The Bromsgrove Court Leet: A court and project 400+ years in the making!
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Nina O'Hare
6d ago
In recent years, documents relating to the business of the Bromsgrove Court Leet have been moved from dusty lofts and boxes under desks to the archive department at The Hive for permanent preservation. The Court Leet is a manorial court, which began when the manorial system was introduced by William the Conqueror in which the Manor of Bromsgrove was first recorded for Domesday in 1086. The manorial system decreed that all land was owned by the king who granted the manors to his supporters or, perhaps, as in the case of Bromsgrove, a manor was retained for his own use. The government of the man ..read more
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The Bailey Bridge
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Nina O'Hare
2w ago
Hailed as a key invention to come out of World War II, Bailey bridges allowed waterways and steep drops to be crossed quickly and easily. Have you spotted any around Worcestershire? Help us record these often overlooked heritage sites. Named after the engineer and civil servant Donald Bailey, the Bailey Bridge was a prefabricated, modular and portable bridge, which could be assembled and disassembled quickly, without specialist tools or heavy equipment. Developed in 1940-41 by a design team, led by Donald Bailey, based at the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment (MEXE) in Christchur ..read more
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Redditch New Town Archives: Sports, Promotion and Leisure
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Zoe Van Well
2w ago
Within one of our large Commission for the New Town collections, there are c9500 photographs, reports and other items from the Development Corporation Technical Library. We just love showing them to you on our social media platforms. They bring the Redditch New Town collections to life, and capture the design characteristics of the period. One brochure in this expansive collection illustrates the variety of local amenities and services that were developed or re-designed by the Corporation and the self-contained nature of the New Town. So many facilities were available, such as the shopping cen ..read more
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Travels in Time and through Space with Arthur Henry Whinfield
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Nina O'Hare
3w ago
One of the great things about my job as an Archives Assistant is that I get to review a wide range of collections, whether it’s to assist researchers in the Searchroom, to undertake cataloguing and support digital preservation or deliver physical outreach and online campaigns such as Explore Your Archive. Recently I was given the opportunity to review the 2100 glass slide collections of Arthur Henry Whinfield which were conserved, catalogued and digitised as part of the Arthur Henry Whinfield centenary project completed in 2019. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the aim was to preserve ..read more
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Redditch New Town Archives: Industry and Employment
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Zoe Van Well
1M ago
Attracting Industry Part of the Master Plan was to attract a variety of industry to the town. The set-up of large factories were negotiated together with land, and allocation of new houses to key workers. BKL Alloys is an example of this, a firm that moved one of it’s divisions from Birmingham. As a result, it became necessary to carry out borehole surveys to determine the load bearing capacity of land for such very heavy industries. These surveys and reports have been catalogued as part of our New Jerusalems project, and are available at finding no. 009:12 BA13606. CNT Redditch Means Busines ..read more
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Redditch New Town Archives: Planning & Design
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Zoe Van Well
1M ago
Planning for a New Town Unlike most other New Towns, Redditch had a rich history, dating from the year 1140 when Cistercian monks founded Bordesley Abbey in the Arrow Valley, through to its more recent industries in needle-making, fish-hooks and motorcycle production. Redditch Development Corporation therefore  had a slightly different task to most. They had to modernise and expand the town as opposed to starting more or less from nothing. The Redditch New Town archives contain several photos. Many of these feature ‘old Redditch’ such as shops, homes, the market, businesses and workshops ..read more
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A life lived in spiritual devotion: Frances Ridley Havergal, Part Two
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Jasmine Kee
3M ago
More from the recently catalogued deposit highlights Havergal’s impressive body of work, despite a life cut short. If you missed Part One, find it here.  ‘Writing is praying with me: for I never seem to write even a verse by myself’, said Frances Ridley Havergal. This is perhaps unsurprising given the English religious poet and hymnwriter’s depth of devotion to her Christian faith. She wrote poetry, but only to express the spiritual lessons she learnt. When she sang, she sang sacred music simply with the purpose of winning souls. She mastered many languages but studied Greek and Hebrew pr ..read more
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A life lived in spiritual devotion: Frances Ridley Havergal, Part One
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Carol Wood
3M ago
Recently catalogued deposits of books, family sketchbooks, music, testimonials and presentation volumes, as well as biographical texts, shed light on the English religious poet and hymnwriter, and her remarkable family. Born on 14th December 1836, Frances Ridley Havergal was raised in the Victorian English vicarage of Astley, Worcestershire. The youngest child of Reverend William Henry Havergal and Jane (Head) Havergal, she was a talented singer and piano player and composed many Christian hymns and melodies, some of which we still sing today. She also wrote religious tracts and children’s boo ..read more
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Protecting Feckenham’s moated manor site
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Nina O'Hare
6M ago
Feckenham Manorial Moated Site is a nationally significant scheduled monument. Despite this, it has been on an ‘at risk’ heritage register – until now, that is. Owned and managed by Redditch Borough Council, it is also a key green and recreational space within the heart of Feckenham village, and the focus of a community group’s efforts. Recorded in historical documents – variously as Court House, Court Close or Bennett’s Bower – Feckenham Manorial Moated Site incorporates the buried and earthwork remains of an exceptionally large, double bank and ditch, moated site. Feckenham was the administr ..read more
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Researching Your Worcestershire Family History is Now even Easier
Explore the Past | Worcestershire Archive & Archaeology Service
by Zoe Van Well
7M ago
People researching their family history now have access to more than two million records detailing baptisms, marriages, and burials in the county. Over five centuries worth of records have been released online thanks to a new partnership between Worcestershire County Council’s Archive and Archaeology Service and Ancestry, the largest UK Family History Site. The records, will enable people with roots in Worcestershire to trace missing pieces of their family history from wherever they are in the world. Councillor Marcus Hart, Cabinet Member for Communities at Worcestershire County Council ..read more
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