Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Worcester .."

Gc M L.

942.4701
V66
v.l
1267001

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

Zbc Dlctotia Ibtstotig of the
Counties of Bnolanb

EDITED BY H. ARTHUR DOUBLEDAY

A HISTORY OF
WORCESTERSHIRE

VOLUME I

A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY
OF WORCESTER IN FOUR
VOLUMES EDITED BY J. W.
WILLIS-BUND, M.A., F.S.A., and
H. ARTHUR DOUBLEDAY

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTIES
OF ENGLAND

WORCESTERSHIRE

WESTMINSTER
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE

AND COMPANY LIMITED

THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
OF THE VICTORIA HISTORY

His Grace The Duke of Devonshire, K.G.

Chancellor of the University of Cambridge

His Grace The Duke of Rutland, K.G.
His Grace The Duke of Portland
His Grace The Duke of Argyll, K.T.
The Most Hon. The Marquess of Salisbury,
K.G.

chancellor of the University of Oxford

The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Rosebery, K.G.,

K.T.
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Coventry

President of the Royal Agricultural Society

The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Dillon

President of the Society of Antiquaries

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Acton

Regius Professor of Modern History, Cambridge

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Lister

President of the Royal Society

Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D., F.S.A.,

Corpus Professor of yurisprudenee, Oxford

Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B., D.C.L.,
LL.D., F.S.A., etc.

Director of the British Museum

Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., F.S.A.

President of the Royal Geographical Society

General Editor — H. Arthur DouBLEOi

Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte, K.C.B.,M.A., F.S.A.,

ETC.
Keeper of the Public Records

Col. Sir J. Farquharson, K.C.B.

Sir Jos. Hooker, G.C.S.L, M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.,

ETC.

Sir Archibald Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S., etc.
Rev. J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., etc.
Lionel Cust, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., etc.

Director of the National Portrait Gallery

Dr. Albert L. G. Gonther, F.R.S.

President of the Linnean Society

Col. Duncan A. Johnston

Director General of the Ordnance Survey

Prof. E. Ray Lankester, M.A., F.R.S., etc.

Director of the Nat, Hist, Museum, South Kensington

Reginald L. Poole, Esq., M.A.

University Lecturer in Diplomatic, Oxford

F. York Powell, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., etc.

Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford

J. Horace Round, Esq., M.A.
Walter Rye, Esq.

W. H. St. John Hope, Esq., M.A.

Assistant Secretary of the Society of Antiquan

GENERAL ADVERTISEMENT

The Victoria History of the Counties of England is a National Survey showing
the condition of the country at the present day, and tracing the domestic history of the
English Counties back to the earliest times.

Rich as every County of England is in materials for local history, there has hitherto been
no attempt made to bring all these materials together into a coherent form. There are,
indeed, histories of English Counties ; but many of them — and these the best — are exceed-
ingly rare and costly ; others are very imperfect ; all are out of date.

The Victoria History will trace, county by county, the story of England's growth
from its prehistoric condition, through the barbarous age, the settlement of alien peoples, and
the gradual welding of many races into a nation which is now the greatest on the globe. All
the phases of ecclesiastical history ; the changes in land tenure ; the records of historic and
local families ; the history of the social life and sports of the villages and towns ; the develop-
ment of art, science, manufactures and industries — all these factors, which tell of the progress
of England from primitive beginnings to large and successful empire, will find a place in the
work and their treatment be entrusted to those who have made a special study of them.

Many archaeological, historical and other Societies are assisting in the compil'ation of this
work, and the editor also has the advantage of the active and cordial co-operation of The
National Trust, which is doing so much for the preservation of places of historic interest and
natural beauty throughout the country.

The names of the distinguished men who have joined the Advisory Council are a

I vii b

guarantee that the work will represent the results of the latest discoveries in every department
of research. It will be observed that among them are representatives of science ; for the
whole trend of modern thought, as influenced by the theory of evolution, favours the intelli-
gent study of the past and of the social, institutional and political developments of national
life. As these histories are the first in which this object has been kept in view, and modern
principles applied, it is hoped that they will form a work of reference no less indispensable
to the student than welcome to the man of culture.

