WORCESTERSHIRE, an inland county, forming part of the west midland division; bounded on the north by Staffordshire, east by Shropshire and Herefordshire, south by Gloucestershire, and west by Warwickshire. The county is very irregular in shape, and several portions of it lie detached and surrounded by other counties, while in its turn Worcestershire comprises isolated parts of other counties. Its greatest length is about 34 miles, and greatest breadth 30 miles. Its surface measures 738 miles or 472,165 statute acres. In 1851 it contained 55,639 inhabited houses, 2723 uninhabited, and 337 buildings. The population was in 1801, 146,441; 1811, 168,982; 1821, 194,074; 1831, 222,655; 1841, 248,460; 1851, 276,926, of whom 136,956 were males, and 139,970 females. The increase for the fifty years from 1801 to 1851 was 89 per cent. The last census gave an average density of 375 persons and 75 inhabited houses to a square mile, 1.7 acre to a person, and 5 persons to a house. The religious census in 1851 gave the following results. Total places of worship 489; sittings, 141,512. Church of England, 244 places, 85,155 sittings; Roman Catholics, 12 places, 2834 sittings; Independents, 24 places, 7404 sittings; Methodists (various sects) 127 places, 16,926 sittings; Baptists, 46 places, 9949 sittings; Unitarians, 9 places, 2461 sittings; Mormons, 3 places, Quakers 7, Jews 1, Presbyterians 1, miscellaneous sects 6. The statistics of education, obtained at the census of 1851 were—total day schools 701; scholars 30,557—males, 16,694; females, 13,863. Of these there were public schools 233, with 21,279 scholars; private schools 468, with 9278 scholars. 130 of the public schools are supported by religious bodies, and of these 108, with 8053 scholars, belonged to the Church of England. There were also in the county 15 collegiate and grammar schools, and 70 other endowed schools. The Sunday schools numbered 341, with 35,221 scholars (17,540 males and 17,681 females), with 3603 unpaid and 262 paid teachers. Of these schools 193 (with 17,922 scholars) belonged to the Church of England. The Wesleyans stood next on the list with 87 schools and 9846 scholars. There were also 19 evening schools (with 379 scholars) and 21 literary
Worcester-shire. institutions. The criminal returns for 1859 show that in that year the police force for the whole county (including boroughs) numbered 217 men, maintained at a cost of £14,682. The crimes committed during 1859 were 782, and the number of persons apprehended 536. The number of known thieves, or persons living wholly or chiefly by crime, was 3181—namely, 2209 males and 972 females. The vital statistics of the county for 1858 (the last year yet issued of the registrar-general's corrected returns) were—births 9616, deaths 5855; excess of births over deaths, 3761. The illegitimate births were 656, or 1 in 14½. The average rate of mortality for the ten years from 1841 to 1851 was 21 in the thousand. The marriages in 1858 were 2392, of which 2208 were solemnized according to the rites of the Church of England.
The county is included within the diocese of Worcester, and the archdeaconry of the same name. The archdeaconry includes the rural deaneries of Blockley, Droitwich, Evesham, Kidderminster, Pershore, Powick, Worcester, Kine-lon, and Warwick. (The two last-named places are in the county of Warwick.) For legal purposes, the county is within the Oxford circuit. The assizes are held at the city of Worcester, which is also a county in itself with separate assize. The quarter-sessions are likewise held at Worcester, where the county jail is situated. The lunatic asylum is at Powick, near the city. The parliamentary divisions of Worcestershire are into east and west—the former containing the divisions of Stourbridge, Dudley, Droitwich, Northfield, Blockley, Pershore, and Evesham; and the latter the divisions of Upton, Worcester, Hundred House, and Kidderminster. County courts are held at ten places, and the county includes thirteen poor-law unions. Worcestershire sends twelve members to parliament, two from each division of the county; two each from Worcester and Evesham, and one each from Kidderminster, Dudley, Droitwich, and Bewdley. For police purposes Dudley was transferred to Staffordshire by an act of parliament passed in 1859.
