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Archaeological Section, Blackfriars (31k)

Inheriting Urban Landscapes

Much is still unknown about the origins of many English historic cities, but is becoming clear that the landscape of their town centres may be of very ancient origin. In the last thirty years archaeologists, historians and geographers have all found evidence of the frequent survival of early features. One celebrated instance was the discovery by the Coppergate excavations in York that the boundary of a Victorian chocolate factory originated as the boundary of a Viking-Age tenement and had been replaced many times on the same line since c.900AD.
A 2m deep section through Worcester's urban heritage - Blackfriars 1986
There is a simple explanation. Once a street is fully built up with permanent standing buildings, making changes to boundaries becomes extremely difficult without the acquisition of the adjoining property. So within built-up areas, the use to which land is put may change rapidly; changes to the building stock happen more slowly, but changes to the framework of property boundaries and streets containing the buildings happen most slowly of all.

The Skeleton of Worcester

.A map of the historic core of Worcester. Based on the highly-detailed and accurate large-scale Ordnance Survey plans of the 1880s. It shows the extent of the built-up area as it was in 1779. Changes in the town plan known to have taken place after the Middle Ages have been edited out (e.g. College Street, inserted in the 1790’s). As well as the streets, property or plot boundaries are shown. While some may have been of recent origin when surveyed in the 1880’s, many more are likely to have been extremely ancient, dating back to the earliest period of permanent development.

 Plan of Medieval Worcester (37K)
The skeleton of medieval Worcester
Worcester's Medieval Plan Units (39k)

Dismantling Worcester's Town Plan

Variations in the width and direction of streets and of the properties or plots associated with them suggest that the ancient townscape or settlement pattern within the city walls can be broken down into a number of discrete blocks, or units. These can be regarded as 'districts' in the sense that they form natural groupings of one or more related streets and their plots, and many bear a close relationship to city growth episodes.

Archaeological evidence shows however that in some instances unsuspected complexities may lurk beneath the surface of apparently simple development episodes. Such blocks are known to historical geographers working in Britain as 'plan-units', to continental geographers as the 'urban tissue'. Every city has its own individual pattern - contributing directly to our perception of its historical identity, and what makes it unique.

Worcester's medieval
plan units
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© Worcester City Museums 2001
 
Introduction
Aerial Views of Worcester
The Worcester 1250 Model
Making the Model
Life in 13th Century Worcester

The Life of a Plot
Inheriting the Landscape
Plotting the Past, Planning the Future Exhibition
 
Related Topics
 
Potted Histories - Medieval Worcester
Worcester Maps & Plans
 
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Worcester City History Awards for Schools