Worcester (pronounced wooster) is a cathedral city and the county town of Worcestershire in the south-west Midlands of England. It lies on the banks of the River Severn. The population of the city is 95,927 (2000).[1]
Worcester was an important settlement in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia and was created the seat of a bishopric in AD 680.[2] In the late ninth century a fortified burh was created at Worcester; following the Norman Conquest a castle was constructed south of the cathedral. Worcester was a prosperous medieval city, although it fell into relative decline in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was known as a centre for glove-making,[3] Royal Worcester Porcelain,[4] and for the manufacture of the piquant Worcestershire Sauce. This was begun by Lea & Perrins in the 19th century.[5]
Worcester is best known for its fine cathedral, a venue of the annual Three Choirs Festival,[6] and for its associations with the composer Sir Edward Elgar.
History
During the Roman occupation of Britain (43 AD-410 AD), modern-day Worcester emerged as a key settlement, joined by the River Severn to the forts at Gloucester and Wroxeter. Roman-era coins and military equipment have been found in the local area, which suggest that the town originated as a fort in the time of Nero (54 AD-68 AD). The fort itself may have been located on or near the site now occupied by Worcester Cathedral. The Roman settlement at Worcester may have been called Veris.
During the period known as sub-Roman Britain (mainly in the early-mid 5th century) after the Romans left but before the Germanic tribes arrived, the Historia Brittonum (attributed to the 9th-century Welsh monk Nennius) states that there were 28 cities of Britain, all of which are named with the word cair (the precursor to the modern Welsh word caer meaning "fort", especially a former Roman one, seen in place names such as Cardiff, Caernarfon, etc). Among the 28 is Cair Guiragon, which is almost certainly identifiable with Worcester. In modern Welsh, the city is known as Caerwrangon.