The chief geological formation of the county is the Triassic, and a line running north and south through the Malvern Hills and the Forest of Wyre coalfield would divide the hard and ancient Palaeozoic strata from the softer and more recent Mesozoic. Black shales, of about 1000 feet thick, rest upon the Hollybush sandstone near Bransill Castle; and the Silurian formation extends west of the Malverns as far as Abberley. The sandstone known as May Hill exists in the south-west, reaching the Herefordshire Beacon; fossils are often found in it. To the west of Raggedston and Midsummer Hills the Cambrian formation extends; this also is fairly rich in fossils. There is but little of the Old Red Sandstone in the county, but the Carboniferous formation extends from the Forest of Wyre coalfield to the Abberley Hills, and from Bewdley to the western limits of the county. The Permian formation is found near Martley, Abberley, Bewdley, and the Clent Hills, while red marls and sandstones of the Triassic period constitute about three-fourths of the county. At Droitwich and in the Vale of Evesham limestones and a bluish clay exist; and in the gravels deposited by the Severn and the Avon the remains of extinct mammals have been found.

Climate and Agriculture.— The climate is generally equable and healthy, and is very favourable to the cultivation of fruit, vegetables, and hops, for which Worcestershire has long held a high reputation, the red marls and the rich loams which are so prevalent being good both for market gardens and tillage. Its agricultural production consists principally of wheat, barley, beans, fruit, and hops, in the cultivation of which great care and skill are employed. The large and well-stocked orchards, the picturesque hop fields, and the wonderfully productive market gardens are the pride of the county, and one of the most attractive objects to all visitors. According to the agricultural returns for 1887, the area under cultivation was 401,936 acres, distributed as follows:—corn crops, 90,735; green crops, 32,709; clover and rotation grasses, 31,519; permanent pasture, 232,998; flax, 2; hops, 2828; and fallow, 11,145. The area under orchards was 18,687 acres; market gardens, 3525; and nursery grounds, 386. In 1881—the latest return—there were 18,871 acres under woods and plantations. The number of horses in 1887 was 20,249, of which 14,155 were used solely for agriculture; cows in milk or calf, 27,808; other cattle, 38,472; sheep, 174,371, of which 75,065 were under one year; pigs, 33,695.

According to the landowners’ return of 1872-3, the total number of proprietor’s in the county was 21,804, possessing 441,060 acres, with a gross annual estimated rental of £1,685,736. Of the owners, only 5796 possessed one acre or upwards. There were also 3415 acres of waste land. The following are the names of the larger landowners:—earl of Dudley, 14,699 acres; earl of Coventry, 13,021; Earl Beauchamp, 10,624; Lord Windsor, 8519; Harry F. Vernon, 7448; Earl Somers, 6265; Lord Lyttelton, 5908; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 5213; R. Berkeley, 4S12; Duc D’Aumale, 4604; Sir John Pakington, 4868; Lord Northwick, 4215; and Sir F. Winnington, 4196.

Industries.— Agriculture in its various branches is the principal industry of the county. Its mineral wealth consists of coal, iron, and salt; and a considerable number of people find employment in the quarries of limestone around Pershore and Evesham, and at other quarries of freestone and flagstone. There is not much mining in the county; the largest number of artisans are employed in the various hardware trades, as the making of nails, at Halesowen and the neighbouring villages, and of needles at Redditch, Astwood Bank, and elsewhere. Glass is largely produced at Dudley and Stourbridge. Worcester is famous for its porcelain, its gloves, and its coach-building, and Kidderminster for its carpets. The salt works at Droitwich are as old as the Roman occupation, and there are others at Stoke. There are a large variety of other trades, including crate making, coke burning, alkali, vinegar, and vitriol works, button making, leather staining, paper making, and tanning.

Communication.— The county is well provided with railways and canals. The roads are good, and the means of intercourse and communication are excellent.

Administration and Population.— Worcestershire comprises five hundreds (Halfshire, Doddingtree, Oswaldslow, Pershore, and Blackenhurst), the city of Worcester, and the municipal boroughs of Bewdley, Droitwich, Dudley, Evesham, and Kidderminster. There are eleven market towns. The city of Worcester has a separate court of quarter sessions, and a commission of the peace, and all the boroughs have commissions of the peace. It is in the Oxford circuit; the assizes as well as quarter sessions are held at Worcester. There is one court of quarter sessions in the whole county, and there are sixteen petty sessional divisions. The shire contains 243 civil parishes, and is mostly in the diocese of Worcester but partly in that of Hereford. The principal places besides the city of Worcester are Bewdley (population 3088 in 1881), Bromsgrove (12,813), Droitwich (3761), Dudley (46,252), Evesham (5112), Halesowen (7763), Kidderminster (24,270), Oldbury (18,841), Redditch (9961), Stourbridge (9757), and Tenbury (2083).

