part of theWyre Forest, anational nature reserve.
The county bordersHerefordshire to the west,Shropshire to the north-west,Staffordshire only just to the north,West Midlands to the north and north-east,Warwickshire to the east andGloucestershire to the south. The western border with Herefordshire includes a stretch along the top of theMalvern Hills. At the southern border with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire meets the northern edge of theCotswolds. Two major rivers flow through the county: theSevern and theAvon.
The hand axe discovered in 1970s inHallow. Potentially the first Early Middle Palaeolithic artefact from the West Midlands.[6]
The geographical area now known as Worcestershire was first populated at least 700,000 years ago.[6] The area became predominantly agricultural in theBronze Age, leading to population growth and more evidence of settlement. By theIron Age, hill forts dominated the landscape. Settlement of these swiftly ended with theRoman occupation of Britain.[7]
TheRoman period saw establishment of the villa system in the Cotswolds and Vale of Evesham.Droitwich (Salinae) was probably the most important settlement in the county in this period, due to its product of salt. There is also evidence for Roman settlement and industrial activity around Worcester and King's Norton.[8]
After theNorman conquest of England; theDomesday Book noted in 1086 that in seven of the twelvehundreds covering Worcestershire, theCrown had no authority. The Crown's authority was replaced by the Bishop of Worcester and the Abbots at Pershore, Westminster and Evesham.[12]
The firstNorman SheriffUrse d'Abetot, built the castle of Worcester and seized much church land, some of which became part of the Crown's hundreds in Worcestershire.[16] and was in dispute with the Bishop of Worcester over the rights of the sheriff.[17]
Bishop Wulfstan was the last Anglo-Saxon bishop in England, and remained in post until his death in 1095. Under his tenureWorcester Cathedral began major reconstruction, and he opposed political interventions against William and the Normans. He was later made a saint.
DuringHenry III's disputes and wars with his Barons, in 1263Worcester's Jewish residents were attacked by a baronial force led byRobert Earl Ferrers andHenry de Montfort. Most were killed.[18] The massacre inWorcester was part of a wider campaign by the De Montforts and their allies in the run-up to theSecond Barons' War, aimed at undermining Henry III. Worcestershire was the site of theBattle of Evesham in whichSimon de Montfort was killed on 4 August 1265.[note 1] A few years later, in 1275, the Jews that were still living inWorcester were forced to move toHereford,[18] as they were expelled from all towns under the jurisdiction of the queen mother.[19]
Hand-drawn map of Worcestershire by Christopher Saxton from 1577.
In 1642, theBattle of Powick Bridge was the first major skirmish of theEnglish Civil War. The county suffered from being on the Royalist front line, as it was subject to heavy taxation and the pressing of men into the Royalist army, which also reduced its productive capacity. The northern part of the county, which was already a centre of iron production, was important for military supplies. Parliamentarian raids and Royalist requisitioning both placed a great strain on the county.
There were tensions from the participation of prominent Catholic recusants in the military and civilian organisation of the county. Combined with the opposition to requisitioning from both sides, bands ofClubmen formed to keep the war away from their localities.
TheBattle of Worcester in 1651 effectively ended the third civil war. There was little enthusiasm or local participation in the mostly Scottish Royalist army, whose defeat was widely welcomed. Nevertheless, Parliamentarian forces ransacked the city ofWorcester, causing heavy damage, looting and destruction of property. Around 10,000 mostly Scottish prisoners were sent into forced labour in the New World or fen drainage schemes. The small bands of Scots that fled into Worcestershire's countryside were attacked by local forces and killed.
In the 19th century,Worcester was a centre for the manufacture of gloves; the town ofKidderminster became a centre for carpet manufacture, andRedditch specialised in the manufacture of needles, springs and hooks.Droitwich Spa, situated on large deposits of salt, was a centre ofsalt production fromRoman times, with one of the principalRoman roads running through the town. These old industries have since declined, to be replaced by other, more variedlight industry. The county is also home to the world's oldest continually published newspaper, theBerrow's Journal, established in 1690.Malvern was one of the centres of the 19th-century rise in English spa towns due toMalvern water being believed to be very pure, containing "nothing at all".[20]
Though the total number of people in every ethnic group increased between 2001 and 2011, the White British share of Worcestershire's population decreased from 95.5% to 92.4%, as did the share of White ethnic groups as whole, which went from 97.5% to 95.7%. Worcestershire is still much more ethnically homogeneous than the national average. In 2011, 79.8% of the population of England identified as White British; much lower than Worcestershire's figure of 92.4%.[4]
Worcester Bosch; Bosch Thermotechnology are inWarndon
In Redditch areHalfords, to the south inWashford, andGKN (it has the second largest turnover in the West Midlands) is inRiverside. Mettis Aerospace are in Enfield, north Redditch, and make light metal components ( formerHigh Duty Alloys, which made most of theforged pistons for Britain's aircraft engines in WWII).Phoenix Group (non-publiclife assurance schemes) is in the north-east of the county near the Warwickshire boundary, atWythall, and has a large turnover; nearby to westMetalrax, headquartered inAlvechurch, make (via subsidiaries) most of thebakeware sold in the UK.
