

won 



WORCESTERSHIRE. 



11W 



John'* u U> pariah ohuroh of wht may properly be termed a suburb 

 of Worcester, and u on the right bank of the Severn. There are places 

 of wonhip for Weslcyan and Primitive Methodists, Quaker*, Baptist*, 

 ladefwmienU, Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, Roman Catholics, 

 and Mormons. A floating chapel is maintained for boatmen and others 

 employed on the river. Besides Qaeen Elisabeth's Qrammar school, 

 th.ro 'are a Cathedral school, a Diocesan school, a Blue-Coat school, a 

 Roman Catholic Charity school, and the Countess of Huntingdon's 

 Charity school ; National, British, and Infant schools ; a literary mid 

 Kimiiiie institution; a natural history society and nunoum ; |uil>lic 

 news rooms ; a law society and roading-rooms ; a saving* bank ; a dis- 

 peDry ; an iunrmary ; a female asylum ; and several other benevolent 

 institutions. 



A cathedral existed here in the time of the Saxons ; but it was 

 deemed insufficient for ita purpose, and was superseded by a new 

 cathedral, built by Oswald, the bishop, in 983. This building being 

 destroyed by fiir, another edifice arose under the auspices of Bishop 

 \\ uif.un in 10S4. This cathedral likewise twice suffered from fire. 

 After the second conflagration it remained for 16 years in a dilapidated 

 state. Repairs, so great as to render a fresh consecration necessary, 

 were then made, and in January, 1281, the church was re-opened in 

 the presence of the king. Various alterations and additions were 

 made in 1224, and again in 1830. The crypt of Wulfatan's cathedral 

 remains in a tolerably perfect state. 



Worcester cathedral is built in the form of a double cross, with 

 double transepts. The tower, which is 193 feet high, rises from the 

 intersection of the western transept with the nave and choir. The 

 nave, which appears to be the oldest part of the present building, 

 except of course the erypt, U divided from the aisles by 10 clustered 

 columns on each side, surmounted with pointed arches. The 

 roof is groined, and ornamented with flowers, heads, and other forms 

 of decoration ; some of the windows are admirable examples of the 

 early and decorated English styles. The height of the navo ia 67 

 feet, the length 174 feet, and the width 30 feet. The choir has also 

 a handsome groined roof; the altar-screen and the pulpit are of 

 stone, and both are richly sculptured. The tomb of King John is 

 in the centra of the choir. There is a lady-chapel, which corresponds 

 in date and style with the choir. The total length of the cathedral is 

 4-25 feet ; the greatest width is 145 feet. The west transept ia 128 

 feet; the east transept U 120 feet. The cloisters form a quadrangle 

 on the south side ; on the east side is the chapter-house, which is 

 polygonal outside, and circular in the interior, with a central column 

 supporting the roof: it contains the cathedral library. 



The other principal buildings of Worcester are the guildhall, an 

 elegant structure of brick, with stone quoins and ornaments ; the skin- 

 hall, a handsome stone Ionic building ; the county courts ; the county 

 jail; the city jail; the county iunrmary; a new corn-hall; another 

 building, erected for a corn-exchange, but now converted into a music- 

 hall; a new market-house; and Edgar's Tower. In the guildhall is 

 a large room which is used for public entertainments. The present 

 bridge over the Severn was built in 1780; it has of late years been 

 repaired, and the pathway widened. Musical festivals, conducted by 

 the choirs of the dioceses of Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester, are 

 held in Worcester cathedral trienn Sally. Races take place in July 

 and November near the bank of the river ; on the race-ground is a 

 commodious grand stand. 



A connidrable manufacture of cloth was once carried on here. 

 The glove trade now employs a large number of the female inhabit- 

 ants. Porcelain of a fine quality ia extensively made ; in the town 

 are several celebrated porcelain factories. Hops are cultivated in the 

 'mrhood. A distillery and a rectifying-house are in the city. 

 Trade is carried on in coal, corn, malt, slate, and timber; iron- 

 founding, tanning, and rope-making employ some of the population. 

 On the bank of the canal are large warehouses. Markets are held on 

 Wednesday and Saturday : there are eleven fairs iu the course of the 

 year. A county court U held iu the town. 



A city occupying the site of the present city of Worcester was 



destroyed by the Danes, and rebuilt about 894 by Ethelred. In 1041 



the town was plundered and partly burnt by the troops of Hardicanute. 



In 1074 a boJy of troops under Walter de Lacy and the Barons of 



Hereford was assembled hero, to quell a conspiracy against William the 



Jouqueror, and to guard the passes of the Severn agaiunt the rebels. In 



I Bernard Neumarck unsuccessfully besieged the city. On several 



occuions during the 12th century the city suffered from casual fires, 



and also from the ravages of civil war. In 1216 the king's troops, 



commanded by the Earl of Chester, plundered the city, which had 



ting John was buried here in this year. In 1225 a great 



tournament was held here. Bishop Blois excommunicated all persons 



concerned in it. From the year 1263, in the revolt of the barons, till 



I. was besieged iu the city by the parliamentary 



troop* under Cromwell, the town experienced on many occasions the 



utrrs accompanying a state of civil warfare. 



The site of the castle, which from time to time sustained so many 

 sieges and so frequently changed governors, is on tho south side of 

 the cath, draL A small part of an old ecclesiastical house, tho nunnery 

 of \\ hit-Une, now called The White Ladies,' is still standing Friar- 

 takes its name from a house of Franciscans which formerly 

 existed here; the remains of the monastery were demolished in 1823. 



The Dominicans, Penitents. Black Friars, and Friars of the Holy Trinity 

 hail likewise their establishments. 