By the Redistribution Act of 1885, the county was divided into three parliamentary boroughs and five county divisions. The boroughs, each returning one member, are Dudley, Kidderminster, and Worcester; the county divisions are West (Bewdley), East, South (Evesham), Mid (Droitwich), and North (Oldbury). The population in 1861 was 307,397; in 1871, 338,837; and in 1881, 380,283 (males 184.205, females 196,078). The number of persons to an acre was 0'80, and of acres to a person 1 - 24.

History.— Worcestershire was not a district of much importance in the days of the Roman occupation of Britain. By occupying Gloucester the Romans held the valley of the lower Severn, and thence their roads ran to Hereford, and not till Uriconiurn ( Wroxeter) on the side of the Wrekin did they regard the Severn valley as again habitable. This was due to the fact that the greater part of the district now contained in Worcestershire was forest and jungle, not inviting occupation to the colonist. Here and there the Romans held a military outpost, as at Worcester, keeping on the east side of the river; but the west side was left to the Britons, who found a home on the summits of the Malvern Hills. It was long before the English invaders thought the Severn valley worthy of their arms; but in the beginning of the 7th century the tribe of the Hwiccas was in possession of the lands now contained in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire. The Hwiccas formed part of the Mercian kingdom, and when Archbishop Theodore undertook the ecclesiastical organization of England he set up at Worcester a bishop of the Hwiccas, and the diocese of Worcester continued to mark the limits of the Hwiccan territory till Henry VIII. founded the separate see of Gloucester.

The church was the main instrument of civilization in Worcestershire. The abbey of Evesham was the centre of agricultural life along the valley of the Avon; the priory of Malvern began the clearing of the forest which reached from the hills to the Severn. Many other religious houses were spread over the county. There were no great barons, as much of the land was given in early times to the church, and much consisted of forest which was only slowly cleared. The bishop of Worcester was the undoubted head of the district, and provided for its defence. The chief historical event connected with the county in the Middle Ages, the battle of Evesham, was owing to the fact that Walter de Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester, was a firm friend and adherent of Simon de Montfort in his opposition to the misgovernment of Henry III. When Earl Simon had seized the king s person in the battle of Lewes, the chief opposition to his government was raised by the lords marchers on the Welsh borders. Simon went to Hereford for the purpose of reducing them to submission; but Edward’s escape from captivity gave them a leader, and awakened the hopes of the royalists. Simon sent for reinforcements, but his son was surprised and cut off at Kenilworth. Ignorant of the fact, but afraid to wait any longer lest the passage of the Severn should be closed a S a L n r st ' lιm > Simon withdrew to the friendly territory of the bishop of Worcester, aud took up his abode in the abbey of Evesham, there in 1265 he was surprised by Edward, and died fighting a hopeless fight. b ð

As Wales became more settled, Worcester developed its trade slowly. From early times the salt mines at Droitwich were worked, and a “salt-way” was made for the carriage of their produce. A trade with Wales and Bristol was established, and clothiers sent their wares from Bewdley and Worcester down the Severn. The dissolution of the monasteries affected very seriously a district which was so closely connected with the church, and it was some time before it recovered from the shock which its social life then received. In the great civil war Worcestershire, in common with the west of England, was Royalist, and suffered considerably from the Parliamentary forces. In 1651 Charles II. with the Scottish army marched to Worcester, where he was welcomed by the citizens. Cromwell followed, and took up his position on the Red Hill just outside the city gates. Lambert succeeded in passing the Severn at Upton, and drove back the Royalist troops to the neighbourhood of Worcester, on the other side of the Severn. Charles determined to take advantage of this division of the Parliamentary army on the two sides of the river, and made an attack on Cromwell’s camp. At first he was successful, but Cromwell was reinforced by Lambert’s troops from the other side in time to drive back Charles’s foot, who were not supported by the Scottish horse. Their rout was complete; Charles managed to escape into the city, where he escaped in disguise, and began his adventurous journey to Boscobel. Since that time Worcestershire has pursued a course of peaceful development.

See Nash, History of Worcestershire (2 vols, fol., 1799); Chambers, Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire (1820); Turberville, Worcestershire in the 19th Century (1852); Allies, Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire (1852), and Noake, Guide to Worcestershire (1868).

WORCESTER, an episcopal city, municipal and parliamentary borough, the capital of the above county, and a county of itself, is situated on the eastern bank of the Severn, 120 miles from London by rail, and a little over 26 from Birmingham.

