WORCESTERSHIRE. 



barges through the whole extent of the county, by means 

 of locks in different places. See Avon. 



The Teme, rifing in RadnorOiire, enters Worcefterfliire 

 a little above Tenbury, arid thence purfuing a winding but 

 rapid courfe, through a fucceffion of beautiful and romantic 

 fcenery, along the woods and dales of Stanford, the feat of 

 fir Edward Winnington, bart., it is loft in the Severn below 

 Worcefter. From the decUvity of its bed, and confequent 

 rapidity, it is navigable for barges only up to Powick bridge, 

 a mile and a half from the Severn. But although on this 

 account the Teme be of little commercial ufe, it is peculiarly 

 ornamental to the county, no part of which furpafles the banks 

 of this ftrcam in variety of ground, wood, and open lawn. 

 A ramble along its various windings, extending upwards of 

 twenty miles, through a fucceffion of orchards, hop-grounds, 

 corn and pafture land, is, in autumn, pecuharly agreeable. 

 The Stour, an inconfiderable ftream, has rifen into notice 

 fince the opening along its courfe of the important canal by 

 Kidderminfter, uniting the Severn and the Merfey. The 

 Salwarp purfues its (hort courfe to the Severn by Bromf- 

 grove and Droitwich, where it formerly received the over- 

 flowings of the falt-fprings, but thefe are now turned into 

 the new canal from that town to the Severn. The other little 

 ilreams of Worcefterfhire merit no particular notice. 



Canals. — Connefted with the natural rivers are the arti- 

 ficial canals opened throughout the county. Thefe are, the 

 Trent-and-Severn, or the Staffordihire and Worcefterfhire 

 canal, more commonly called the Stourport canal, from 

 the place where it falls into the Severn, eleven miles north 

 from Worcefter ; the Droitwich canal, for the conveyance 

 of the produce of the falt-fprings to the Severn ; the Wor- 

 cefter and Birmingham canal ; the Dudley extenfion canal ; 

 and the Leominfter canal, near Tenbury. See Canals. 



Woods and Forefls About the time of the Norman 



Conqueft, Worcefterfhire was confidered to poffefs five 

 forefts ; namely, thofe of Feckenham, Omberfley, Hore- 

 w«U, Malvern, and Wyre ; but of the laft only a fmall por- 

 tion lies within the county. Feckenham foreft, once very 

 extenfive, has now almoft difappeared, owing to the con- 

 tinual demand for fuel to the falt-works at Droitwich, until 

 of late years a fufBcient fupply of pit-coal has been ob- 

 tained. Omberfley foreft, on the north of Worcefter, and 

 liorewell foreft on the fouth, have long been difafforefted. 

 Malvern foreft or chafe extended between the Severn and 

 the fummit of the hiUs of the fame name, where may ftill be 

 traced the trench which divided the foreft and the county 

 from Herefordftiire on the weft. Wyre foreft, on the north 

 border of the county, now more properly belongs to Shrop- 

 fhire and Staffordftiire. Befides the veiliges of thefe forefts, 

 the county contains feveral trafts of woodland, of oak, elm, 

 and beech : but from the demand for young trees to make 

 hop-poles, and for trees to be converted into charcoal for 

 the iron-works in the neighbouring counties, much timber of 

 fuperior fize cannot now well be expefted in Worcefterfhire. 



Mineralogy. — The minerals of this county are neither nu- 

 merous nor pecuharly valuable. Clay and lime-ftone are 

 abundant ; but coal, to render the latter ufeful in agri- 

 culture as well as building, is not eafily procured where 

 the ftone is found. Some coal is indeed raifed in the north- 

 weft diftrift, about Mamble, where is a rail- way leading 

 to the Leominfter canal. Coal is alfo found at Penfax, 

 and the Whitley-hills, in the fame quarter, and is much 

 ufed for coke for the hop-kilns and hme-pits ; but the vein 

 is too thin to promife much advantage to the county at 

 large, which is principally fupplied from the StafFordfhire 

 mines, by means of the Severn. In the vale of Evefham, 

 and many other parts of the county, fuel is particularly 



fcarce and dear. The lime-ftone quarries about Dudley are 

 very extenfive, and extremely curious excavations : but al- 

 though the town ftands in a detached part of the county,: 