Family History will, both in the Histories and in the supplemental volumes of chart
pedigrees, be dealt with by genealogical experts and in the modern spirit. Every effort will be
made to secure accuracy of statement, and to avoid the insertion of those legendary pedigrees
which have in the past brought discredit on the whole subject. It has been pointed out by the
late Bishop of Oxford, a great master of historical research, that ' the expansion and extension
of genealogical study is a very remarkable feature of our own times,' that ' it is an increasing
pursuit both in America and England,' and that it can render the historian useful service.

Heraldry will also in this Series occupy a prominent position, and the splendours of the
coat-armour borne in the Middle Ages will be illustrated in colours on a scale that has never
been attempted before.

The general plan of Contents, and the names of the Sectional Editors (who will
co-operate with local workers in every case) are as follows : —

Natural History. Edited by Aobyn B. R. Trevob-Battye, M.A., F.L.S., etc.

Geology. By Clement Reid, F.R.S., Horace B. Woodward, F.R.S., and others
Palaeontology. Edited by R. L. Lydekker, F.R.S., etc.

(Contributions by G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A., H. N. Dixon, F.L.S.,
G. C. Dbuce, M.A., F.L.S., Walter Garstang, M.A., F.L.S., Herbert Goss, F.L.S., F.E.S.,
R. I. Pocock.Rev. T.R. R. Stebbing, M.A., F.R.S., etc., B.B.Woodward, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.,
etc., and other Specialists
Prehistoric Remains. Edited by W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., F.S.A.
Roman Remains. Edited by F. Haverfield, M.A., F.S.A.

Anglo-Saxon Remains. Edited by C. Hercules Read, F.S.A., and Reginald A. Smith, B.A.
Ethnography. Edited by G. Laurence Gomme, F.S.A.

Dialect. Edited by Joseph Wright, M.A., Ph.D.

Place Names \

Folklore y Contributed by Various Authorities

Physical Types )
Domesday Book and other kindred Records. Edited by J. Horace Round, M.A.
Architecture. By Various Authorities. The Sections on the Cathedrals and Monastic Remains Edited by

W. H. St. John Hope, M.A.
Ecclesiastical History. Edited by R. L. Poole, M.A.
Political History. Edited by W. H. Stevenson, M.A., J. Horace Round, M.A., Prof. T. F. Tout, M.A.,

James Tait, M.A., and C. H. Firth, M.A.
History of Schools. Edited by A. F. Leach, M.A., F.S.A.
Maritime History of Coast Counties. Edited by J. K. Laughton, M.A.
Topographical Accounts of Parishes and Manors. By Various Authorities

History of the Feudal Baronage. Edited by J. Horace Round, M.A., and Oswald Barron, F.S.A.
Family History and Heraldry. Edited by Oswald Barron, F.S.A.

Agriculture. Edited by Sir Ernest Clarke, M.A., Sec. to the Royal Agricultural Society
Forestry. Edited by John Nisbet, D.Oec.
Industries, Arts and Manufactures ^

Social and Economic History > By Various Authorities

Persons Eminent in Art, Literature, Science J
Ancient and Modern Sport. Edited by the Duke of Beaufort

Hunting "j

Shooting >- By Various Authorities

Fishing, etc. J

Cricket. Edited by Home Gordon

Football. Edited by C. W. Alcock
Bibliographies
Indexes
Names of the Subscribers

viii

With a view to securing the best advice with regard to the searching of records, the
Editor has secured the services of the following committee of experts : —

RECORDS COMMITTEE

Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B. Wm. Page, F.S.A.

Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte, K.C.B. J. Horace Round, M.A.

W. J. Hardy, F.S.A. S. R. Scargill-Bird, F.S.A.

F. Madan, M.A. W. H. Stevenson, M.A.

F. Maitland, M.A., F.S.A. G. F. Warner, M.A., F.S.A.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Among the many thousands of subjects illustrated will be castles, cathedrals and churches,
mansions and manor houses, moot halls and market halls, family portraits, etc. Particular
attention will be given to the beautiful and quaint examples of architecture which, through
decay or from other causes, are in danger of disappearing. The best examples of church
brasses, coloured glass, and monumental effigies will be depicted. The Series will also contain
1 60 pictures in photogravure, showing the characteristic scenery of the counties.