Halesowen was an exclave of neighbouringShropshire until 1844 when it was reincorporated into Worcestershire. It is now within the metropolitan county of theWest Midlands.
Worcestershire contained numerousexclaves, which were areas of land cut off from the main geographical area of Worcestershire and completely surrounded by the nearby counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire andOxfordshire. The most notable islands were Dudley,[21] Evenlode,[22] Blockley[23] and the area around Shipston-on-Stour.[24] Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire andShropshire had their own exclaves within the main part of Worcestershire atRochford,[25]Broome,[26] Clent,[27] Tardebigge (Tutnall and Cobley)[28] andHalesowen respectively. Tardebigge's history outside the county is even more colourful, changing hands from Worcestershire to Staffordshire and Warwickshire, before returning to Worcestershire at differing times over the centuries.[29] The southern boundary of the county was also complex, with parish boundaries penetrating deep into Gloucestershire and vice versa.
Birmingham's continuous expansion has been a major cause of Worcestershire's fluid boundary changes and associated housing issues.[32] The district ofBalsall Heath, which had originally constituted the most northerly part of the parish ofKing's Norton, was the first area of the county to be added to theCounty Borough of Birmingham, on 1 October 1891. This was followed byQuintonUrban District, which was ceded to Birmingham in November 1909, and then by theRural District ofYardley and the greater part of theUrban District of King's Norton and Northfield, which were absorbed into Birmingham under the Greater Birmingham Scheme on 9 November 1911.[33] Thus these areas were transferred from Worcestershire to Warwickshire. Dudley's historical status within theDiocese of Worcester and through itsaristocratic links ensured that the exclave was governed on a largely autonomous basis.[13][34] Worcester was designated acounty corporate, and thus became separate from the rest of Worcestershire.[35]
In 1926,Dudley County Borough council purchased several square miles of land to the north of the town centre, mostly inSedgley (Staffordshire), includingDudley Castle. This was to build thePriory Estate, a large newcouncil estate on which construction began in 1929. The boundaries of Worcestershire were altered to include all of the proposed new housing estate in Dudley.[36]
During the Local Government reorganisation of April 1966, Dudley expanded beyond its historical boundaries and took in the bulk ofSedgley,[37]Brierley Hill and the south ofCoseley as well as a small section ofAmblecote.[38] The Local Government Act redefined its status and theCounty Borough of Dudley became part of Staffordshire, the county of which all of these areas had been part. At the same time, Worcestershire gained a newcounty borough namedWarley, which was an amalgamation ofOldbury Urban District,Rowley Regis Urban District, theCounty Borough of Smethwick and parts of Dudley andTipton.[39] During this reorganisation, the area of the administrative county grew only whereStourbridge took in the majority ofAmblecote Urban District[40] from Staffordshire and the designation of Redditch in 1964 as aNew Town. This in turn saw expansion into the area in and around the villages ofIpsley andMatchborough in Warwickshire. The Redditch New Town designation coincided with a considerable programme of social and private house building inDroitwich, Worcester, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and along the Birmingham boundary atFrankley,Rubery andRednal.[41] Frankley parish was later split into two:New Frankley and the area aroundBartley Reservoir transferred from Bromsgrove District to Birmingham in April 1995; but the small village of Frankley remained in Worcestershire and became a newcivil parish under the same name.
