Latest news

  • 25th March 2014
New index now available online – Powick Hospital admission registers, 1854-1906

For the first time Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service has made available online an index to the Powick Hospital admission registers. Held within our secure strongrooms at The Hive we have a series of original admission registers for Powick Hospital, formerly known as the Worcester County Pauper and Lunatic Asylum. Staff have been working hard over several years to...

  • 21st March 2014
Treasures from Worcestershire’s Past: ~17~ a LiDAR image of the 17th century coal mines, Cliff Wood, Wyre Forest near Pound Green

This week’s Treasure has been chosen by Adam Mindykowski, Historic Environment Countryside Advisor. Here Adam explains how using the LiDAR technique during surveying can bring historic features to life on our modern landscape: In 2007 an archaeological landscape survey of the Wyre Forest was commissioned as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Grow With Wyre project....

  • 14th March 2014
Treasures from Worcestershire’s Past: ~16~ ‘Devonshire Brown’

This week’s Treasure is a will chosen by Vicky Fletcher, Archivist. Here Vicky explains why this will in particular sparked an interest: Whilst cataloguing some material from Worcester City Council, I came across a copy of a will from 1797 in which a widow is leaving her wearing apparell ‘except my Devonshire brown silk dress’...

  • 7th March 2014
Treasures from Worcestershire’s Past: ~15~ A Victorian Chemist’s recipe book

This week’s Treasure has been chosen by Jonathan Brusby, Digitiser. Here he explains how he discovered so much more than first expected when working with a Victorian recipe book:    This treasure is a family recipe book which isn’t what it seems. Inside there are many inedible concoctions, made with very strange ingredients like Eau...

  • 6th March 2014
Upcoming Event: New Insights into Tudor Worcestershire

Last year the Friends of Worcestershire Archives helped us with the purchase of a fascinating document sent to Worcester by Edward VI, shortly after succeeding his father, Henry VIII. This is now in the care of Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, and the Friends have organised an event to look into Worcester at the time...

  • 28th February 2014
Treasures from Worcestershire’s Past: ~14~ The Devil’s Spadeful

While checking our local history references books I came across a bound poem, written in Bewdley in 1839 by George Griffith its title ‘The Devil’s Spadeful’ rang a bell. Between Kidderminster and Bewdley is a large area of heath and woodland called the Rifle Range, which is used by scouts, horse riders and walkers and was a...

  • 25th February 2014
Manorial Documents Register Project Update February 2014

Today we bring you an update post from Bethany Hamblen, Manorial Documents Register Project Archivist: This month, it’s back to basics as we begin to look at what a manor actually was, what it did, and how historians believe the manor changed over time.  Future posts will go into greater detail about the manor’s physical...