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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...

This October for Black History Month we thought we’d take a look at local slave trading connections, in Upton and Ripple. Research by University College London allows us to investigate those who were awarded compensation for the ownership of slaves in 1837 after the slave trade was abolished. In total, slave owners were paid £20 million for...

Modern hop pickers are the focus of a photo exhibition in The Hive’s atrium, so we thought we’d look how hops are represented within our collections. Hops have been an important crop in several parts of the county, such as the Teme Valley, since at least the 18th century, often alongside orchards. Evidence can be...

The Market Gardening Heritage Project has now officially ended, and we wanted to take a look back as well as saying a few thank yous. Many of you will have followed the progress either in person or through our social media over the past years. The project began as one strand of a larger project...

140 years ago The Worcestershire Exhibition took place at Shrub Hill, Worcester. Running from 15th July to 15th October 1882, The Worcester Exhibition in the empty Worcester Engine Works shed at Shrub Hill exhibited items loaned by people and businesses from throughout Worcestershire. On opening day bells were rung, flags were flown, and the streets were decorated...