Portal:Worcestershire

The Worcestershire portal

Flag of Worcestershire	Armorial banner of Worcestershire County Council

Worcestershire (/ˈwʊstərʃər/ ^ⓘ WUUST-ər-shər, /-ʃɪər/ -⁠shea; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands county to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Herefordshire to the west. The city of Worcester is the largest settlement and the county town.

The county is largely rural, and has an area of 1,741 km² (672 sq mi) and a population of 592,057. After Worcester (103,872) the largest settlements are Redditch (87,036), Kidderminster (57,400), and Bromsgrove (34,755). It contains six local government districts, which are part of a two-tier non-metropolitan county also called Worcestershire. The county historically had complex boundaries, and included Dudley and the southwestern suburbs of Birmingham.

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 the Malvern Hills, a National Landscape which contains Worcestershire Beacon, at 425 m (1,394 ft) the county's highest point. The southwest contains a small part of the Cotswolds, and in the northwest is part of the Wyre Forest, a national nature reserve.

There is some evidence of Roman occupation in Worcestershire; the area later became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Hwicce, and then Mercia. Worcestershire was constituted as a county around 927, as the Kingdom of England formed. During the High Middle Ages the county was the site of the Battle of Evesham, in which Simon de Montfort was defeated, and in 1651 the Battle of Worcester was the last major engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. During the Industrial Revolution the north of the county was part of the Black Country, a major manufacturing centre, Kidderminster became famous for carpet production, and Worcester for porcelain. (Full article...)

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Roger Norreis (died between 1223 and 1225) was Abbot of Evesham in England. He was a controversial figure, installed in several offices against opposition. In his appointment to Evesham, he was accused of immoral behaviour and failing to follow monastic rules. In 1202, Norreis became embroiled in a dispute with his monks and his episcopal superior the Bishop of Worcester; litigation and argumentation lasted until his deposition in 1213. He was then appointed prior of a subsidiary monastic house of Evesham, but was deposed within months, then re-appointed to the office five years later. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles
Edward Elgar Battle of Powick Bridge Urse d'Abetot

