Worcestershire

Broadway is in the county of Worcestershire and if you are staying in the village and want to explore the local area, as well as the beautiful Cotswold towns and villages, the city of Worcester is about 40 minutes away by car.

Worcester Cathedral - One of the Most Famous Landmarks in Worcestershire

Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The chapter house is the only circular one in the country while the cathedral also has the distinction of having the tomb of King John.

Worcester Cathedral has been described as possibly the most interesting of all England’s cathedral’s, especially architecturally. It was founded it in 680. Saint Oswald then built another cathedral in 983, and established a monastery attached to it. Saint Wulfstan, who rebuilt the cathedral in 1084, began the present building. During Anglo-Saxon times, Worcester was one of the most important monastic cathedrals in the country. It was a centre of great learning, which continued into the later middle ages, when Worcester’s Benedictine monks went to university to study a variety of subjects, such as theology, medicine, law, history, mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Some of these medieval university textbooks still survive in the cathedral library today. The monastery continued until 1540 when Henry VIII dissolved it, and some of the last monks became the first Dean and Chapter. The cathedral was badly damaged in the civil wars, and as a consequence a major programme of rebuilding was required after the Restoration of Charles II. From the late seventeenth until the nineteenth centuries there were several campaigns to restore parts of the cathedral, but the Victorians from 1864-75 carried out the largest of these.

Worcester Porcelain, Worcester Sauce and Cricket

In Worcestershire we are very proud of Royal Worcester but it well known throughout the world. It received a royal warrant in 1789, and is still currently by appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The first Worcester Porcelain factory was founded by Dr.Wall and 14 partners in 1751.

Worcestershire sauce is a widely used fermented liquid condiment first made at 68 Broad Street, Worcester by Messers Lea & Perrins at some point in the 1830s. It was made commercially from 1837.

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure. Graeme Hick and Ian Botham are both well-known for playing for Worcestershire.

The Guildhall

The Guildhall is a truly beautiful building which dates back to 1721. It was once the seat of justice throughout the city and even housed a prison, and today offers members of the public a glimpse of Worcester’s rich and varied heritage. Come inside to find out more of the fascinating history!

Situated on the High Street, the Guildhall boasts the remarkable Assembly Room, described by King George III as “a handsome gallery” when he visited in 1788. You can retrace footsteps to admire this space’s Italianate Ceiling and many striking portraits of Royalty and former Mayors.

The Battle of Worcester

The English Civil war was a power contest between King and Parliament. The powers of the English king were first challenged in the 13th century when King John whose tomb is in Worcester Cathedral, was forced by the barons to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. 

In 1642 war broke out when Parliament challenged the king's right to raise taxation without Parliamentary consent and claimed that Charles I had acted unconstitutionally during the 11 years between 1629 and 1640 when he had ruled without consulting Parliament at all. 

Supporters of the king who thought that he alone should hold the supreme authority in the country are known as Royalists or Cavaliers. The forces of those who thought that Parliament should have the last word were known as the Parliamentarians or Roundheads, one of their most famous leaders was Oliver Cromwell.

London remained under Parliamentary control throughout the war. Fighting took place in many parts of the country as Charles tried to advance on the capital but he was never able to recapture the city. His forces suffered severe defeats at Marston Moor in 1644 and at Naseby in 1645. In 1649 Charles I was executed. The monarchy was abolished and Parliament controlled the country. It is a surprising fact that, Powick Bridge, Worcester, featured in both the first skirmish of the conflict in 1642 and the final defeat of the Royalist hopes in 1651. 

The Battle of Worcester in 1651 was the attempt by Charles II (the eldest son of Charles I) to reclaim the throne and to re-establish the rule of the Crown in England. 

The execution of Charles I was opposed by the Scots Parliament, which entered negotiations with the king’s son, Prince Charles. He was asked to agree to Presbyterian religion in England, and to sign the Covenant. Charles needed an army because Parliament had launched a new campaign in Ireland with Cromwell in command late in 1649, and all Royalist military resources were committed there. Cromwell’s success in Ireland induced Prince Charles to accept the Covenant and he arrived in Scotland in June 1650 (but was not crowned as king until 1 January 1651).

With Scotland now hostile, the English Parliament sent an army north with Cromwell in command. Initially, the Scots commander, Alexander Leslie, conducted a canny campaign of refusing pitched battle, allowing lack of supplies and disease to deplete the English force and to cause its retreat. However, when Leslie finally offered battle at Dunbar on 3 September 1650, Cromwell defeated him. After another defeat at Inverkeithing on 20 July 1651, Charles II went south and assembled a combined army at Worcester.

At Worcester, a huge Parliamentarian army gathered from all over England to confront what was considered as a Scottish invasion – some 32,000 English soldiers confronted Charles’s 16,000. It was another decisive victory for Cromwell and Parliament, and though Charles II escaped, the third Civil War was at an end.