 inclofed by Stafford fhire, thofe quarries aftually belong to; 

 the latter county. Building-ftone of different forts is alfc 

 found in feveral parts. But the principal mineral riches of 

 Worcefterfhire -arife from the falt-mines of Droitwich, a 

 parliamentary borough, iituated fix miles north-eaft from 

 Worcefter, on the road to Birmingham. Thefe falt-works 

 are of great antiquity, having been granted by Kenulph, 

 king of Mercia, to the church of Worcefter, in 8i6 ; and 

 it appears from Domefday-book, that fhares in them were 

 annexed to many eftates at even a confiderable diflance, onj 

 account probably of the wood they yielded for the manu-l 

 fafture of the fait. The principal brine-pits, however,' 

 belonged to the crown, but were granted by king John to 

 the burgelfes of Droitwich. The general fubftratum of 

 the environs of the town is fuppofed to be a falt-rock, 

 lying ufually from 150 to 200 feet below the furface. On. 

 boring in any part, the falt-fprings are met with about no 

 feet below the furface : the boring-machine then paffes 

 through about 130 feet of gypfum to the brine-river, in 

 depth about 22 inches, beyond which is a bed of falt-rock 

 hitherto unexplored. In fearching for this brine-river fomc 

 years ago, the miners paffed through four feet of mould,, 

 32 of marie, 40 of gypfum, a brine -river of 22 inches, and 

 75 feet of another ftratum of gypfum, below which they 

 came to the falt-rock. (See Droitwich and Salt.) For 

 an account of the mineral waters of Malvern, fee that 

 article ; and more particularly the paper of Mr. Horner, in 

 the firft volume of the Geological Society of London. 

 Befides thefe, Worcefterfhire has fome chalybeate fprings at 

 Sandbourne and. the Round-hili, in the parifh of Kidder-i 

 minfter. • 



Manufadures and Commerce. — The commerce of Worcef- 

 terfhire is confiderable, from its own produAions, and fromi 

 the depofit and tranfit of thofe of the neighbouring mining) 

 and manufafturing diftrifts. Of its own produfts may bei 

 noticed the hops, fruit, cyder, and perry, which render the: 

 capital the principal mart for thofe articles in the weftern 

 part of the kingdom. The county alfo exports a confider- 

 able furplus of its own manufa&ures, confifting of Kidder-i 

 minfter ftuffs and carpets ; of Worcefter gloves, china andi 

 glafs-ware, and of nails, bar and fheet iron. Great quan- 

 tities of fait are annually fent from Droitwich ; Evefham fur- 

 nifhes oil and oil-cake; timber, grafs-fceds, corn, flour, 

 malt, falmon, cattle and fheep, and other agricultural pro- 

 duftions are furnifhed by the county in general. 



Ciii'tl and EccleJiajTical Dimjions. — Worcefterfhire is diridedi 

 into five hundreds ; -viz. Ofwaldeflow, Halfshire, Dodding- 

 ton, Perfhore, and Blackenhurft : the firft containing thei 

 capital and the centre of the county, with feveral detached ' 

 portions in other quarters ; the fecond occupying the north- 

 weft parts ; the third, the north-eaft ; the fourth, the fouth ; 

 and the fifth, the fouth-eaft quarter, around Evefham. In 

 ecclefiaftical matters, the county is under the government of 

 the bifhop of Worcefter, and contains 152 parifhes. The 

 diocefe was formerly of great extent ; but in 1541 the fee of 

 Gloucefter, and in 1542 that of Briftol, being eredled, a 

 confiderable part of the epifcopal jurifdiftion of Worcefter 

 was withdrawn. At prefent the bifhopric comprehends all 

 the county, with the exception of 15 parifhes and 8 chapel- 

 ries belonging to Hereford ; about one-third part of War- 

 wickfhire, together with the parifhes of Brome and Clent 1 

 in Staffordftiire, and Hales-Owen in Shropfhire. The dio- ; 

 cefe thus contains 116 reftories, 79 vicarages, 26 curacies, , 

 and 41 chapelries, all diftributed into 9 deaneries. 



Parliamentary 



