Worcester, the county town of Worcestershire, 27½ miles by rail SW. of Birmingham, 65¼ NNE. of Bristol, and 121 (by road 111) WNW. of London. It stands on the left bank of the Severn, here crossed by a five-arch stone bridge (1781–1841), 270 feet long. Previously perhaps a station of the Romans, Wigornacaster became in 679 the seat of a Mercian bishopric, whose cathedral is Worcester's chief glory. It is a double cross in plan, 410 feet long, 126 wide across the west transept, and 60 to 67 high, with a central tower of 196 feet. Rebuilt from 1084 onwards, and restored since 1857 at a cost of £100,000, it is mainly Early English and Decorated in style, but retains a very interesting Norman crypt, and has Perpendicular features. The simplicity, if not plainness, of the exterior is amply compensated by the fine perspective of the lofty groined roof, and the general noble effect of the interior. One may specially notice the columns of Purbeck marble, the 14th-century choir-stalls and misereres, the elaborate modern reredos, the circular chapter-house, the splendid peal of twelve bells, and the tombs of King John, Prince Arthur, Lord Lyttelton, the Earl of Dudley, and (in the cloisters) 'Miserrimus,' a not very wretched Nonjuror. At Worcester, alternately with Hereford and Gloucester, are held the festivals of the 'Three Choirs.' The old episcopal palace is now the deanery, the present palace since 1842 being Hartlebury Castle, 11 miles N.; and the cathedral school (1541) occupies the superb 13th-century refectory of a Benedictine priory. There is also Queen Elizabeth's school (1561). Nothing remains of the castle, and the Guesten Hall was ruthlessly pulled down in 1860; but there are a fine hall called the Commandery, a gatehouse ('Edgar's Tower'), and a good many old timbered houses, while of public buildings may be noticed the guildhall (1723), the shire-hall (1835), and the museum and free library (1836–79). Worcester is the seat of such well-known industrial establishments as the Royal Porcelain Works, dating from 1751, and covering 5 acres, the glove-manufacture of Messrs Dent (a Glovers' Company was incorporated in 1497), and the 'Worcester Sauce' factory of Lea & Perrins; besides huge vinegar-works, great nurseries, and manufactures of railway signals, chemicals, &c. In the neighbourhood are hop-yards. Worcester is a municipal borough, chartered by Richard I. in 1189; a parliamentary borough, returning only one member since 1885; and also, since 1888, a county borough. Pop. (1851) 27,528; (1881) 38,270; (1891) 42,905. Worcester was the scene of numberless sieges from the time of the Danes down to the 'crowning mercy' of Cromwell, when, on 3d September 1651, he routed Charles II., killing 4000 and making 7000 prisoners. Charles afterwards commemorated the loyalty of the citizens by granting them the motto of 'Civitas fidelis.' Natives have been the alchemist Kelly, Lord Somers, and Mrs Henry Wood; whilst among the eighty and more bishops have been St Dunstan, St Oswald
(961–992), St Wulfstan (1062–95), Walter Cantilupe, Simon de Montfort's adherent (1237–66), Latimer (q.v.), Whitgift (q.v.), Gauden (see EIKON BASILIKE), Stillingfleet (q.v.), Hough, Hurd (q.v.), and Perowne (q.v.).—For FLORENCE OF WORCESTER, see that article.
See works by T. Abingdon (1717), W. Thomas (1737), C. Wild (1823), J. Britton (1835), Professor Willis (Journal Archaeol. Inst., vol. xx.), M. E. Walcott (1866), J. Noake (1866), and J. G. Smith and P. Onslow (1883).