The manufacturing portions of Worcestershire are situated principally in the north and north-eastern districts. At Stourbridge the glass manufacture is carried on to a large extent; Dudley is the centre of a great iron and coal district, which also includes Stourbridge, Rowley Regis, Oldbury, and many other adjacent places. Vast quantities of limestone are also obtained from the bases of the hills at the southern extremity of which Dudley is situated. Red-ditch is occupied in the manufacture of needles and fish-hooks: the annual produce of the former, from this town alone, is between three and four thousand millions. Nails are made at Bromsgrove, and at Kidderminster there are numerous carpet factories. In connection with this town it is a curious fact that the so-called Kidderminster carpets are not made there at all, the looms being occupied exclusively in producing Brussels, velvet-pile, and the more valuable kinds of carpets. A great impetus has within the last few years been given to this trade by the introduction of steam-power and improved machinery. At Worcester a considerable manufacture of porcelain is carried on, and the city still retains the glove trade as an important branch of industry, though of late years the extent and value of its production have sensibly declined.
The salt made at Droitwich supplies nearly one half of England with that indispensable article. The duty collected there before the abatement of the tax amounted to more than £1,000 per day. The water from which the salt is made by evaporation is more highly saturated than any other that has been discovered. Researches in the bowels of the earth have shown that a river of salt water, about 22 inches in depth, runs about 250 feet below the surface. Immediately above this subterranean stream is a bed of gypsum 130 feet thick. When this stratum is pene-
trated by the borer, the spring rises to the surface, and yields a never-failing supply of water, so fully saturated that no more salt can be dissolved in it. The springs at Droitwich hold in solution about one fourth of their weight in salt; and no other in England holds more than a ninth. The subterranean river runs over a bed of rock-salt, whose thickness has not yet been ascertained. Besides the springs at Droitwich, other mineral springs are found at Malvern which are resorted to for their healing properties, as well as for the pure air of the district. The combinations of the wells are carbonate of soda, carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, carbonate of iron, sulphate of soda, and muriate of soda.
The new red sandstone occupies nearly the whole vale of Severn, and the lias formation the vale of Avon, in which the Evesham district is situated. In the north-west are beds of coal and ironstone, the Dudley district also includes limestone; quartz is in the Lickey hills, and the Malvern hills are chiefly composed of granite. The principal chains of hills are the Clent and Lickey to the north and east; and the Abberley and Martley hills to the west, running southwards to the Malvern chain, the loftiest heights in the midland counties. The Malverns attain a height of 1300 feet; there are no other hills of greater altitude than 900 feet. There are several detached hills of some importance, such as Bredon Hill and Broadway Hill. The chief rivers of Worcestershire are the Severn, the Avon, the Tame, the Salwarpe, the Leddon, and the Rea. The Avon and Severn are navigable: the latter for a distance of 200 miles from its mouth. Great labour and vast sums of money have been expended in improving the navigation of this river, and at Worcester an important series of locks and basins has been formed during the last few years. Lamprey, shad, and salmon are found in the Severn, but the take of the latter is rapidly diminishing, although at one period it was so plentiful that when boys were apprenticed in Worcester it was formally stipulated in the indentures that they should not be obliged to eat salmon more than twice a week.
Independently of the advantage of navigable rivers, Worcestershire is well supplied with good roads, canals, and railways. The principal canals are the Birmingham and Worcester, the Trent and Severn, the Droitwich, the Dudley and Leominster, and their various branches, which reach nearly every town of note in the county, and afford means of easy and direct communication with Warwickshire and Staffordshire. The Dudley canal, which proceeds from the Worcester and Birmingham canal, about four miles below the latter town, and joins the Stourport canal near Stourbridge, is remarkable for the stupendous character of the engineering difficulties overcome in its construction. Some idea of these may be formed from the fact that during its course of 13 miles it passes through three tunnels of an aggregate length of four miles. The railways are the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton, which enters the county at Evesham, runs to Worcester, and thence by way of Droitwich and Kidderminster to Dudley, and thence to Birmingham. This line has a branch to Stratford-upon-Avon. The Gloucester and Birmingham line runs right across Worcestershire, starting from Birmingham, and traversing the county from north-east to south-west. A line of railway likewise runs from Worcester to Malvern, and a line is in course of construction to connect Worcester with Hereford.
