Worcestershire

Worcestershire (ˈwʊstərʃər , -ʃɪər ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands county to the north, Warwickshire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south, and Herefordshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Worcester. The county is largely rural, and has an area of and a population of 592,057. After Worcester (103,872) the largest settlements are Redditch (87,036), Kidderminster (57,400), and Malvern (30,462). For administrative purposes Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county governed by Worcestershire County Council and six district councils. The historic county had complex boundaries, and included Stourbridge and the southwestern suburbs of Birmingham. The River Severn flows through the centre of the county from north to south, forming a wide plain. The southwest of the county contains part of the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which also contains Worcestershire Beacon, at the county's highest point. The southwest contains a small part of the Cotswolds, and the northwest part of the Wyre Forest, a national nature reserve. There is some evidence of Roman occupation in Worcestershire; the area later became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Hwicce, and then Mercia. Worcestershire was constituted as a county around 927, as the Kingdom of England formed. During the High Middle Ages the county was the site of the Battle of Evesham, in which Simon de Montfort was defeated, and in 1651 the Battle of Worcester was the last major engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. During the Industrial Revolution the north of the county was part of the Black Country, a major manufacturing centre, Kidderminster became famous for carpet production, and Worcester for porcelain. The county borders Herefordshire to the west, Shropshire to the north-west, Staffordshire only just to the north, West Midlands to the north and north-east, Warwickshire to the east and Gloucestershire to the south.