Worcestershire County
(Historic)

Map Reference: (52.329559, -1.505312)

Worcestershire is an inland county in the English Midlands. The centre of the county comprises the fertile lowland plain drained by the Rivers Severn and Avon and their tributaries, the Rivers Stour and Teme. The cathedral city of Worcester stands on the Severn and is dominated by a grand cathedral. In the south-east of the county the pleasant Vale of Evesham provides excellent soil for orchards and market gardening. Evesham itself was founded around an early 8th-century abbey. In the south-west are the pretty Malvern Hills. Great Malvern is a lovely spa town. The far south-east of Worcestershire lies in the Cotswolds, Broadway being known as the "Jewel of the Cotswolds". In contrast, the north-east of the county is urban in character, including the Black Country town of Oldbury, many of Birmingham's outer southern suburbs and the towns of Halesowen, Stourbridge, Bromsgrove and Redditch. Even in this corner of the county there remain havens of peace in the Clent Hills and the Lickey Hills. A huge area in the north-west of the county, much of it part of the Teme valley, in unspoilt countryside without even small towns.