From 1974, the central and southern parts of the county were amalgamated with Herefordshire and with Worcester County Borough to form a singlenon-metropolitan county ofHereford and Worcester.[42] The County Boroughs of Dudley and Warley, along with Stourbridge and Halesowen, were incorporated into the new West MidlandsMetropolitan county.[43] TheWest Midlands County Council existed for only a few years before abolition in April 1986, although the West Midlands still exists as aceremonial county.[44]
In the1990s UK local government reform, the county of Hereford & Worcester was abolished, and the non-metropolitan county orshire county of Worcestershire regained its historic border with Herefordshire.[45] The recreated County of Worcestershire came into existence on 1 April 1998 as an administrative and ceremonial county, although this excluded theBlack Country towns of Dudley, Halesowen, Oldbury and Stourbridge (which remained part of theWest Midlands).[46]Worcestershire County Council was reformed, although some services are shared with the newly formedHerefordshire Council,[47] including waste management and the youth offending service.
The former Hereford and Worcester districts of Redditch, Worcester, Bromsgrove,Wychavon andWyre Forest were retained with little or no change. However the former Hereford and Worcester districts ofLeominster and Malvern Hills straddled the reinstated border with Herefordshire, so a new Malvern Hills district was constituted which aligned with the Worcestershire's boundary to the west, south-west and north-west. The remaining parts of the former districts of Leominster and Malvern Hills returned to Herefordshire.
(Cities appear in bold. Civil parishes used for population reference where applicable, otherwise the source with boundaries as accurate to the locality as possible has been chosen.) As of the 2021 UK census, the five largest settlements in Worcestershire. – Red.[49][50][51] [52][53] Settlements which were historically in (or partially in) Worcestershire at any point before 1974 boundary changes to the county,[54][55][56][57][58][59] which as of the 2021 UK census had a population of 9000 or more. – Orange.[60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81]
Several coniferous and deciduous woodlands are located in the north of the county. TheVale of Evesham runs through the south of the county and to its south are theCotswolds AONB.[84]
Worcestershire contains a broad expanse ofgreen belt area, widening to over 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) in places. It is part of the larger belt surrounding the West Midlands county, and first drawn up from the 1950s. All of the county's districts other than Malvern Hills contain some portion of the belt.
The largest and most successful football club in the county isKidderminster Harriers. Founded in 1877 as a running club and doubling as a rugby club from 1880, the football club was founded in 1886. In 1987, the club won theFA Trophy for the first time, and seven years later reached the fifth round of theFA Cup, also winning theGM Vauxhall Conference title in 1994 but being deniedFootball League status as theirAggborough Stadium did not meet capacity requirements. However, when the club next won the Conference title six years later, their stadium had been upgraded and promotion was granted, giving the county its first (and thus far only) Football League members. However, the club's Football League membership was short-lived, as Harriers were relegated back to the Conference in 2005 after just five years in the Football League, and have yet to reclaim their status.[85]
The county is home toWorcestershire County Cricket Club, traditionally the first stop on any touring national side's schedule in England.[86] Formed officially in 1865, the Club initially played in Boughton Park, before moving to its currentNew Road ground, which today can host 5,500 spectators, in 1895. The club has won five County Championships in its history, most recently in 1989.[87]
Worcester Rugby Football Club, theWorcester Warriors, are the county's largest and most successful Rugby Union team, having been promoted to thePremiership in 2004. The Warriors were relegated to theRFU Championship in 2010 but rebounded back to the Premiership in 2011. Worcester Warriors play at theSixways Stadium on the outskirts of Worcester, holding over 12,000 spectators, thus making it the largest stadium in the county. Sixways has hosted the final of theLV Cup on three occasions.[88]
The village ofBroadheath, about 6.2 miles (10 km) northwest of the city of Worcester, is the birthplace of the composerEdward Elgar.
It is claimed that the county was the inspiration forthe Shire, a region ofJ. R. R. Tolkien's fictionalMiddle-earth, described inThe Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was thought to have namedBilbo Baggins' house "Bag End" after his Aunt Jane's Worcestershire farm. Tolkien wrote of Worcestershire, "Any corner of that county (however fair or squalid) is in an indefinable way 'home' to me, as no other part of the world is."[89]
Worcestershire is one of the three counties associated with theBorder Morris style of English folk dancing. Worcestershire Monkey is a popular Border Morris dance; although normally performed as a group of eight, it is sometimes danceden masse with multiple Border Morris sides performing the dance together.[90]
Worcestershire appeared as one of the main settings in theDreamWorks Animation animated filmShrek the Third. The directorChris Miller said they chose Worcestershire because it is always being mispronounced. "It just made us laugh. Plus we love the sauce, it's hugely popular in the States." The film makes multiple references to the real Worcestershire in the film, even commenting on the famousWorcestershire Sauce.[91]
In 1939, the BBC bought the historicWood Norton site near Evesham, and equipped the premises with a dozen temporary studios. These were to be used in the event of an evacuation of the BBC's operations in London and other urban areas. By 1940; Wood Norton was one of the largest broadcasting centres in Europe with an average output of 1,300 radio programmes a week.[95] TheBBC monitoring service were also based at Wood Norton, where linguists, many of them foreign nationals, were hired to listen in to broadcasts from Europe until they were relocated toCaversham Park in early 1943. The move was made to release space at Wood Norton so that it could become the BBC's main broadcasting centre, should London have to be evacuated because of the threat from Nazi Germany'sV-weapons. The site was also prepared for use during the Cold War, as an emergency broadcast centre.[96] The site is still in use for the BBC's engineering and technical training.
