Worcester

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(Redirected from Worcester, England)
This article is about the Worcester in England. See also Worcester, Massachusetts or Worcester (disambiguation).
City of Worcester
Image:Worcester - Hereford and Worcester dot.png Image:WorcestershireWorcester.png
Shown within Worcestershire
Geography
Status:City (1189)
Region:West Midlands
Admin. County:Worcestershire
Area:
- Total		Ranked 333rd
33.28 km²
Admin. HQ:Worcester
Grid reference: Template:Gbmappingsmall
ONS code:47UE
Demographics
Population:
- Total (2004 est.)
- Density		Ranked 237th
93,600
2,813 / km²
Ethnicity:96.5% White
2.0% S.Asian
Politics
Worcester City Council
http://www.cityofworcester.gov.uk/
Leadership:Leader & Cabinet
Executive:Conservative
MP:Michael Foster

The city of Worcester (pronounced Template:IPA) is a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England. The River Severn runs through the middle, with the city's large cathedral overlooking the river.

Contents

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History

Occupation of the site of Worcester can be dated back to Neolithic times, a village surrounded by defensive ramparts having been founded on the eastern bank of the River Severn here in around 400 BC. The position, which commanded a ford on the river, was in the 1st century used by the Romans to establish what may at first have been a fort on the military route from Glevum (Gloucester) to Viroconium (Wroxeter) but which soon developed – as the frontier of the empire was pushed westwards – into an industrial town with its own pottery kilns and iron-smelting plants.

Roman Worcester (which may have been the Vertis mentioned in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmology) was a thriving trading and manufacturing centre for some three hundred years, though by the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 407 it had dwindled condiderably in size and is not recorded again until the mid-7th century when documents mention the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Weogornaceaster. The fact that Worcester was chosen at this time – in preference to both the much larger Gloucester and the royal centre of Winchcombe – to be the Episcopal See of a new diocese covering the area suggests that there was a well established, and powerful, British Christian community living on the site when it fell into English hands.

The town was almost destroyed in 1041 after a rebellion against the punitive taxation of Harthacanute. The town was attacked several times in the civil war (in 1139, 1150 and 1151) between King Stephen and Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I.

By late medieval times the population had grown to around 10,000 as the manufacture of cloth started to become a large local industry. The town was designated a county corporate, giving it autonomy from local government.

Image:Worcester cathedral night.jpg

Worcester was the site of the Battle of Worcester (September 3, 1651), in which Charles II's attempt to retake the country from Cromwell and the Parliamentarians was decisively defeated, in the fields a little to the west and south of the city, near the village of Powick. After being defeated, Charles returned to his headquarters in what is now known as King Charles house in the Cornmarket, before fleeing in disguise to Boscobel House in Shropshire and his eventual escape to France.
Worcester was one of the cities loyal to the King in that war, for which it was given the epithet "The Faithful City".

During the 18th century Worcester's trade languished compared to more modern towns of the West Midlands. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal opened in 1815 allowing Worcester goods to be transported to a larger conurbation.

The current city boundaries date from 1974, when the Local Government Act 1972 transferred the parishes of Warndon and St. Peter the Great County into the city.

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Politics

The city council is currently controlled by the Conservative Party, who hold 18 of the council's 35 seats.

Worcester has one member of Parliament, Michael Foster of the Labour Party, who represents the Worcester constituency.

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Industry and commerce

Industry is now quite varied; in the 19th and early twentieth century, Worcester was a major centre for glove manufacture, but this has declined greatly. The late-Victorian period saw the growth of ironfounders, like Heenan & Froude, Hardy & Padmore and McKenzie & Holland and the inter-war years saw the rapid growth of engineering, producing machine tools James Archdale, H.W.Ward, castings for the motor industry Worcester Windshields and Casements, mining machinery MECO and open-top cans Williamsons. Still located in the city are the Royal Worcester porcelain factory (near the cathedral), and, somewhat out of the centre, the factory that makes Worcester's most famous product, Worcestershire sauce. The engineering industry is still represented by Joy Mining Machinery, of the United States, which has its UK manufacturing headquarters in the St. Johns area, and by Carnaud Metalbox, part of Crown Holdings, also of the United States, which has its seaming systems division located in the Perry Wood district. The foundry heritage of the city being represented by Morganite Crucible, at Norton, which produces graphitic shaped products and cements for use in the modern industry. The Kays mail order business has operated from numerous premises in the city (see Kays Heritage) and currently has a large warehouse in the St. Johns area. Worcester is the home of what is claimed to be the oldest daily newspaper in the world, Berrow's Worcester Journal, which traces its descent from a newssheet that started publication in 1690. The city is also a major retail centre with several covered shopping centres and most major chains represented.

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Education

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University

Worcester is home to the University of Worcester, which was awarded university status in 2005. It was previously known as UCW (University College Worcester), and Worcester Institute of Higher Education before that.

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Private Schools

Worcester is also the seat of the famous public schools the Royal Grammar School Worcester founded ante 1291, and the Worcester Cathedral School which was founded in 1541 under King Henry VIII as The King's School, Worcester.And Saint Mary's Convent School a catholic girl's school.

