Historic England: Worcestershire Unique Images from the Archives of Historic England
An illustrated history of one of Britain’s finest counties – Worcestershire. Using photographs taken from the unique Historic England Archive.
This illustrated history portrays one of England’s finest counties. It provides a nostalgic look at Worcestershire’s past and highlights the special character of some of its most important historic sites.
The photographs are taken from the Historic England Archive, a unique collection of over 12 million photographs, drawings, plans and documents covering England’s archaeology, architecture, social and local history. Pictures date from the earliest days of photography to the present and cover subjects from Bronze Age burials and medieval churches to cinemas and seaside resorts.
In the heart of England, Worcestershire is a largely rural county centred on the historic city of Worcester with its mediaeval cathedral although the north east of the county reaches into the more industrialised and urban West Midlands. Much of the county is devoted to agricultural produce, for which it is famous, but the county also includes the Rivers Severn and Avon, the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds among its natural features. Many of the major towns of Redditch, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Evesham, Malvern, Redditch and Stourport have preserved their historic character legacy, some such as Malvern dating back to their significance in the Middle Ages as a religious centre and centre of the wool trade before later becoming a spa town, and others reveal the important role that local industries have played in the history of Worcestershire, such as hat-making in Kidderminster and needle making in Redditch.
