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In 2022, after the identification of a possible Civil War bastion (read about this discovery in part 2 of the blog series), a small area was excavated on the west side of the castle. This was ahead of some routine maintenance work. The trench we excavated was about 6m square. When fully excavated, we cleaned...

A set of letters, programmes and postcards amongst items being catalogued in our Library Pamphlets collection (which came from Worcestershire History Centre before the service moved to The Hive in 2012) reveals that important local photographer A.J. Woodley (a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society) had a particular interest in the celebrated 19th century poet...

Back in the hot weather of July 2022, with its parched brown crunchy grass, one of our Project Officers undertook a photogrammetric drone survey within the ground of Hartlebury Castle, with the kind permission of Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust. There were no particular expectations for this, beyond that parched grass can be ideal for showing...

Gathering data for archaeological purposes has traditionally involved string lines, measuring tapes and pencils. This blog explores a digital technique that is now widely used within archaeological practice: photogrammetry. To best illustrate its uses, we will focus on Hartlebury Castle as a case study. Photogrammetry: what, how and when? So first, what is photogrammetry? It...

The first evidence of printing in Worcester after the lapse of the Printing Act in 1695 coincides with the emergence of the first known Worcester newspaper. Valentine Green claims that a newspaper was published on an occasional basis after the Glorious Revolution and John Chambers gives an unverified date of 1690. However, there is no...

Disability can be hard to find in an archive. Not least because Disability Studies is a relatively new discipline, and while some documented disability in their records, many did not. That being said, disability hospital and mental health records are a strength of the collection here at Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service; details of a...

In April 1964, Redditch was designated a New Town, to relieve post-war overcrowding in Birmingham. Here at Worcestershire Archives & Archaeology Service we have several deposits of records from Redditch Development Corporation, the authority with oversight for Redditch re-development. We also have deposits from Commission for New Towns (later English Partnerships), the body that inherited...

If a time traveler in the Vale of Evesham were to go back 100 years or more, he/she could be forgiven for thinking that they had landed in another country. Many areas had their own dialect but that belonging to the Vale seems to have almost died out and could perhaps even be described as...

At this time of year, like many of us I’m sure, I look back and review the year. The best and the worst bits, the excitement and the woe, the good days and the times perhaps you’d rather forget. Whilst this year has been a good one for all sorts of reasons, the hardest event...

We have a wonderful collection which provides a beautiful insight into the working life of Queen Elizabeth II. Collected by Florence Bramford from Newington Green near Upton-upon-Severn who became a ladies’ maid to several ladies-in-waiting to the Queen, the Queen Mother and her sister Princess Margaret. Florence’s archive Florence’s paperwork is now held at the...