WORCESTER. 



of the feventh prebendal lioufe, which formerly belonged 

 to the kitchener or cook of the monaftery, are the remains 

 of the great kitchen, a fpacious oftagonal apartment, 

 34 feet in diameter. 



Other places of worfliip belonging to the eftabliftiment 

 in Worccfter are, the churches of St. Peter the Great, St. 

 Michael, St. Alban, St. Helen, St. Andrew, St. Clement, 

 St. John Baptift, All Saints, St. Swithun, St. Martin, St. 

 Nicholas, and Claines. Of thefe buildings, fome preferve 

 their ancient appearance. St. Andrew's church is diftin- 

 guifhed by a fquare tower, 90 feet high, fupporting an 

 oftagonal fpire, in height 155 feet 6 inches; the whole 

 height being 245 feet 6 inches. The church and tower are 

 fuppofed to have been erefted in the eleventh century, but 

 the fpire was not added till 1 75 1. Among the various 

 monadic inftitutions of Worcefter was that remarkable one, 

 now called the Commandery, eitablifhed for the maintenance 

 of two chaplains, five poor men, and two poor women, 

 founded by St. Wulftan, who died in 1097 : it became, 

 after the diflolution, a part of the endowment of Chrift- 

 church in Oxford. Coramanderies were, among the knights- 

 hofpitallers of Jerufalem, the fame with the preceptories 

 among the knights-templars ; being focieties placed on the 

 country eftates of the order, under the controul of a com- 

 mander, but accountable to the grand prior or mailer in 

 London. Part of the ancient buildings ftill exift ; but the 

 whole, now in the poffeflion of a private individual, has of 

 late years undergone great alteration. 



Though containing fo many parifh -churches in propor- 

 tion to the population, Worcefter is not deficient in the 

 number of chapels for various claffes of diflenters. Among 

 thefe, are reckoned Anabaptifts, Independents, Methodifts, 

 Prelbyterians, Quakers, and Roman Catholics. 



On the fouth fide of the cathedral and cloiiler is an open 

 fpace, called the College-green, on the eaft fide of which is 

 a gate, known by the name of Edgar's tower, having on 

 the outer front the ftatues of that king and his two queens, 

 Elfleda and Elfrida. Antiquarian curiofity has been much 

 excited by charafters once exifting on this tower, fuppofed 

 to indicate a date nmch older than the received introduftion 

 of our prefent numerical figures into this part of the world. 

 But the charafters were probably .mifunderftood ; nor is the 

 lower itfelf believed to be of the age of Edgar, who died 

 in 975. 



Northward from the cathedral, on the rifing bank of the 

 Severn, is the bifhop's palace, originally furrounded with 

 embattled walls in 1270, but brought into its prefent ftate 

 by bifhop StiUingfleet and fucceeding prelates. The weil 

 fide ftill retains much of the antique architefture. 



Public Buildings. — The chief of thefe is the guildhall, 

 fituated on the weft fide of the High-ftreet, near the market- 

 place. It is a handfome edifice of two fpacious ftories, 

 iinilhed in 1723 : the lower part is in one room, no feet 

 6 inches long, by 25 feet 6 inches broad, and 21 feet high, 

 in which are held the feveral courts of juftice for the city 

 and the county. The council-chamber is 109 feet long, by 

 26 broad, and 15 feet 8 inches higli. The bridge over the 

 Severn, in length between the abutments 270 feet, and iu 

 breadth 25, is an elegant ftone ilrufture of 5 feniicircular 

 arches, opened in 1781. The centre arch is in fpan 

 41 feet, but the other arches gradually diminifh in width. 

 Connefted with the bridge a new ftreet has been opened, 

 leading into the middle of the city, and the new roads from 

 the weftward, the embankments, and quays along both fides 

 of the river, are at once ornamental and ufeful. 