In 2007 theOffice of Communications (Ofcom) awarded a DAB Digital Radiomultiplex licence for Herefordshire & Worcestershire toMuxCo Ltd.[105] MuxCo proposed new stations and a digital radio platform forWyvern FM, Sunshine Radio and BBC Hereford & Worcester, who were initially licensed to broadcast on VHF/FM and/orAM. MuxCo eventually launched in December 2013 following changes in legislation through theDigital Economy Act 2010,[106] and utilises existing transmitter locations at Great Malvern,Ridge Hill and Bromsgrove.[107] The multiplex continues to uses the same transmission sites, albeit with an additional transmitter at Kidderminster[108] and broadcasts a combination of local and national services.[109] In 2008,MXR, who owned and operated the West Midlands regional DAB multiplex licence, improved coverage of DAB Digital Radio across other parts of the county to include Worcester and Malvern. This regional multiplex closed on 27 August 2013, partially replaced byCE Digital's Birmingham DAB Multiplex, who opened new transmitters atLickey Hills andHeadless Cross.[110] Ofcom has earmarked two potential 'Small Scale DAB' digital radio multiplexes within Worcestershire[111] - one at Worcester, and the other within Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Redditch.[112] The legal framework for the potential new multiplexes come under 'The Small-Scale Radio Multiplex and Community Digital Radio Order 2019'.[113]
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Worcestershire at current basic pricespublished (pp. 240–253) byOffice for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Fruit farming and the cultivation ofhops were traditional agricultural activities in much of the county. During the latter half of the 20th century, this has largely declined with the exception southern area of the county around theVale of Evesham, where orchards are still worked on a commercial scale.[118] Worcester City'scoat of arms includes three black pears, representing a now rare local pear variety, theWorcester Black Pear. The county's coat of arms follows this theme, having a pear tree with black pears. Theapple variety known asWorcester Pearmain originates from Worcestershire, and thePershore plum comes from the small Worcestershire town of that name, and is widely grown in that area.
Worcestershire is also famous for a number of its non-agricultural products. The originalWorcestershire sauce, a savoury condiment made byLea & Perrins, is made in Worcester, and the now-closed Royal Porcelain works was based in the city. The town of Malvern is the home of theMorgan traditionalsports car.
^Brooks N, Cubitt C (1996). "St. Oswald of Worcester - Life and Influence". The administrative landscape of the Diocese of Worcester in the tenth century. p147
^Brooks, Alan; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2007).Worcestershire. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 2.ISBN9780300112986.
^Laird, "A Topographical and Historical Description of the County of Worcester" c. 1814;http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol3/pp1-4 British History Online:The hundred of Halfshire: Introduction and map, Pages 1-4. A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1913.
^Brooks "Introduction"St Wulfstan and His World p. 3; Williams "Cunning of the Dove"St Wulfstan and His World pp. 33–35
^Bathurst, David (2012).Walking the county high points of England. Chichester: Summersdale. pp. 167–173.ISBN978-1-84-953239-6.;"County Tops". Hill-bagging.co.uk.Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved15 June 2013.
MacDonald, Alec (1969) [1943],Worcestershire in English History (Reprint ed.), London: SR Publishers,ISBN978-0854095759
Mason, Emma (1979). "Magnates, curiales, and the Wheel of Fortune". In Brown, Reginald Allen (ed.).Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies: 1979. Vol. II. The Boydell Press.
Russell, O; Daffern, N; Hancox, E; Nash, A (2018), "Putting the Palaeolithic into Worcestershire's HER: An evidence base for development management",Internet Archaeology,47 (47),doi:10.11141/ia.47.3
Willis-Bund, J.W.; Page, William, eds. (1924),"The city of Worcester: Introduction and borough",A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 4, London: British History Online, pp. 376–390, retrieved20 May 2018
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