Medieval Worcester - 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.