Worcestershire is on the whole a fertile county, although it contains many patches of poor intractable land. To the north the soil is a loamy sand, mixed with gravel; towards the east it is a strong clay, with occasional patches of sand and peat earth; clay and red marl prevail between Worcester and Evesham. In the vale of Evesham the soil is a peculiarly rich and deep dark earth resting on clay; and on
Worcester. the southern boundary of the county the soil is partly limestone and partly a rich loam. Wheat is grown in large breadths, and barley and beans are likewise extensively cultivated. Hops form a staple of agricultural produce; but the chief glory of the county consists in its orchards of apples and pears, which are most abundant and of fine quality. The making of cider and perry constitutes an important portion of agricultural industry, and these beverages are in common use in the country districts. Worcestershire has no peculiar breeds of either cattle or sheep. The aspect of the county, as seen from the various ranges of hills, is extremely pleasing: it presents the appearance of a richly cultivated plain, well wooded, and watered by innumerable streams. The farms are usually small in size, varying from 40 to 300 acres; but there is at present a tendency to increase their acreage.
The early history of Worcestershire cannot be determined with accuracy. There are traces of Roman occupation, in camps on the Malvern, Bredon, and Woodbury hills, and in the Ikenfield Street and the Ridgeway, which traversed part of the county. Under the Saxons the county was included in the kingdom of Mercia. Soon after the Conquest the dignity of earl of Worcester was created, and the nobles who governed the county under this title were also frequently engaged in keeping the peace on the Welsh borders. The dignity did not long remain in one family, but at last settled in that of Somerset, which was raised successively to the marquisate of Worcester, and the dukedom of Beaufort, in which title the marquisate is now merged. The county has shared in all the great civil wars of England. It was frequently the scene of contests between the Saxons and Danes; the great battle which decided the fate of Simon de Montfort was fought in the vale of Evesham; and during the civil war Worcestershire was disturbed by frequent skirmishes. The battle which settled Cromwell in possession of the government was fought under the walls of the chief city (see WORCESTER). There were numerous abbeys, monasteries, and other religious houses in the county before the dissolution, and several of those which remain are now converted into churches. Amongst these are Malvern and Evesham Abbeys.
The principal seats in the county are Hagley, Lord Lyttelton; Witley, Lord Ward; Hartlebury Castle, Bishop of Worcester; Madresfield, Earl Beauchamp; Westwood, Sir J. Pakington, Bart., M.P.; Ombersley, Lord Sandys; Hewell Grange, Lady Windsor; Daylesford (formerly the property of the famous Warren Hastings) Croome, Earl of Coventry; and the Rhydd, Sir E. Lechmere, Bart.—In his Noble and Gentle Men of England, Mr Evelyn Shirley (see WARWICKSHIRE) gives the following as the only existing "knightly" and "gentle" families who were settled in Worcestershire before the beginning of the sixteenth century. Knightly,—Acton of Wolverton, Lyttelton of Frankley (Lord Lyttelton), Talbot of Grafton (Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot), Hanford of Wollashill, and Winstington of Stanford.—Gentle,—Noel of Bell Hall, Lechmere of Hanley, Sebright of Besford, and Boughton of Rouse Lench. The towns having populations of 3000 and upwards in 1851 were Bromsgrove, 4426; Bewdley, 3124; Droitwich, 3125; Evesham, 4605; Kidderminster, 18,462; Dudley, 37,962; Oldbury, 5114; and Worcester, 27,528. (J. T. B.)