The see of Worcester is in the province of Canterbury. The diocese 

 includes the counties of Worcester and Warwick, one parish in Glou- 

 cestershire, and three in Staffordshire, and comprises 893 benefices. 

 It is divided into the archdeaconries of Worcester and Coveut ry. Th > 

 chapter consists of the dean, the archdeacon*, 6 canons, 14 honorary 

 canons, 5 minor canons, and a chancellor. Tho income of the bishop 

 is fixed at 50001. a year. 



WORCESTER, r s. [MASSACHUSETTS.] 



WORl KSTKHSIIIKK, an inland county of England, is boi.. 

 N. by Staffordshire and Shropshire, K. by \Na . 8. l>y <;lmi- 



cesterahire, and W. by Herefordshire. The county lies between 61 58' 

 and 62" 31' N. lat., and 1" 46' and 2 38' \V. long. The gr. :. 

 of the county is about '2'J niileB. in a direction from north-ea-t, tn 

 west; its greatest breadth is about 22 miles, in a line runuin;; from 

 east to west. The area of Worcestershire i.s 7SS nature mi 

 472,165 acres. The population in 1841 was 248,460; iu 1851 it 

 was 276,926. 



Surface, Geology, <tc. Worcestershire is generally a Bat county ; on 

 the eastern and western sides are two nearly parallel ranges of lulls 

 which partly bound and partly intersect it : the intermediate space is, 

 for the most part, a fertile plain. The eastern range of hills commences 

 in the north in the Clent Hills, extends to the north-west of Broms- 

 grove, and forming neur Kedditch the boundary between this county 

 and Warwickshire, terminates to the north u! Kvesh:un. The western 

 chain commences in the nei^hbourho >d . . and runs south- 



ward by Abberley and Martluy to the great chain of Malveru Hills, in 

 which it terminates. The principal hill* not comprised in or boi., 

 on these chains are Bredon Hill, situated about three miles south of 

 Pershore, Broadway Hill, near the town of that iiamc, in the south- 

 eastern extremity of the county, and a small line of hills ext< 

 from Croome northwards towards Worcester. 



Geology, <tc. Worcestershire is composed, for the most part, of new 

 red-sandstone, lias, and oolite; other formations arc visible in tho 

 chain of the Malvern Hills, in the districts bordering on Tenliuiy, 

 Bewdley, and Dudley, and iu the Lickey and neighbouring hills in tho 

 northern part of the county. The new red-sandstone comprehend.; 

 that district which is watered by tho Severn, together with tho north- 

 eastern portion of the county: its lower beds being found round 

 Witley, Stourport, Kidderminster, Brotnsgrove, and Alvechureh ; and 

 the higher, called the Keuper beds, round Droitwich, Worcester, and 

 Upton. Tho lias formation is found at Pershore and Kvoslmi 

 in the vales watered by the Avon ; it extends from Foster's Gr 

 the limits of the county near Tewkesbury. The portion of tho Malv.-ni 

 Hills within the boundary of Worcestershire consists of trap ; while 

 tho Silurian rocks, the Caradoe sandstone, Ludlow rock, and \Venloek 

 limestone appear in the northern portion of the chain. The lower 

 coal and ironstone beds are found at its termination, to the north of 

 Abberley Hill, in the forest of Wyre. Here also is found t! 

 rod-sandstone formation upon which Tenbury stands, and which is 

 tho prevailing stratum throughout the adjoining county of Hereford. 

 Bewdley is situated near tho junction of the lower red-sandstone with 

 the coal-field of the Forest of Wyre. The town of Dudley stands on 

 the thicker coal-measures, Wenlock limestone appearing on Us north- 

 west, ami trap at Rowley Hill ou the south-south-east. In Hi 

 bourhood of Droitwich and Stoke Prior are sulil'erous bedn, from whieh 

 a large quantity of salt is manufactured. A full and Interesting ;n vomit, 

 of them is given in a pamphlet by Dr. Hastings. They ar. I 

 described by SirR.1. Murohisou in his 'Silurian System,' to which work 

 we refer our readers for very accurate accounts of tho coal-field* and 

 more remarkable geological phenomena of the county. In a pap. i !'v 

 Mr. Leonard Homer, in the ' Geological Transactions,' is a full and 

 interesting account of the geology of the Malvern Hills. 



Hydrography and Communications. The principal rivers aro the 

 SEVKBN, the AVON, the Terne, and the Salwarp. 



The 'feme, which is a very rapid stream, first comes into contact 

 with Worcestershire at its western extremity ; it passes the town of 

 Tenbury, and forms here, as during other parts of its com 

 boundary of Worcestershire with Herefordshire. It falls into tho 

 Severn near Powick, about three miles south of Worcester : it iu not 

 navigable. The stream is good for fishing, and trout and grayling 

 are abundant. The Salwarp, a, small river, rises to the north of 

 Brouisgrove, flows through Droitwich, and falls into the Severn near 

 Claines. 



The northern part of the county is intersected by several canals, 

 which are of great commercial importance. The chief of tin 

 Birmingham and Worcester Canal, reaches from the junction of tho 

 Birmingham and Fozeley canals at Birmingham, to the Severn, a liUlo 

 below Worcester, passing through the salt-district of Droitwich, and 

 having two branches, one to Dudley by way of Hales Owen, and the 

 other from King's Norton to Stratford-upou-Avon. From Dudley 

 there is a canal, which, under different names, runs to Stonrbridgc, 

 Kidderminster, and Stourport, at which lost place it opens into tho 

 Severn. 



The principal roods are from Birmingham through Bromsgrove, 

 Droitwich, Worcester, Severnstoko, and Upton to Tewkesbury, Chel- 

 tenham, and Gloucester; from Dudley to Stourbridgo, Kidderminster 



