Collection History

In the early 19th century the Worcestershire Natural History Society collected archaeological material from local antiquarians; this was wide ranging in type and provenance but included a quantity of prehistoric worked flint.

In the 1830's Thomas Eaton, a local bookseller, recovered Roman pottery, brooches and bells from the demolition of Castle Hill near the Cathedral.

Amateur archaeologists recovered material as redevelopment of the city centre progressed during the mid 20th century, before professional archaeology became established in Worcester.

Excavations were conducted between 1960 and 1985 on sites at Broad Street, Cathedral Close, City Walls Road, Deansway, High Street, Lychgate, New Street, Severn Street, Sidbury and Union Street. Excavation work at Blackfriars and Deansway in advance of the Crowngate development in the late 1980s produced much excellent material which almost doubles the size of the collection.

Material from recent archaeological excavations and watching briefs are deposited in the collections alongside the paper archives in the Sites and Monuments Record.

- Roman Severn Valley and Samian Ware pottery

- Roman personal items and brooches

- Medieval pottery jugs and cooking pots

- Medieval floor tiles

- Medieval roof finials

- Medieval carved alabaster panels and wooden roof bosses (St Michael's and St Andrew's churches)

- Medieval bronze working waste (Deansway)

- Medieval leather shoes (Lychgate)

- Medieval barrel (Sidbury)

- 17th and 18th century domestic pottery

- 17th century imported pottery (Sidbury)

- 17th,18th, and 19th century clay pipes

- 18th and 19th century waste from porcelain manufacture (Deansway and Pheasant Street)

Archaeology - Art - Ethnology - Geology - Natural History - Social History
Worcestershire Regiment - Worcestershire Yeomanry