Latest news

  • 21st March 2016
Criminal Records of the Marches Project

Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service staff are currently engaged in a 15 month joint project with Shropshire Archives to make available the archives of West Mercia Police deposited with them.  Some of the work involves sorting, assessing and listing material transferred from the Police Headquarters at Hindlip.  Other work involves retroconverting or enhancing lists and...

  • 19th March 2016
1642 Commission of Array for Worcester Acquired

Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service have acquired the Commission of Array for Worcester City, 14 September 1642. The significant piece of local history was kindly bought for the county by the Victoria & Albert Museum, Friends of the National Libraries and Worcester City Council. Dr Adrian Gregson with the Commission of Array  The Commission of...

  • 17th March 2016
St Patrick’s Day at The Tower

Within the Lyttelton Archive we have Maud Lyttelton’s diary of 1902/3. She kept a diary over several years, meeting many different society people, and she was not afraid to be honest with her options, making this a fascinating read. Within her diary she describes St Patrick’s Day in 1902, when she was in London with...

  • 11th March 2016
City Charter Visit

The Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Roger Knight, and Cllr Lucy Hodgson, County Cabinet member with responsibility for Localism & Communities, visited the Archive and Archaeology Service today to look at Worcester’s City Charters. The charters, previously held at the Guildhall, were moved to The Hive for us to look after, joining the rest of the Worcester City Archives....

  • 1st March 2016
Monthly Mystery: the Infirmary Bones

During building work at Worcester’s Royal Infirmary between 2007 and 2010, as it was undergoing the transformation from former hospital to the University of Worcester’s City Campus, our archaeologists were brought in to investigate the history of the site. An excavation was carried out in the southern part of the grounds of the Infirmary, which...

  • 28th January 2016
Highly decorated 17th C parish register from St Mary’s, Kidderminster

Today we are looking at the artistic efforts of a 17th C Worcestershire man.  He found the most ordinary document a medium for expressing his creativity. A highly decorated page in the St Mary’s, Kidderminster parish register As family history researchers will know parish registers are a mine of information recording baptisms, marriages and burials. ...

  • 22nd January 2016
Volunteers repackage over 200 volumes for Archive Service

Thank you to my team of stunning volunteers who have worked so hard measuring, cutting, folding and stamping to produce bespoke boxes for over 200 large volumes that were previously wrapped in brown paper! Mary and Lesley placing the final boxed volumes on the shelf Working in pairs for three-hour sessions, volunteers have worked with...

  • 17th January 2016
New book on Kemerton Dig

Robin Jackson with his new book on Huntsman’s Quarry, Kemerton The earliest village we’ve found in Worcestershire is the subject of a new book by Robin Jackson, a member of staff in our Worcestershire Archaeology team. At Kemerton our archaeologists discovered evidence of settlement 3,000 years ago, not just traces of occupation, but groups of...

  • 15th January 2016
Chaplain’s Letter from the Trenches

100 years ago the Worcester Herald published a letter from the trenches sent by John MacRae, vicar of All Saints Worcester, describing life in France. John had recently gone out as a Chaplain and his letter provides an insight into daily life. Chaplains served throughout the army, and many will have heard of MacRae’s fellow...