CARTOGRAPHY

Each History will contain Archaeological, Domesday, and Geological maps ; maps show-
ing the orography, and the Parliamentary and Ecclesiastical divisions ; and the map done by
Speed in 16 10. The Series will contain about four hundred maps in all.

FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY

The Histories will contain, in the Topographical Section, manorial pedigrees, and
accounts of the noble and gentle families connected with the local history ; and it is proposed
to trace, wherever possible, their descendants in the Colonies and the United States of
America. The Editor will be glad to receive information which may be of service to him
in this branch of the work. The chart family pedigrees and the arms of the families
mentioned in the Heralds' Visitations will be issued in a supplemental volume for each county.

The Rolls of Arms are being completely collated for this work, and all the feudal coats
will be given in colours. The arms of the local families will also be represented in connection
with the Topographical Section.

In order to secure the greatest possible accuracy in the descriptions of the Architecture,
ecclesiastic, military and domestic, a committee has been formed of the following students of
architectural history, who will supervise this department of the work : —

ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE

J. Bilson, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. W. H. St. John Hope, M.A.

R. Blomfield W. H. Knowles, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

Harold Brakspear, A.R.I.B.A. J. T. Micklethwaite, F.S.A.

Prof. Baldwin Brown Roland Paul

Arthur S. Flower, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. Horace Round, M.A.

George E. Fox, M.A., F.S.A. Percy G. Stone, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

J. A. Gotch, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. Thackeray Turner

A special feature in connection with the Architecture will be a series of coloured ground
plans showing the architectural history of castles, cathedrals and other monastic foundations.
Plans of the most important country mansions will also be included.

The issue of this work is limited to subscribers only, whose names will be printed at the end of
each History.

THE

VICTORIA HISTORY

OF THE COUNTY OF

WORCESTER

VOLUME ONE

WESTMINSTER

2 WHITEHALL GARDENS

I9OI

County (Tommittee for Morcesterebire

THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF COVENTRY, P.C.

Lord Lieutenant, Chairman

J, W. Willis-Bund, Esq., F.S.A., F.L.S., Chairman of the Quarter Sessions and
County Council, Editor.

The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Portsmouth
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Camperdown
The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Cobham
The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Lifford
The Rt. Rev. The Lord Bishop of

Worcester
The Rt. Rev. The Lord Bishop of

Hereford
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Windsor
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Sandys
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Hampton
The Hon. George Higginson Allsopp,

M.P.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Temple,

Bart., P.C, G.C.S.L
Sir Richard Harington, Bart.
Sir Harry Foley Vernon, Bart.
Sir Thomas Lea, Bart., M.P.
Sir Benjamin Hingley, Bart.
Gen. Sir Charles C. Johnson, K.C.B.
The Very Rev. The Dean of Worcester
John Amphlett, Esq.
Isaac Averill, Esq.
Alfred Baldwin, Esq., M.P.
Ernest J. Bigwood, Esq.
R. W. Binns, Esq., F.S.A., F.R.H.S.
John Brinton, Esq.
Rev. J. R. Burton, F.G.S.
Austin Chamberlain, Esq., M.P.
Frederick Corbett, Esq.
Lieut.-Gen. H. F. Davies
Col. R. p. Decie
Dr. H. E. Dixey
Rev. E. R. Dowdeswell
Rev. R. R. Duke, F.S.A.
W. H. Edwards, Esq.

Rev. F. J. Eld, F.R.A.S.
T. Fitzroy Fenwick, Esq.
Edgar Flower, Esq.
Rev. J. K. Floyer, F.S.A.
G. W. Grosvenor, Esq.
Major William C. Hill
G. B. Hingley, Esq.
J. H. Hooper, Esq.
Rev. Hamilton Kingsford
Charles P. Lane, Esq.
G. E. Martin, Esq.
R. B. Martin, Esq., M.P.

J. T. MiDDLEMORE, EsQ., M.P.

Rev. John L. Moilliet

Frank S. Pearson, Esq.

Charles W. Dyson Perrins, Esq.

Rev. Canon A. S. Porter, F.S.A.

Rev. David Robertson

B. Robinson, Esq., M.P.

Samuel Southall, Esq.

Robert F. Tomes, Esq.

