Worcester Bridge and the Severn

The medieval bridge stood about 100 metres upstream of the present bridge. The existence of a bridge at Worcester is not known for certain until 1088 when its repair was recorded, but there had probably been one here since the Roman period. When the bridge was being demolished in 1781 the cores of the piers were found to be concreted Roman iron slag, possibly surviving from the Roman bridge and re-used by later structures.

The bridge was also part of the medieval city's defences, and at its east end stood the Bar Gate. The bridge was substantially rebuilt about sixty years after the time of the model.

The river at Worcester was tidal, generally shallow, and there was a natural ford in the area of the medieval bridge. The Severn played a vital role in the economy of the medieval city and was a busy trade artery. Boats probably the ancestors of the Severn Trows of later centuries carried imports from continental Europe, transhipped at Bristol, upriver, with agricultural produce taken downstream for export.