Portal:Worcestershire

The Worcestershire portal

Flag of Worcestershire	Armorial banner of Worcestershire County Council

Worcestershire (/ˈwʊstərʃər/ ^ⓘ WUUST-ər-shər, /-ʃɪər/ -⁠sheer; 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.

The county, which is largely rural, has an area of 1,741 km² (672 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 621,360 in 2024. Worcester is near the centre of the county on the River Severn. Other settlements include Kidderminster in the north, Redditch and Bromsgrove in the north-east, Evesham in the south-east, and the spa town of Malvern in the south-west. For local government purposes Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county with six districts. 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 south-west 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 southeast 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...)

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General images

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

Image 1Chateau Impney, near Droitwich (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 2Parish church of St John the Baptist (from Bromsgrove)
Image 3James McConnell (from Bromsgrove)
Image 4The Abbey Gateway in the town centre is now the home of the Malvern Museum
Image 5The Old Town Hall (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 6Brintons carpet factory in Kidderminster, c. 1870 (from Kidderminster)
Image 7North-west view of Worcester, 1752 (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 8Welcome to Malvern, on an approach road to the town centre. (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 9New Road is the home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, across the River Severn from Worcester Cathedral. (from Worcestershire)
Image 10St Stephen's Church (Church of England) (from Redditch)
Image 11Hand-drawn map of Worcestershire by Christopher Saxton from 1577. (from Worcestershire)
Image 12Evesham Town Hall (from Evesham)
Image 13Great Malvern Priory
Image 14The Lickey Incline about 1845 (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 15Grave of Sir Thomas Chavasse (1854–1913) and his family in Bromsgrove (from Bromsgrove)
Image 16Bewdley Bridge (from Bewdley)
Image 17Classical composer Sir Edward Elgar was born in this house in Broadheath, Worcestershire, currently used as the Elgar Birthplace Museum. (from Worcestershire)
Image 18Astley Hall, Stanley Baldwin's home between 1902 and 1947 (from Stourport-on-Severn)
Image 19The former Slingfield Mill (from Kidderminster)
Image 20Saltworkers by British sculptor John McKenna in the town centre (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 21View of the QinetiQ facility from the Malvern Hills. Malvern College campus in the foreground, and the village of Poolbrook to the rear
Image 22Worcester Bosch; Bosch Thermotechnology are in Warndon (from Worcestershire)
Image 23Council House (built 1874), viewed from Priory Park, is the headquarters of the District Council. (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 24Lea & Perrins advertisement (1900) (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 25Bromsgrove War Memorial (from Bromsgrove)
Image 26Priory Park with Malvern Theatres complex and Priory Church tower in the background (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 27Grafton Manor, home of the Catholic Talbot family, holding leading military posts in Worcestershire's Royalist forces in the Civil War (from Bromsgrove)
Image 28Stafford tomb, St John the Baptist Church, Bromsgrove: one of the most powerful families in Worcestershire, living just south of the town (from Bromsgrove)
Image 29View across Arrow Valley Lake (from Redditch)
Image 30St Peter's Church (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 31Qinetiq at the Malvern Hills Science Park, or Malvern Technology Centre; the integrated circuit was invented here in 1952 (from Worcestershire)
Image 32St Mary and All Saints' (from Kidderminster)
Image 33Graves of railway engineers Tom Scaife and Joseph Rutherford, killed in an engine explosion in Bromsgrove in 1840 (from Bromsgrove)
Image 34Battle of Worcester (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 35The spa town of Great Malvern was laid out and developed largely during the 19th century
Image 36St Ann's Well spout (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 37Coat of arms of the former Bromsgrove Rural District Council (from Bromsgrove)
Image 38Prior's Croft, Grange Road (Victorian Gothic architecture)
Image 39Detail of buildings and shops in Church Street, Great Malvern (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 40Iron Age earthworks, British Camp
Image 41Bromsgrove Guild maker's mark on a main gate of Buckingham Palace (from Bromsgrove)
Image 42Malvern post office, town centre
Image 43A statue of Richard Baxter in Kidderminster outside St Mary and All Saints' Church. (from Kidderminster)
Image 44Droitwich Spa High Street on St. Richard's Day 2009 (from Droitwich Spa)
Image 45The coat of arms of Worcestershire County Council (from Worcestershire)
Image 46Bewdley Station, now restored as part of the Severn Valley Railway (from Bewdley)
Image 47Stourport Road Bridge (from Stourport-on-Severn)
Image 48The Malvhina Fountain in the town centre, a sculpture by artist Rose Garrard. (from Malvern, Worcestershire)
Image 49Oswald and Eadnoth (from History of Worcestershire)
Image 50Portrait of Sir William Waller, 1643, whose raids thoroughly depleted the Vale of Evesham (from History of Worcestershire)

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Morcom at Sherborne School, c. 1929

Christopher Collan Morcom (13 July 1911 – 13 February 1930) was an English student mathematician, scientist and astronomer. He is known for being a childhood friend of Alan Turing, the founder of modern computer science. Morcom has been described as Turing's first love, but the affection is not known to have been reciprocated.

Morcom was born in Fockbury, Worcestershire, to a wealthy family involved in the arts and sciences; his mother, Frances Isobel Morcom, was a sculptor, and his father an engineer. He was the grandson of Sir Joseph Swan, an inventor of the incandescent light bulb. Morcom was educated at King's Mead School in Seaford, East Sussex, from 1922 to 1925, and Sherborne School in Dorset from 1925 to 1929. He excelled at Sherborne and was awarded several scholarships and prizes. In December 1929 he was awarded a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, but died before he could begin his studies there. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

Selected quotes

“

The Most I Have To Fear While Hiking In Worcestershire, Is Whether Or Not The Mud Awaiting Me In The Narrow Lanes Ahead Is Deep Enough To Foul My Socks.

”

— Jim Crace

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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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