The principal building and chief glory of the city is the cathedral. The see was founded by the advice of Archbishop Theodore in 673, though, owing to opposition on the part of the bishop of Lichfield, it was not finally established till 780. In its formation the tribal division was followed, and it contained the people of the Hwiccas. The bishop’s church of St Peter’s, with its secular canons, was absorbed by Bishop Oswald into the monastery of St Mary. The canons became monks, and in 983 Oswald finished the building of a new monastic cathedral. After the Norman Conquest the saintly bishop of Worcester, Wulfstan, was the only English prelate who was left in possession of his see. He so far adopted Norman customs as to undertake the building of a great church of stone according to the Norman pattern. In 1088 an incursion of the Welsh stopped his labours for a time, but in 1094 he held a synod in the crypt. Of the work of Wulfstan, the outer walls of the nave, aisles, a part of the walls of the transepts, some shafts, and the crypt remain. The crypt is apsidal, a style of which there are only four examples in England—Winchester, 1079; Worcester, 1084; Gloucester, 1089; and Canterbury, 1096. Wulfstan’s building seems to have extended no farther than the transepts, but the nave was continued, though much of it was destroyed by the fall of the central tower in 1175. In 1203 Wulfstan was canonized, and the monks, growing richer by the offerings at his shrine, finished the cathedral in 1216. Soon after this date they built a lady chapel at the east end, extending the building by 50 feet; then they were so satisfied with their new work that the choir was rebuilt to match in the Early English style. The nave was similarly remodelled in the 14th century, the north side in the Decorated, the south side in the Perpendicular style. The building is cruciform, and is without transept aisles, but has secondary transepts to the choir. The tower is in the centre, and is 162 feet high. There is an interesting chapter house of Late Norman architecture, a round building with its stone roof supported on a central pillar. The refectory is a fine room of Decorated architecture, and the cloisters are Perpendicular. The cathedral was very much out of repair in 1857, when the restoration was undertaken by the cathedral architect, Mr Perkins, in which most of the work of previous generations was wholly swept away, and in some important particulars replaced by conjectural work of Early English style. The cost was about £100,000, raised principally by public subscription, though for four years the dean and chapter had provided the funds required.

In the cathedral are several good monuments and monumental effigies. That of King John, in the choir, is the earliest sepulchral effigy of an English king in the country. There is an altar tomb, in a chantry chapel, of Arthur, prince of Wales, son of Henry VII., who died in 1503. There are also monuments of John Gauden, the bishop who wrote Icon Basilike, so often attributed to Charles I., of Bishop Hough by Roubiliac, and of Mrs Digby by Chan trey. There are many other monuments; and in the north alley of the cloister is a stone on which is cut the sad and significant word “Miserrimus,” and nothing more—a tragedy in a single word.

There are eleven parish churches in the city :—St Helen’s, the oldest, was rebuilt in 1820; St Albans, ancient, partiallyrestoredin 1850; All Saints, built in 1740, which contains a peal of ten bells; St Andrew’s, repewed in 1850; St Nicholas, begun in 1728 and finished in 1730; St Martin’s, erected in 1772; St Swithin’s, in 1736; St Peter’s, dating from 1686, which has annexed to it the chapelry of Whittington; St Michael’s, in Bedwardine, modern; St John’s, Bedwardine, made a parish church in 1371; and St Clement’s, built in 1823. In 1874 a parish was formed out of Claines, named the Tything, and in 1876 the church (St Mary Magdalene) was built; St Paul’s was built in 1837, and constituted a'separate parish in 1844; St George’s, built by subscription in 1830, was made a parish out of Claines, in 1862; Holy Trinity, erected in 1865, was formed a parish in 1866. There are also a Roman Catholic chapel and places of worship for all descriptions of Dissenters.

There are no remains of the old castle of Worcester; it adjoined the monastery so closely that King John gave its yard to the monks, and after that time it ceased to be a stronghold. The Commandery, founded by St Wulfstan in 1095, is one of the “rarest specimens of early house architecture in existence.” The hall contains an open timber roof of the time of Henry VII., “a good bay window, a fine door, the projecting canopy of the dais, a music-screen and gallery, and some fragments of stained glass.” The cathedral grammar school, founded by Henry VIII. in 1541, occupies the refectory of the old monastery, which has just been restored by Mr Christian, and has many interesting architectural features.

