The city of Worcester lies on the banks of the river Severn, just above its juncture with the Teme, about seven miles to the north-east of the Malvern Hills and about six miles to the south-west of Droitwich.

The historic core of the settlement at Worcester developed on the east bank of the river, spreading northwards along an oblong sand and gravel river terrace which is overlooked by low lying hills to the east. Water draining off this high ground once flowed in the Frog Brook, now part of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, and together with its once marshy valley bottom this stream formed a natural eastern boundary for the early settlers. Suburban development later spread into this valley along roads running to Gloucester and Oxford/London, at Sidbury, and to Droitwich, at Lowesmoor, while a long sprawling suburb developed northwards along the city’s main axial road which forks after the junction with Barbourne Brook towards Kidderminster and Droitwich.

At the southern end of the river terrace, towards Diglis, the natural promontory created by the juncture between Frog Brook and the Severn provided an ideal defensive position for the early settlement, and this aspect is preserved today by the Cathedral which dominates the location. To the south of this promontory lies Diglis basin and the river lock at Diglis Lock Island, while to the north, contained between a broad bend in the river and the river terrace, is the alluvial fan of Pitchcroft - the site of the present day racecourse.

The present river bridge was opened in 1781, replacing a medieval stone structure of possible of Roman origin which lay some 150m. upstream between Newport Street (on the east bank) and Tybridge Street (on the west bank). During the medieval period a man-made causeway originally carried traffic coming across this from the east up into the suburb of St John’s, which sits on high ground formed by a sand and gravel river terrace mirroring that on the east bank. Extending between the St John’s terrace and the river, from the bridge down to the junction with the river Teme, lies a broad alluvial plain which is subject to regular flooding (as are the Pitchcroft and Diglis areas). At the southern end of the St John’s terrace, at Powick, there has been a bridge over the Teme since at least medieval times, linking Worcester to Great Malvern, while routes pass through St John’s running north to Bewdley, north-west to Tenbury, and due west to Hereford and Leominster.

Looking down over the city from the Malverns it is easy to appreciate the strategic setting of the site. To the east and south-east, relatively flat and low lying land stretches towards the West Midlands plain and the Vale of Evesham, with the Cotswolds beyond, while to the west the hills and valleys of Herefordshire merge into the more mountainous country of the Clun and Radnor forests and, to the south-west, the Forest of Dean and the Black Mountains. Winding its way down from the Severn Estuary (and Bristol) past Gloucester and Tewkesbury in a broad floodplain, the Severn begins to narrow at Worcester before passing on through to Bewdley and Bridgnorth, with Shrewsbury ultimately beyond.

Providing the most suitable bridging point between Bridgnorth and Gloucester until the 14th century, and with a six foot tidal influence which made the river fordable at low tide until the construction of the Diglis locks in 1844, the strategic significance of the site can readily be appreciated. Of course for the early inhabitants of Worcester, living on the site of a strategic river-crossing would have had mixed blessings. While opportunities for trade and commerce have abounded, providing stimuli and markets to local manufacturers and farmers, the settlement has had to contend with numerous passing armies and war bands, many of whom took the opportunity to stop off and plunder the settlement on their way through. Aside from these unwelcome visitors, the volume of traffic passing through the city has been a constant problem since at least the early 14th century, and remains one of the most important issues on the city’s civic agenda today.

Following numerous medieval fires and sieges, Civil War bombardments, and a particular rapacious spate of urban redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s, Worcester today retains few of its medieval buildings, and no structures are visible which pre-date the late Saxon period. While the city’s medieval street pattern and city wall are still clearly visible, and the monastic ruins in the Cathedral Close and the Edgar Tower entrance to this provide a hint of the city’s medieval grandeur, the built environment of today is dominated by Georgian and Victorian architecture, with more recent structures blending or detracting from this in varying degrees. However, the 15th, 16th and 17th century timber buildings which can still be seen in Friar Street, New Street, the Trinity and the Cornmarket do provide a glimpse of what the later medieval city may have been like, and many of the city’s churches, including the Cathedral, retain elements of their medieval fabric. Despite the lack of surviving structures we at least have documentary sources, cartographic and archaeological evidence to help us understand how the medieval town worked, although for the origins and early development of the settlement we must rely on archaeological evidence alone.

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© Worcester City Museums 2001