a town of the hundred of Halfshire, in the county of Worcester, with a market, which is held on Thursday. It is 126 miles from London, on the river Stour. It has long been a place of great manufacturing industry. Formerly the chief goods made were of worsted, or of silk and worsted; then bombazeens, plushes, and poplins were introduced; but of late years the chief fabrics have been those of carpets, in which the Kidderminster manufactures have excelled all others. The streets are clean, well paved, and well built. There is a fine old Gothic church, a town-hall, many charitable institutions, and an endowed grammar-school. By the late law this town has acquired the right of electing one member to the House of Commons. The Staffordshire Canal joins the town, and affords assistance to its trade. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 6110, in 1811 to 8039, in 1821 to 10,709, and in 1831 to 14,981.