General images

The following are images from various Worcestershire-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Nailmakers in Bromsgrove c.1896 (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 2A statue of Richard Baxter in Kidderminster outside St Mary and All Saints' Church. (from Kidderminster)
Image 3Prior's Croft, Grange Road (Victorian Gothic architecture)
Image 4Astley Hall, Stanley Baldwin's home between 1902 and 1947 (from Stourport-on-Severn)
Image 5Battle of Worcester (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 6Map of Stourport, 1942 (from Stourport-on-Severn)
Image 7Droitwich Spa High Street on St. Richard's Day 2009 (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 8Honeybourne railway station on the Cotswold Line and the potential Honeybourne Line (from Worcestershire)
Image 9The former Redditch Bus Station, c. 1996 (from Redditch)
Image 10Richard Baxter, the leading Puritan in Kidderminster, noted the rising opposition to King Charles' policies of taxation and rule without Parliament (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 11Grafton Manor, home of the Catholic Talbot family, holding leading military posts in Worcestershire's Royalist forces in the Civil War (from Bromsgrove)
Image 12John's tomb, Worcester Cathedral (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 13Bromsgrove War Memorial (from Bromsgrove)
Image 14The Abbey Gateway in the town centre is now the home of the Malvern Museum
Image 15Brintons carpet factory in Kidderminster, c. 1870 (from Kidderminster)
Image 16Stafford tomb, St John the Baptist Church, Bromsgrove: one of the most powerful families in Worcestershire, living just south of the town (from Bromsgrove)
Image 17Grave of Sir Thomas Chavasse (1854–1913) and his family in Bromsgrove (from Bromsgrove)
Image 18All Saints Church Evesham (from Evesham)
Image 19The hand axe discovered in the 1970s in Hallow. Potentially the first Early Middle Palaeolithic artefact from the West Midlands. (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 20A bottle of Shanghainese "spicy soy sauce", Taikang Yellow brand (from Worcestershire sauce)
Image 21Bewdley Bridge and Severn Side South, 2003 (from Bewdley)
Image 22Graves of railway engineers Tom Scaife and Joseph Rutherford, killed in an engine explosion in Bromsgrove in 1840 (from Bromsgrove)
Image 23A.E. Housman, poet, lived at Perry Hall, Bromsgrove (from Bromsgrove)
Image 24Thai Gy-Nguang brand Formula 2 Worcestershire sauce (2010) (from Worcestershire sauce)
Image 25St Stephen's Church (Church of England) (from Redditch)
Image 26Aggborough is the home ground of the professional club Kidderminster Harriers, formerly of the Football League. (from Kidderminster)
Image 27William Lloyd (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 28Saltworkers by British sculptor John McKenna in the town centre (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 29James McConnell (from Bromsgrove)
Image 30Evesham Abbey bell tower (from Evesham)
Image 31The art deco Regal Cinema (from Evesham)
Image 32The coat of arms of Worcestershire County Council (from Worcestershire)
Image 33Iron Age earthworks, British Camp
Image 34Parkside, headquarters of Bromsgrove District Council (from Bromsgrove)
Image 35Tithe barn of St Johns, Bromsgrove, shortly before it was sold and demolished in 1844. It was used as a theatre in the 1700s. (from Bromsgrove)
Image 36Welcome to Malvern, on an approach road to the town centre. (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 37The flag of the historic county of Worcestershire (from Worcestershire)
Image 38Hanbury Hall, completed around 1706 (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 39Due to its cathedral (pictured), the county town of Worcester is the only settlement in the county with city status. (from Worcestershire)
Image 40Priory Park with Malvern Theatres complex and Priory Church tower in the background (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 41St John's Court: 19th-century vicarage, served as council offices from 1920s to 1980s, now a care home (from Bromsgrove)
Image 42Bewdley and surrounding area (Ordnance Survey) (from Bewdley)
Image 43Malvern St James girls school main building (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 44Detail of buildings and shops in Church Street, Great Malvern (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 45Summit of the Worcestershire Beacon in the Malvern Hills, the county's highest point (from Worcestershire)
Image 46Landsdown Methodist Church, Great Malvern (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 47Classical composer Sir Edward Elgar was born in this house in Broadheath, Worcestershire, currently used as the Elgar Birthplace Museum. (from Worcestershire)
Image 4815th-century Merchant's House formerly located on Bromsgrove's High Street, now at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings (from Bromsgrove)
Image 49The hand axe discovered in 1970s in Hallow. Potentially the first Early Middle Palaeolithic artefact from the West Midlands. (from Worcestershire)
Image 50Bewdley Guildhall (from Bewdley)
Image 51The Old Town Hall (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 52Council wards of Malvern town (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 53Broadway Tower, one of several Worcestershire follies (from Worcestershire)
Image 54Grave of Mabel Tolkien (née Suffield, 1870–1904), mother of J. R. R. Tolkien, in Bromsgrove (from Bromsgrove)
Image 55The Market Place in Evesham, circa 1904 by Edmund Hort New (from Evesham)
Image 56The Almonry, originally part of Evesham Abbey (from Evesham)
Image 57Coat of arms of the former Bromsgrove Rural District Council (from Bromsgrove)
Image 58The spa town of Great Malvern was laid out and developed largely during the 19th century
Image 59St Mary's and All Saints Parish Church, seen from the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (from Kidderminster)
Image 60Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce — the invention of two Worcester chemists (from Worcestershire)
Image 61The Riverside Shopping Centre (from Evesham)
Image 62Hand-drawn map of Worcestershire by Christopher Saxton from 1577. (from Worcestershire)
Image 63The former Bromsgrove railway station (from Bromsgrove)
Image 64View of the QinetiQ facility from the Malvern Hills. Malvern College campus in the foreground, and the village of Poolbrook to the rear
Image 65Worcester Square (from Redditch)
Image 66Chateau Impney, near Droitwich (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 67Seven shillings a week: this nailmaker in 1896 worked from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and turned out 11 lb of nails a week. (from Bromsgrove)
Image 68Malvern post office, town centre
Image 69Halesowen was an exclave of neighbouring Shropshire until 1844 when it was reincorporated into Worcestershire. It is now within the metropolitan county of the West Midlands. (from Worcestershire)
Image 70Iron Age earthworks, British Camp
Image 71Bromsgrove Museum (from Bromsgrove)
Image 72New Road is the home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, across the River Severn from Worcester Cathedral. (from Worcestershire)
Image 73Bromsgrove Guild maker's mark on a main gate of Buckingham Palace (from Bromsgrove)
Image 74Oswald and Eadnoth (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 75The North West View of the City of Worcester (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 76View across Arrow Valley Lake (from Redditch)
Image 77Lea & Perrins advertisement (1900) (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 78Roosevelt plaque, Aldwyn Tower, Malvern (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 79Council House (built 1874), viewed from Priory Park, is the headquarters of the District Council. (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 80Stourport Road Bridge (from Stourport-on-Severn)
Image 81Commemorative pavement plaque in Alcester Street (from Redditch)
Image 82Qinetiq at the Malvern Hills Science Park, or Malvern Technology Centre; the integrated circuit was invented here in 1952 (from Worcestershire)
Image 83Parish church of St John the Baptist (from Bromsgrove)
Image 84Malvern Theatres pre 2023 (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 85Bewdley Bridge (from Bewdley)
Image 86Bewdley from the racks, 2019 (from Bewdley)
Image 87Victorian pillar box on the corner of Priory Road and Orchard Road
Image 88The 1906 sandstone and red brick Evesham Methodist Church on the banks of the River Avon (from Evesham)
Image 89Portrait of Sir William Waller, 1643, whose raids thoroughly depleted the Vale of Evesham (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 90Interior of a Bromsgrove Nailmaker's shed in 1896; occupied by the tenant and two stallers, the latter worked each on his own account, and paid 6d. a week apiece and one-third of the firing. The oliver, or heavy hammer used for heading the nails, is attached to the bench in front of the little anvil. (from Bromsgrove)
Image 91The Lickey Incline about 1845 (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 92The Battle of Powick Bridge on the River Teme on 23 September 1642 began the English Civil War. (from Worcestershire)
Image 93Malvern Theatres entrance 2024 (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 94Sanders Park (from Bromsgrove)
Image 95Bewdley Station, now restored as part of the Severn Valley Railway (from Bewdley)
Image 96Caldwall Castle (from Kidderminster)
Image 97Evesham Town Hall (from Evesham)
Image 98The former Slingfield Mill (from Kidderminster)
Image 99Worcester Bosch; Bosch Thermotechnology are in Warndon (from Worcestershire)
Image 100The Enigma Fountain and statue of Edward Elgar, a group of sculptures by artist Rose Garrard, on Belle Vue Terrace (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 101Dudley Castle (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 102The Lickey Incline in 1840 (from Bromsgrove)
Image 103The Malvhina Fountain in the town centre, a sculpture by artist Rose Garrard. (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 104St John the Baptist's Church (Church of England), built in 1843 (from Kidderminster)
Image 105Nailmakers in Bromsgrove c.1896 (from Bromsgrove)
Image 106Droitwich transmitting station, Wychbold (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 107Great Malvern Priory
Image 108St Ann's Well spout (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 109St Peter's Church, Droitwich (from Droitwich Spa)

