BROMSGROVE
The gateway to rural Worcestershire, Bromsgrove opens into one of the loveliest
counties in England, an area rich in history and tradition. The town can trace
its history back to the earliest times. There is evidence of a fifth century
Celtic settlement and there is no doubt that a Saxon hamlet stood around the
hillock on which the parish church of St John’s stands. In the 16th century
the Town’s nail making industry grew rapidly, it lasted more than 300 years
but died out with the introduction of machine made nails.
Avoncroft Museum
of Historic Buildings, Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove
With 600 years of history to experience, as well as rides, demonstrations and
farm animals, Avoncroft is the perfect day out for the family. Attractions include
the National Telephone Kiosk collection including a working exchange, a working
windmill, a 19th century Toll House, Living History re-enactments and a fully
furnished 1940s prefab.
Lickey Hills Country Park, near
Bromsgrove.
The 524 acres of today’s hills support a wide range of habitat types and a variety
of flora and fauna. Large areas of deciduous woodlands and coniferous plantations
border onto areas of heathland and bog, as well as some ornamental gardens,
and the 18 acre golf course. The highest point is Beacon Hill at 975ft. Bilberry
Hall is formed from some of the oldest rock in Britain.
DROITWICH
SPA
Salt peppers the history of Droitwich Spa in the heart of Worcestershire as
the industry dates back centuries in the area where the town now stands. As
long ago as the Iron Age, there is evidence of saltmaking taking place and the
Romans occupied the area, building a fort and a villa. King John granted the
Borough of Droitwich a charter during the 13th century. A new dimension in transport,
the building of the canal linking Droitwich with the River Severn, assisted
the movement of salt. During the first half of the 19th century, the first brine
baths opened in Droitwich and more recently, in the mid 1980s, the first new
Spa to open in the UK this century took its first bathers attracted by the quality
of ‘‘the waters.’’ In recent decades, new buildings have replaced many of the
buildings which used to be a feature of Droitwich, although some of the older
buildings remain.
Hanbury Hall, near Droitwich
Spa
Owned by the National Trust, the delightful William and Mary House is set in
400 acres of parkland and gardens and was home to the Vernon family for more
than three centuries. The permanent home of the Watney collection of fine porcelain
and Dutch flower paintings, the hall also boasts a magnificent staircase and
ceiling paintings by Sir James Thornhill. The restored 18th century garden leads
to the Orangery, ice house and Long Gallery.
The Droitwich Spa Brine Bath,
St Andrew’s Road
The effect of bathing in brine is not only relaxing but also offers relief for
muscular aches and pains and rheumatics. The buoyancy provided by two-and-a-half
pounds of natural salts can only be compared with the waters of the Dead Sea.
Reservations necessary.
Jinney Ring Craft Centre, Hanbury
Old farm buildings restored and converted into an award-winning craft centre.
Craftsmen can be seen at work with spinney craft, pottery, leather, decorative
furniture, jewellery, screen printing, violin making, picture framing, sign
making and stained glass. Craft courses are also available and there is a specialist
needlework department.
Worcester
Worcester’s
past spans more than 1,500 years and it is this rich and varied heritage that
has made the city what it is today - a vibrant, bustling regional centre combining
the best of old and new, with many traditional skills and industries thriving
alongside the new technology in the workplace of the 1990s.
Worcester owes its origins and much of its prosperity to the River Severn, which
has helped to make the city an important place for trade and industry throughout
the ages.
Since prehistoric times trade routes centred on Worcester and the Severn. Then
in the 3rd or 4th century the Romans built a large iron smelting works in the
north of the city. The name Worcester comes from the tribal name, Weagoram,
with the English name for a Roman town, Ceastre. Weagoram Ceastre became Wirecester
by the time of the Domesday Book and then eventually Worcester. After being
granted a Royal Charter in 1189, Worcester continued to grow due to its river
and became a medieval walled city.
Worcester
was also an important centre for prayer and pilgrimage. A cathedral was first
built on the current site in AD 680 when the Diocese of Worcester was created.
This was rebuilt in 1084 by Bishop Wulstan and parts of this cathedral can still
be seen. Tombs of King John and Prince Arthur can be found in the cathedral.
In 1575 Queen Elizabeth 1 visited the city. Apparently, during her procession
through the streets she saw a pear tree laden with enormous fruit. The Queen
was so pleased that she bade the city to add the emblem of three black pears
to its existing coats of arms depicting a three towered castle. It was here,
according to tradition, that Worcester got its second, and unique, coat of arms.
It can also be said that the English Civil War began and ended at Worcester,
and probably gave rise to the city’s motto Civitas Fidelis - The Faithful City
- because of its support of the Stuart cause. One of the world’s oldest surviving
newspapers, Berrow’s Journal, rolled off the presses in Worcester in 1690 and
the start of the 18th century heralded the beginning of the Three Choirs Festival.
The city’s impressive Queen Anne Guildhall was also built during this period
and the racecourse opened in the early 1700s, making it one of the oldest in
the country. In 1815 trade was boosted further by the completion of the Worcester
to Birmingham canal which linked the industrial Midlands to the Severn Valley.
The glove industry was particularly significant: by 1825, some 30,000 people
were employed in glove manufacture alone.
The story of Royal Worcester Porcelain
The Worcester Royal Porcelain Company is the oldest factory for the manufacture
of porcelain in England today. Established in 1751, the company still encourages
the craftsmanship of the 18th century although much of the work which leaves
the factory today is of a quality which would leave the early craftsman astounded.
This
magnificent vase was made to celebrate Wellington's victory at Waterloo. It
shows the Duke and Marshall Blucher, commander of the Prussian army, on the
battlefield on the evening of June 18, 1815
Today, when porcelain tableware of excellent quality is both inexpensive and
easy to buy, it is difficult to understand that it was much sought-after in
the eighteenth century as the majority of it was imported from China - the name
sticks to this day - and although ships brought back pieces by the thousand,
demand outstripped supply.In response, English manufacturers began to turn out
porcelain. The Worcester factory began when the business move there from Bristol
in 1751 with the formation of the Worcester Porcelain Company. Five years later
production has increased to the point where the company opened a London wholesale
warehouse to cope with the demand.
While the company has a long association with royalty, the first visit of its
kind was in 1788 when GeorgeIII and Queen Charlotte toured the factory and granted
the company the right to describe itself as "Manufacturers to their Majesties".
This association culminated in 1862 when the move towards a limited company
took place under the name of The Worcester Royal Porcelain Company.
From 1875 onwards ornamental modelling of very high quality was done by the
talented James Hadley and his three sons who later started a factory of their
own in Bath Road before it was bought by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company
in 1903. As well as being much loved by the general public - whose affinity
for the Evesham pattern has made it the company’s most successful over-to-tableware
- the company has kept its links with the great and the good. Among pieces produced
in the modern era include a vase depicting the cathedral which was presented
to Sir Winston Churchill and a dessert set made at the request of the Royal
Household for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen to commemorate her Silver
Jubilee.