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 PREFACE IN the preparation of this first volume of the Victoria History of Worcestershire the editors have had to contend against many diffi- culties. In the field of Natural History with which this volume is largely concerned the workers have been comparatively few, and their energies have been directed mostly in certain channels. While the popular orders of the flora and fauna have attracted a good deal of attention, those that are less interesting to the collector have been almost entirely unexplored. It has therefore been extremely difficult to preserve anything like a proper balance in the parts which go to make up the first section of this volume. In the department of Archaeology also Worcestershire has been less fortunate than many other parts of the country. The absence of any very striking archsological features such as would attract antiquaries from far and near has perhaps led to a greater neglect of its earliest history than the county deserves. There is every reason to believe that systematic excavation would reveal much of interest in the pre-Norman period of the county's history. But without an extensive use of the spade the early story of Worcestershire must remain scanty and con- jectural. With the Domesday Survey of 1086 we enter upon the period of written history, in which the county possesses many features of excep- tional interest and importance. And here the editors venture to claim for this work a distinct advance on anything that has been done hitherto. With the exception of a translation and of the facsimile reproductions of the historian Nash and of the Ordnance Survey Office, the Worcester- shire section of Domesday Book has received no serious attention. It is doubtful indeed whether a purely local student would be well equipped for an adequate study of the Survey, which, to be understood, must be dealt with as a whole. The editors consider themselves fortunate there- fore in having secured the services of Mr. J. Horace Round, who has made the great national document a life-study. In the General Advertisement will be found a description of the