Archive

Sites, buildings, structures, features and areas of land associated with sport, leisure and entertainment illustrate one of the most historically significant aspects of social life in the later 19th and 20th centuries, a shortening of working hours and an increase in leisure time. Buildings associated with leisure and entertainment remain, in the large part, highly...

Over the past two years Worcestershire’s Historic Environment Record has been working to identify, record and better understand the significance of 20th Century buildings and public places across the County. Many more await discovery and assessment! Funded by Historic England, this project has also aimed to strengthen the public’s awareness and appreciation of ‘everyday’ 20th...

“The measure of any great civilisation is in its cities and a measure of a city’s greatness is to be found in the quality of its public places, its parks and squares” (John Ruskin) Over the past two years Worcestershire’s Historic Environment Record has been working to identify, record and better understand the significance of...

The expansion of communications networks, and in-particular cable and then electronic communications networks in the late 19th and 20th  Centuries, propelled the development of communications technology including the telephone, wireless (radio), television and computer, changing the technological, economic, political and cultural landscape, not only of the UK but the entire globe. This week we look...

If you’ve driven in Kidderminster, you’re sure to have noticed the extensive concrete relief decorating the retaining wall from Worcester Cross to Worcester Road Ring Road. Kidderminster’s inner ring road was commissioned as a solution to relieve traffic congestion through the town centre. The project comprised five stages, or sections, of which four were eventually...

We are very lucky in Worcestershire to have a diverse range of ‘Community Halls’ of different dates and character. Studying these small and rather unassuming buildings can better our understanding of communities and how they have changed. The majority of ‘Community Halls’ date from the mid-19th century onwards. Many early examples were constructed as reading...

The west bank of the River Severn in Worcester has seen enormous change over the past 100 years and, especially in the area around Hylton Road and Tybridge Street, has been the setting for large-scale building demolition and slum clearance. Perhaps most memorable and certainly most imposing of all those buildings was the Worcester Generating...

  A new two year project focussing on the market gardening heritage in the Vale of Evesham has just been awarded £68,700 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and £5000 from Historic England. The project is being run by Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service (WAAS), in partnership with Cleeve Prior Heritage Trust, Vale Landscape Heritage...

  The 20th century was a period of rapid industrial, economic, social, cultural and technological change. These changes, often driven and most certainly overshadowed by war, transformed the English landscape, adding another layer of complexity to England’s long history of re-invention. Many people, through the experiences of their parents and grandparents, feel a deep connection...

Adding a new layer: 20th century non-domestic buildings and public places in Worcestershire   The 20th century was a period of rapid industrial, economic, social, cultural and technological change. These changes, often driven and most certainly overshadowed by war, transformed the English landscape, adding another layer of complexity to England’s long history of re-invention.  ...