There are remains of the great abbeys at Evesham and Pershore, and the priory church at Malvern, besides the cathedral at Worcester. There are further monastic remains at Halesowen and at Bordesley, and there was a Benedictine priory at Astley. Good Norman work remains in the churches of Martley, Astley, Rous Lench, Bredon and Bockleton ; while the Early English churches of Kempsey and Ripple are note worthy. Half-timbered buildings add to the picturesqueness of many towns and villages ; and among country houses this style is well exemplified in Birts Morton Court, Eastington Hall, Elmley Lovett Manor, and in Pirton Court. Westwood Park is a mansion of the 16th and 17th centuries; the site was formerly occupied by a Benedictine nunnery. Madresfield Court embodies remains of a fine Elizabethan moated mansion.
The climate is equable and healthy, and is very favourable to the cultivation of fruit, vegetables and hops, the red marls and the rich loams being good both for market gardens and tillage. About 82% of the county is under cultivation; of this 65% is in permanent pasture. Orchards of apples, pears and plums are extensive, and there are large tracts of woodland. Wheat and oats are the principal grain crops. Beans, potatoes, peas, turnips and mangolds are important crops covering about 20,000 acres. Near Worcester there are large nurseries.
In the north Worcester includes a portion of the Black Country. Dudley, Netherton and Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Oldbury and the south and west suburbs of Birming ham, have a vast population engaged in iron-working, in chemical and glass works, and motor engineering. Worcester is famous for
porcelain, Kidderminster for carpets and Redditch for needles, fish-hooks, etc. Salt is produced from brine at Droitwich and Stoke. The fire-clays and limestone of the north unite with the Coal Measures to form a basis of the industries in the Black Country. Furniture, clothing and paper-making and leather working are also important.
The county is served by the G.W.R. main lines connecting Worcester with Birmingham, Oxford, Gloucester, Hereford and Shrewsbury, the L.M.S.R. serves the north, and the Birmingham-Bristol line passes through the county. The Severn is an important highway; the Avon, though locked up to Evesham, is little used. Canals follow the courses of the Stour and the Salwarpe, and serve the towns of the Black Country.
The area of the ancient county is 480,560 ac., pop. (1931) 420,156. Area of administra tive county and associated county boroughs 447,678 acres. The county has detached portions enclaved in Herefordshire, Stafford shire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. It comprises five hun dreds. The county is in the Oxford circuit, and assizes are held at Worcester. It has one court of quarter-sessions, and is divided into 22 petty sessional divisions.
County History, Worcestershire; F. T. S. Houghton, Worcestershire (1922) ; W. M. Ede, Cathedral Church . . . of Worcester (1925) ; F. B. Andrews, Memorials of Old Worcester 0910 ; L. J. Wills, Worcestershire 09'0 . See also publications of the Worcestershire Historical Society. The classic work of reference is T. R. Nash, Collections for the History of Worcestershire, 2 viols., 1781-99.