The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Worcester (England)

WORCESTER, a city of England, capital of Worcestershire, on the left bank of the Severn, 102 m. W. N. W. of London; pop. in 1871, 33,221. The houses are generally of brick; some of them are two or three centuries old. The cathedral is in the form of a double cross, with a central tower 193 ft. high. In 1872 there were 35 places of public worship, of which 20 belonged to the church of England. Porcelain, iron castings, leather, gloves, hair cloth, and lace are the principal manufactures. Worcester was founded by the ancient Britons, and the Romans afterward made it an important station. It was destroyed by the Danes, and rebuilt about 894, and again burned by Hardicanute in 1041. After the Norman conquest a castle was built upon a height overlooking the river, a part of which still remains. The town suffered much from the incursions of the Welsh; and during the civil war, having espoused the cause of Charles I., it suffered severely from the soldiers of the parliament. On Sept. 3, 1651, the final battle, called by Cromwell “a crowning mercy,” was fought here between the royalists under Charles II. and the parliamentarians under Cromwell, in which the former were utterly routed.