User:Owain/Sandbox/Worcestershire (historic)


 * This article is about the traditional county of Worcester. For other uses, see Worcestershire

Worcestershire or the County of Worcester is one of the historic counties of England. It is bounded to the north by Shropshire and Staffordshire, to the east by Warwickshire, to the south by Gloucestershire, and to the west by Herefordshire.

Geography
Worcestershire lies almost entirely in the basin of the Severn, which receives the Stour, Teme, and Avon. The surface is a broad undulating plain, broken in the northeast by hills of moderate height, and in the southwest by the Malvern Hills, which reach an altitude of 1,395 ft (425 metres). The soil, chiefly clay and loam, is very fertile.

Its greatest length (not including the detached parts), from northwest to to southeast is 36 miles. Its greatest breadth from northeast to southwest is 45 miles.

History
The county is the site of the Battle of Evesham in which Simon de Montfort was killed (4 August, 1265), and later, in the English Civil War, the Battle of Worcester (1651).

In the nineteenth century, Worcester was a centre for the manufacture of gloves; the town of Kidderminster was a centre for carpet manufacture, and Redditch specialised in the manufacture of needles and hooks. Droitwich Spa, being situated on large deposits of salt, was a centre of salt production from Roman times, one of the principal Roman roads running through the town. These old industries have since declined, to be replaced by other, more varied light industry. The county is also home to the world's oldest continually published newspaper, the Berrow's Journal (established 1690).

Administration

 * Main article: Worcestershire (administrative)

Until 1889 the county was mostly governed by Quarter Sessions. In that year an administrative county of Worcester was formed with an elected county council by the Local Government Act 1888.