Charitable Injlitutions. — The chief of thefe is the houfe of 

 iaduilry, completed in 1 794, a handfome building on the ealt 



fide of the city, advantageoufiy fituated on an enuucnce, and 

 calculated to accommodate 150 perfons belonging to the 

 diff'erent pariflies of the city. The infirmary, fituated in an 

 airy pofition, overlooking the race-ground, the river, and the 

 north-weft parts of the county, was commenced in 1767 : 

 it receives about 58 patients on an average annually. A 

 number of hofpitals and alms-houfes, fome of ancient found- 

 ation, provide fupport for age, and education for youth. A 

 free-fchool on the Lancafterian plan was eftabUljhed fome 

 years ago. The old county-gaol is fituated in the caftle- 

 yard ; but a new one has been lately erefted in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the infirmary, on the Howardian plan. The 

 city-gaol is an ancient building in a crowded fituation, 

 having been originally a Francifcan convent, founded in the 

 13th century, but granted to the city at the diffolution. 



Public Amufements — Worcefter has long maintained its 

 claim to be one of the moft fafhionable cities in the weftera 

 parts of the kingdom : it is confequently the winter-refidence 

 of a number of confiderable families from the furrounding 

 counties of England and Wales. The theatre, aflemblies, 

 concerts, races, the various public walks, clubs, the public 

 library, &c. render Worcefter a bufy, gay, and much-fre- 

 quented city. 



Municipal Government. — The city was incorporated by 

 Henry I., but the firft charter was granted in the 45th year 

 of Henry III. In 1 62 1, the 19th year of James I., a mayor 

 was eftablifhed. The corporation now confifts of a mayor, 

 fix aldermen, 24 common- council-men, and 48 alliftants, 

 by which laft two bodies tha magiftrates are chofen. But 

 the right of elefting the members for parliament extends 

 to upwards of 2000 citizens, the ftierifF being the return- 

 ing officer. Worcefter fent two reprefentatives to 

 parHament in the 23d year of Edward I. Florence of 

 Worcefter, the author of the Chronicon, a general hiftory 

 of the world down to i [18, when he died, was a monk of 

 the cathedral of this city. William of Worcefter was edu- 

 cated in Oxford in 1434, and drew up his " Polyandria 

 Oxonienfis," a hiftory of the learned men bred in that uni- 

 verfity. His Annals, at the end of the " Black Book" of 

 the exchequer, contain notes on the affairs of his own times. 

 The famous empyric and myftic philofopher, Edward Kelly, 

 was born in Worcefter towards the middle of the 16th 

 century. The relation of the impoftures of this perfon and 

 his affociate Dr. Dee, furnifhed by Lilly, prefent a humili- 

 ating pifture of the human mind and underftanding in thofe 

 days, on the continent as well as in England. Worcefter 

 produced, in 1650, the eminent lawyer lord Somers,who, by 

 his k'.iowledge and eloquence, defended the caufe of liberty 

 and juftice in the latter part of the reign of Charles II., 

 when but few warm and able advocates were found on their 

 fide in Weftminfter-hall. See Somers, Lord. 



Worcefter has long been rendered very interefting, from 

 the circumftance of the Royal Porcelain IVorks being efta- 

 bhftied within its walls. It is, on our part, a moft pleafing 

 duty, not only to trace its rife and progrefs, but to hold up its 

 elegant and highly-finifhed produftions to the attention of 

 the liberal and fcientific. A very material difference exifts 

 between this eftabliftiment, and others of a fimilar kind on the 

 continent ; as the improvements made by expenfive experi- 

 ments are here effefted at the fole charge of the proprietors, 

 while the moft famed manufaftories on the continent are fup- 

 ported and carried on at the coft of the government of the 

 countries to which they belong. The Worcefter porcelain 

 works were founded in the year 175 1, by Dr. Wall and a 

 company of proprietors, compofed of many gentlemen of 

 fortune and confideration in the city and county ; who con- 

 tinued to carry on the concern under thofe adverfe circum- 

 4 R 2 ftauccs 



