WORCESTERSHIRE, one of the west-midland counties of England. The con• terminous counties are those of Warwick and Stafford on the n., Warwick and Oxford on the e., Gloucester on the s., and Hereford and Salop on the west. Area 472,453 acres; whereof about 400,000 are cultivated. Its greatest length is 38 rn., and greatest breadth, 26. The surface is undulating, and there are depressed valleys and hilly ranges; two of the latter are of considerable extent, and adorn its eastern and western sides. On the west, the range terminates in the Malvern hills, one of the highest points of which is the Worcestershire beacon, about 1100 feet above the level of the sea, Its name is derived from its shape, a cone towering beacon-like above the lesser eminences of the chain; but the highest peak of the range is named the Herefordshire beacon, which stands within the county of Hereford. The eastern range is the Bredon hills, which form part of a chain extending from Bromsgrove Lickey, near Birmingham, to the Cotswold hills, near Gloucester. The county is well watered, and finely timbered, especially with fruit-trees. The elm grows very luxuriantly, and indeed is so common in every corner as to have obtained the name of "the weed of 'Worcestershire." The oak, beech, and other timber trees thrive well, and of late the larch has been much planted. The principal rivers are the Severn, the Teme, and the Avon. Other streams there are, such as the Stour, the Salwarp, etc., but except in flood-times, these are mere brooks, and scarcely deserve the name of river. The Severn is navigable for vessels of SO tons Its high as Worcester, and for those of 60 tons to Stourport, 14 in. further; and smaller boats can reach Shrewsbury, the river being navigable for 180 miles. There are three canals communicating with the Severn—viz., the Staffordshire and Worcestershire at Stourport; the Droitwitch, a little way above Worcester; and the Birmingham and Worcester, in the immediate neighborhood of the city. The w. portion of the vale of Severn is about 30 m. long; the climate is mild and healthy; but the rainfall is com paratively small, and nearly the minimum of England. There are mineral springs at 3Ialvern, Evesham, Dudley, and Kidderminster. Nearly the whole of the county is on the red sandstone formation, but the.Malveru and Lickey hills are of igneous origin. The soil consists of almost every variety suitable for vegetation, from strong deep clay and rich vegetable mold, to light friable sandy ryeland, with tracts of alluvial deposit, marl, and loam. The vale of Evesham is dependent on the Avon for its fertility, which has long gained for it the reputation of being the garden of the mid-west. It produces abundance of table-fruit, and vegetables of the finest quality. The agriculture of Worcestershire has been greatly improved during the last thirty years, and is now much in vogue. Excellent crops of wheat and other grains, turnips, and' potatoes are raised; a large portion of the land remains in the form of meadow, and much of it ancient pasture.
Hop-gardens are beautiful in the western division of the county, and their produce ranks, in the estimation of brewers, next to that of e. Kent. orcestershire is par
excellence a perry county, as Herefordshire and Devonshire are cider counties. Its pear orchards are very beautiful in the time of blossom; and there is a splendid variety, called the "black pear of Worcester," which attains a great size, and is supposed to be the traditional pear blazoned on the county's shield of arms.
There is no distinctive local breed of stock, either cattle or sheep. The cattle in most favor are Herefords and shorthorns; and among sheep, the favorite varieties Lre Shropshire clowns, Leicesters, Cotswolds, and cross-breeds. Pigs are abundantly bred and fed. The markets are well supplied with butcher-meat, bred and fed in the county; and London, Birmingham, and the "black country" draw large supplies from Worcestershire. Poultry are raised in considerable quantity, and the Worcestershire farmers' wives have deservedly obtained a good name for the condition and neatness in which they are sent to market. The county possesses great mineral wealth in coal, iron, salt, lime: the first three are found in the north-eastern quarter of Worcestershire, but lime is very generally distributed. Coal and iron mines are largely worked in the neighborhood of the populous borough of Dudley. Iron-wOrks abound between it and Stourbridge, where glass manufactures of an ornamental character, on a large scale, have taken root; and there are abundance of coal-mines in the neighborhood. Quarries of limestone are largely wrought near Evesham and Pershore.
The textile fabric manufactures are nearly confined to carpet-weaving, which has long been carried on successfully at Kidderminster; but the town has almost ceased to produce that description of goods known by its name, " brussels" and " tapestry" being principally manufactured. At and in the neighborhood of Worcester a considerable number of persons are engaged in glove-making. Worcestershire china, which has gained a world-wide reputation, is also produced upon a large scale in the capital city. At Redditch, the needle and fish-hook manufacture is carried on to a greater extent than in any other place in England; been practiced for centuries at Bromnsgrove; and at Droitwich, about 6 m. from Worcester, salt has been manufactured for many centuries from an inexhaustible supply of brine. Pop. (1871) 338,837. of whom about 200,000 are connected with mines and manufactures, and the remainder are engaged in agriculture, or dependent on trade. Of time above number, upward of 8,000 are engaged in hardware manufactures; a large proportion in nail-making, the rest in the manufacture of iron and steel, glass and porcelain, needles, fish-hooks, tools, fenders, fire-irons, shovels, screws, rivets, swords, cutlery, and steel toys. The county is in the Oxford circuit, and in the district of the Birmingham court of bank ruptev. The county sends four knights of the shire to parliament, and six members for the boroughs of Evesham, Kidderminster, Droitwich, Dudley (one-half of which is in Staffordshire), Bewdley (and Stourport united), besides two for the city—making a total of twelve members from 'Worcestershire.