Also see: other locations also called Worcester
WORCESTER is an episcopal city and county of a city, municipal, parliamentary, and county borough, and county town of Worcestershire, England, on the River Severn - as of 1901, 46,624 people live here.
It is served by the Great Western railway and by the Bristol–Birmingham line of the Midland railway. Branches of the Great Western diverge to Malvern and Hereford, and to Leominster. Worcester lies mainly upon the left (E.) bank of the Severn, which is here a broad and placid river, the main part of the city lying on a ridge parallel with its banks. The city is governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen and 36 councillors. Area 3242 acres.
Traces of British and Roman occupation have been discovered at Worcester, but its history begins with the foundation of the episcopal see. Being the chief city on the borders of Wales, Worcester was frequently visited by the kings of England.
In 1139, it was taken by the Empress Maud and retaken and burnt by Stephen in 1149. It surrendered to Simon de Montfort in 1263.
In 1642, during the Great Rebellion, a handful of cavaliers was besieged here, and in spite of an attempted relief by Prince Rupert, the city was pillaged, as it was again in 1646. In 1651 Charles II. with the Scottish army marched into Worcester, where he was welcomed by the citizens. Cromwell took up his position on the Red Hill just outside the city gates. Lambert succeeded in passing the Severn at Upton, and drove back the Royalist troops towards Worcester.
Charles, seeking an advantage of this division of the enemy on opposite sides of the river, attacked Cromwell's camp. At first he was successful, but Cromwell was reinforced by Lambert's troops in time to drive back Charles's foot, who were not supported by the Scottish horse, and the rout of the King's force was complete.
In the reign of King Alfred, Æthelred and Æthelflead, ealdorman and lady of the Mercians, at the request of the bishop «built a burgh at Worcester» and granted to him half of their rights and privileges there «both in market and street within the borough and without.» Richard I. in 1189 granted the town to the burgesses at a fee-farm of £24, and Henry III. in 1227 granted a gild merchant and exemption from toll, and raised the farm to £30. The first incorporation charter was granted by Philip and Mary in 1554 under the title of bailiffs, aldermen, chamberlains and citizens, but James I. in 1622 made the city a separate county and granted a corporation of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and a common council consisting of one body of 24 citizens, including the mayor and aldermen, and another body of 48, who elected the mayor from among the 24.
By the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, the government was again altered. The burgesses returned two members to parliament from 1295 to 1885, when the number was reduced to one. As early as 1203 the men of the town paid 100s. for licence to buy and sell cloth as they had done in the time of Henry III., and in 1590 the weavers, walkers and clothiers received an incorporation charter, but the trade had already begun to decline and by 1789 had ceased to exist. Its place was taken by the manufacture of porcelain, introduced in 1751 by Dr Wall, and by the increasing manufacture of gloves, a trade in which is known to have been carried on in the 15th century.
This page was last edited on 2026-10-08 22:39:20.
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