Worcestershire

Map of the Worcestershire Area

Worcestershire is located in the West Midlands of the UK and is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county. It is landlocked by Shropshire, Herefordshire, West Midlands, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Two of the major rivers with flow through Worcestershire include the Avon and the Severn. The county town is Worcester and although the southern region is predominantly rural there are several other medium sized towns such as Malvern, Evesham and Redditch. Worcestershire covers an area of 672 miles square and has a population of around 552900 (source: link) with a density of 824 people per square mile.

The county is famed for being the site where Simon de Monfort was killed in the Battle of Evernsham in 1265. It was also the site of the Battle of Worcestershire during the English Civil War. During the 19th century the county was known for being a centre for the production of gloves, carpets, springs, hooks and needles. The county's water has historically been considered to be very pure (source: Fine Waters [1].) and Malvern waters were a famed establishment for "water cures". There were also large deposits of salt in Droitwich Spa and therefore was a Roman centre for salt manufacture. Worcestershire is also the home of the oldest continually published newspaper in the world, the Berrows Journal, which has been in production since 1690.

Although a large portion of Worcestershire used to be dedicated to the cultivation of hop and fruit farming, since World War II this industry has been in decline. Today Worcestershire is famous for its non-agricultural products including Worcestershire Sauce. The Morgan traditional sports car was founded in the town of Malvern.

The county's cricket club, the Worcestershire County Cricket Club, is the first stop on the traditional national touring schedule for the UK teams. Famous players that have been in the Club include Ian Botham, Tom Garveney, Glenn McGrath and Don Kaynon. The county is also the site of the birthplace of Edward Elgar, the composer, who was born in the village of Broadheath. The Malvern Fringe Festival is held in Malvern annually and is one of the oldest festivals in the world of its kind (source: Wikipedia Fringe theatre.).