The guild-hall, built in 1723, is an admirable building in the 1talian style; it contains a portrait of George III., painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and presented by the king to commemorate his visit to the city at the triennial musical festival in 1788. The corporation possess some very interesting old charters and manuscripts, and good municipal regalia. The shire-hall, erected in 1835 at a cost of £35,000, is a fine stone building in the Ionic style, with a portico supported by six fluted columns. The county jail, built in 1809 at a cost of £19,000, was entirely reconstructed on the separate principle in 1860, at a further cost of £24,000. The infirmary was built in 1770, the dispensary in 1822, and the ophthalmic institution in 1866. There is a museum of natural history; and a free library was opened in 1881. Worcester has long been famous for several important branches of industry. The Clothiers’ Company possess a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth; but the great industries are now the manufacture of gloves and of porcelain. A company of glovers was incorporated in 1661; it· is principally occupied with the making of skin gloves, in which the skins of deer, sheep, lambs, goats, and kids are used. The manufacture of porcelain was introduced by Dr Wall, a Worcester physician, in 1751 (see vol. xix. p. 642). The materials employed are china clay and china stone from Cornwall, felspar from Sweden, fire-clay from Stourbridge and Broseley, marl, flint, and calcined bones. Pickles and sauces are among the notable productions of the city: and among its other trades are those of carriage making, rope and twine spinning, boat and barge building, tanning, and the production of chemical manures and of cider and perry.

The charities of Worcester are numerous, and include St Oswald’s hospital, Nash’s almshouses, Wyatt’s almshouses, the Berkeley hospital, Goulding hospital, Shew-ring’s hospital, Inglethorpe’s almshouses, Waldgrave’s almshouses, Moore’s blue-coat school, Queen Elizabeth’s charity, and others, which produce an annual income of more than £10,000. The population of the city and municipal borough (area 1263 acres) in 1871 was 33,226 and in 1881 it was 33,956. The population of the parliamentary borough (area 3266 acres) in 1871 was 38,116 and in 1881 it was 40,354.

Among the charters still preserved in the guild-hall is one of Richard I. dated November 12, 1189, which grants to the burgesses to hold of the king and his heirs the town - of Worcester at a yearly rental of £24. In the reign of Philip and Mary the town was raised to the dignity of -a city, and this with other privileges was confirmed by Elizabeth in 1558; and in 1622 James I. granted a charter ordaining that the city shall be a free city of itself, and a county separate from all other counties. From the time of Edward I. until 1885 Worcester returned two members to parliament, but the number was then reduced to one. Municipally the city is divided into five wards. The county assizes are held in the city, as are also the quarter sessions, the county court, the borough court, town and county petty sessions, and the ecclesiastical and probate court.

The Romans found a British settlement and held it as a military station, to which they gave the name Vigοrna, By the Saxons it was called Wigorna-ceaster, whence we have the present name of Worcester. It rvas more than once burnt and pillaged by the Danes, but at the date of the Conquest it was of sufficient importance to have a mint. From its proximity to Wales, it frequently suffered from the inroads of the Welsh. It was taken by the empress Maud, and retaken by Stephen, after severe contests. The king kept the Easter week there in 1139,—as it is recorded, with “great pomp”; and in 1234 Henry III. held the Whitsuntide festival in the city. Queen Elizabeth rested there in one of her progresses; in 1687 James II. came, and touched for the king’s evih He attended mass in the Catholic chapel; but the mayor and the corporation, though accompanying him to the chapel door, firmly and patriotically declined to enter.

For the part this city took in the great civil war see p. 666.

WORCESTER, a city and the county seat of Worcester county, Massachusetts, United States, is situated in a region of Glacial hills, lakes, and ponds, which form varied and pleasing landscapes, 39 miles west of Boston. Besides the closely-built portion, the city includes a large suburban district, which contains fourteen villages of various sizes. The closely-built portion is very irregularly laid out, conforming in some degree to the slope of the ground. There are 197 miles of streets, very little of which is paved. The public parks have an aggregate area of 35 acres. The population in 1885 was 68,389 (20,182, or 29 ’ 51 per cent, of foreign birth). The proportion of coloured people was very small. The manufacturing industries are very large and varied; prominent among them are the manufactures of iron and steel, foundryand machine shop products and tools, and second to these the manufacture of boots and shoes.

The settlement of Worcester began in 1713. Earlier attempts had been made, but the incursions of Indians had frustrated them. It was incorporated as a town in 1722, but made very slow progress in growth until the completion of the Boston and Worcester (now Boston and Albany) Railroad in 1835. Since that date, with the extension of its railroad connexions, it has developed rapidly. In 1848 it received a city charter, and at presentit is the third city of the State in population and wealth. The population, which in 1765 was 1478 and in 1790 was 2095, rose to 4173 in 1830, 7497 in 1840, 17,049 in 1850, 41,105 in 1870, and 58,291 in 1880.

WORCESTER, Florence of. See vol. ix. p. 337.