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Céline Figard (French pronunciation: [selin fiɡaʁ]; 23 May 1976 – 19 December 1995) was a French woman who went missing and was murdered during a visit to the United Kingdom in December 1995. She accepted a lift from a lorry driver at Chieveley services on the M4 in Chieveley, Berkshire, on 19 December, but never arrived at her destination. Following an appeal for information on her whereabouts and police enquiries, her body was discovered on 29 December, at a lay-by on the A449 in Hawford, Worcestershire. A post-mortem examination determined she had been strangled and bludgeoned to death.

The case received extensive news coverage in the UK around the Christmas and New Year period, amid fears that it could be linked to a series of killings around the English Midlands, which police called the work of a "Midlands Ripper". The murder investigation included the UK's first national DNA screening programme in the hunt for a murder suspect, covering over 5,000 people. (Full article...)

List of Good articles
Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries since 1844 Hanley Castle High School Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern water Julius Harrison Malvern Water (bottled water) Strensham services Battle of Evesham Philip Smith (criminal) Walter de Beauchamp (nobleman) Whittington Tump Worcester Castle

Selected quotes

“

The top three hardest things to say are:

I was wrong
I need help
Worcestershire sauce

”

— Unknown

More selections • Read more...

Did you know?

...that Simon de Montfort was killed and had his testicles cut off at the Battle of Evesham (pictured)?
...that Whittington Tump in Worcestershire was the site of a motte castle?
...that the investigation into the murder of Céline Figard saw the UK's first national DNA screening programme in the hunt for a suspect?
...that the medieval nobleman Walter de Beauchamp was granted the right to keep pheasants on his lands and fine any who poached them by King Henry I of England?

Things you can do for WikiProject Worcestershire

WORCS/ToDo is a list of urgent tasks. If they have been addressed, please do not remove them from the list, but check them off with the {{done}} ( Done) template, and sign your name with four tildes: ~~~~ (Full article...)

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