Latest news

We have experienced some problems with a limited number of lockers being available for use by visitors to the Archives as locker keys have been going missing. In order to ensure the facility continues to be made available for Archive users, starting from Monday 20th January the following changes will be made to our procedures:...

There is an update of progress available on the Wyre Forest Stream-walking blog, which is available here. This update looks at the Ram pumps and boundary stones at the Lem and Tanner’s Brook. Ram pump on the Lem Brook Don’t forget you can catch up with our previous posts on this here and here.

This week’s Treasure is a series of scrapbooks compiled by Vesta Tilley, which are brought to us by Adrian Gregson, County Archivist: The Music Hall star, Vesta Tilley, was born Matilda Alice Powles in Worcester in 1864. She went on to be a hugely successful star of the music and variety halls at the end...

Following the announcement of savings to be made by the County Council, Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service is currently reviewing its opening hours. The new opening hours for our Historic Environment Record have now been confirmed and are as follows: Monday – Friday: 13:00 – 16:00 Saturday: 10:30 – 13:30 (Please note the HER is open...

Maps and plans are a great source for a study of a local area, house history and how people lived in the past. Worcestershire Archive Service hold Ordanace Survey maps, Tithe and Enclosure plans, Estate Maps, Public Health Maps which can all be used for comparing the lives of rich and poor, landowners and tenants....

Our Treasure today is a Bronze Age biconical urn from Clifton Quarry that has been chosen by Laura Templeton, Senior Illustrator. Here she tells us more about the find: Trenching at Clifton Quarry unearthed a Bronze Age ‘shouldered’ or ‘biconical’ urn. About a third of the pot seemed to be present, but was so crushed and fragile that...

Traditionally, the 21st December marked the feast of St Thomas the Apostle and was a day that saw the poor go round asking for money and food, including going door to door round the more well off in the parish. This was known as going ‘a Thomassing’ or going ‘a gooding’. People would seek money...

Our Treasures today are Mesolithic Flints uncovered close to the village of Broadway. Rob Hedge, Community Archaeology Officer, chose this week’s find and here he explains more about them: There’s a field in south-east Worcestershire, not far from the village of Broadway – a valley-floor settlement cast in honey-coloured Cotswold Limestone in the shadow of the hills,...

Following the announcement of savings to be made by the County Council, Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service is currently reviewing its opening hours. The new patterns of opening hours are currently under consultation with staff, but we expect to introduce them in January 2014. Further information will be made available as soon as we can,...

We are proud to announce that we are among the first six archive services in the UK to be awarded the prestigious Archive Service Accreditation, the new UK quality standard which recognises good performance in all areas of archive service delivery. This is great news and follows on from being approved as a Place of...