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State sixth forms

  • Worcester Sixth Form
  • Worcester College of Technology
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State high schools

  • Bishop Perowne Performing Arts College CE
  • Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College
  • Christopher Whitehead Language College
  • Chantry High School
  • Elgar Technology College
  • Nunnery Wood High School (a Science College)
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State primary schools

  • Cherry Orchard
  • Claines
  • Cranham
  • Dines Green
  • Elbury Mount
  • Gorse Hill
  • Lyppard Grange
  • Northwick Manor Infants & Juniors
  • Nunnery Wood
  • Oldbury Park
  • Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic
  • Perdiswell
  • Pitmaston
  • Red Hill CE
  • Ronkswood Infants & Juniors
  • Stanley Road
  • St Barnabas
  • St Clements CE
  • St Georges CE
  • St Georges Catholic
  • St Josephs Catholic
  • Warndon Infants & Juniors
  • Whittington
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Famous citizens

Image:Edward Elgar statue.png Probably Worcester's most famous citizen was composer Sir Edward Elgar, whose father ran a music shop at the end of the High Street; a statue of Elgar stands near the original location of that shop. His birthplace is a short way outside of Worcester in the village of Broadheath.

Sir Charles Hastings, founder of the British Medical Association lived in Worcester for most of his life - the newly built Worcestershire Royal Hospital stands in a road named in his honour.

Poet and author Reverend Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, famously known as "Woodbine Willy", was for some time the Vicar of St. Pauls Church in the City. He rose to fame during World War I when he became an army chaplain, his sermons and poetry helping boost morale to the troops. He acquired his nickname from his habit of handing out "Woodbine" cigarettes to the men in the trenches.

Sir Thomas Brock, a sculptor most famous for the Imperial Victoria Memorial in London was born here.

Writer Fay Weldon was born here.

Hannah Snell, famous for impersonating a man and being enlisted in the Royal Marines in the 18th Century was born and raised here.

Civil engineer Edward Leader Williams, designer of the Manchester Ship Canal, was born and raised in Worcester, residing at Diglis House (now the Diglis Hotel) with his brother, noted landscape artist Benjamin Williams Leader.

Worcester is also home to electronic music producer and Aphex Twin collaborator Mike Paradinas and his record label Planet Mu.

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Culture and arts

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Festivals and shows

Every three years, Worcester becomes home to the Three Choirs Festival, which dates back to the 18th Century and is credited with being the oldest music festival in Europe. The location of the festival rotates each year between the Cathedral Cities of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester. Famous for its championing of English music, especially that of Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst, Worcester is next scheduled to host the festival in August 2008.

The Worcester Festival is a relatively new venture established in 2003. Held in late August, the festival consists of a variety of music, theatre, cinema and workshops, as well as the already established Beer Festival, which now runs under the Worcester Festival name.

The Christmas Fayre is a major source of tourism every December. Image:Worcester in 1806. Engraving by J.Roper from a drawing by G.Cole.jpg

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Theatre, Music & Cinema

Famous 18th century actress Sarah Siddons made her acting debut here. Her sister, the novelist Ann Julia Kemble Hatton otherwise known as Ann of Swansea was born in the city. Matilda Alice Powles, better known as Vesta Tilley, a leading male impersonator and music hall artiste was born in Worcester.

In present-day Worcester the Swan Theatre stages a mixture of professional touring and local amateur productions. The Countess of Huntingdon's Hall (Huntington Hall) is a historic church now used as venue for an eclectic range of musical performances, while The Marrs Bar is a venue for gigs and stand-up comedy. Worcester also boasts two multi-screen cinemas (an Odeon on Foregate Street and Vue on Friar Street).

In the northern suburbs of the city is the Art Deco Northwick Cinema. Built in 1938 it contains one of the only two remaining interiors in Britain designed by John Alexander, the original perspective drawings are still held by the Royal Institute of British Architects. It was a Bingo Hall from 1966 to 1982 and then empty until 1991, it was then ran as a music venue until 1996, and has been empty again since. Recently (2005/06) it has been being worked on by builders, though what the next stage of it's life will be is uncertain at present.

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Religion

Worcester contains a diverse range of religious groups, as well as both Catholic and Church of England centres, there is also an Islamic mosque, a large centre for the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), a Baptist Church and a number of smaller interest groups regarding Eastern Religions such as Buddhism and the Hare Krishna's.

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Sport

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External links



Districts of the West Midlands Image:Flag of England.svg

Birmingham | Bridgnorth | Bromsgrove | Cannock Chase | Coventry | Dudley | East Staffordshire | Herefordshire | Lichfield | Malvern Hills | Newcastle-under-Lyme | North Shropshire | North Warwickshire | Nuneaton and Bedworth | Oswestry | Redditch | Rugby | Sandwell | Shrewsbury and Atcham | Solihull | South Shropshire | South Staffordshire | Stafford | Staffordshire Moorlands | Stoke-on-Trent | Stratford-on-Avon | Tamworth | Telford and Wrekin | Walsall | Warwick | Wolverhampton | Worcester | Wychavon | Wyre Forest

Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire

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