M. Tomkinson, Esq.

E. V. Wheeler, Esq.

Rev. J. BowsTEAD Wilson, F.S.A.

Robert Woodward, Esq.

Alfred W. Worthington, Esq., F.S.S.

Rev. Robert Wylde

The Worshipful The Mayor of Bewdley

The Worshipful The Mayor of Droit-
wich

The Worshipful The Mayor of Dudley

The Worshipful The Mayor of Evesham

The Worshipful The Mayor of Kidder-
minster

The Worshipful The Mayor of Worces-
ter

CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE

Dedication ......

The Advisory Council of the Victoria History
General Advertisement ....

The Worcestershire County Committee

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Natural History

Geology

Palaeontology ....
Botany . . . . .

Phanerogamia {Fbwenng plants) .

Musci {Mosses).

Hepaticas {Liverworts)

Lichenes {Lichens)

Alg*

Fungi

Climate . . . . .
Zoology

MoUusca {Snails, etc.) .

Insecta {Insects) . . . .

Introduction to Insecta .
Neuroptera {Dragon/lies) .
Trichoptera {Caddis-flies)
Hymenoptera, Aculeata {Bees) .

Hymenoptera, Phytophaga

{Satvflies, etc.) .

By H. B. Woodward, F.G.S

By Richard L. Lydekker, F.R.S., F.G.S., F.L.S.
Edited by John Amphlett, M.A., S.C.L.
By John Amphlett, M.A., S.C.L. .
By James E. Bagnall, A.L.S.

By Carleton Rea, M.A., B.C.L

By J. W. WiLLis-BuND, M.A., F.S.A. .

By B. B. Woodward, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.

Edited by J. E. Fletcher, F.E.S., and Carleton

Rea, M.A., B.C.L

By Carleton Rea, M.A., B.C.L

By J. E. Fletcher, F.E.S

By J. E. Fletcher, F.E.S., and Alfred H. Martoneau,
F.E.S

J. E. Fletcher, F.E.S.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE

Hymenoptera, Entomophaga .
Coleoptera {Beetles)
Lepidoptera {fiutterjiies and

Moths)

Arachnida {Spiders) .
Crustacea {Crabs, etc.)
Pisces {Fishes) .
Reptilia {Reptiles) and
Batrachia {Batracbians)
Aves {Birds) .
Mammalia {Mammals)
Early Man ....

Romano-British Remains .

Anglo-Saxon Remains

Introduction to the Worcestershire

Domesday
The Text of the Worcestershire

Domesday
Some Early Worcestershire Surveys
Index to the Domesday Survey

By J. E. Fletcher, F.E.S.

By Carleton Rea, M.A., B.C.L., and J. E. Fletche

F.E.S

By F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A.

By the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, M.A., F.R.S., :

By J. W. Willis-Bund, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S.

By R. F. Tomes, F.G.S., Corr. Mem. Z.S.

By B. C. A. WiNDLE, M.D., F.R.S., and

Willis-Bund, M.A., F.S.A. .
By F. Haverfield, M.A., F.S.A. .
By Reginald A. Smith, B.A.

J. W.

By J. Horace Round, M.A.

PAGE

93
96

125
126

137

'39
171

179
199
223

282
324
332

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Worcester from the Severn. By William Hyde frontispiece

Sketch Map, Fig. A full-page plate, facing p. 182

Sketch Map, Fig. B , „ ,,184

Sketch Map, Fig. C „ ,,184

Plan, Fig. 1 185

Plan, Fig. 2 186

Plan, Fig. 3 full-page plate, facing p. 186

Plan, Fig. 4 188

Plan, Fig. 5 19°

Sketch Map, Fig. D full-page plate, facing p. 192

Perdeswell Torque „ „ » 196

Late Celtic Ornament 2°i

Roman Charm or Amulet 206

Fibulae, etc full-page plate, facing p. 206

Sketch Map of Droitwich 209

Restoration of a Mosaic Pavement found at Droitwich . . . coloured plate, facing p. 210

Fragment of Mosaic found at Droitwich full-page plate, facing p. 210

Pelvis found at Eckington 211

Anglo-Saxon Remains coloured plate facing p. 228

LIST OF MAPS

Geological Map facing p. i

Orographical Map . . . . . . . . . . . . • » 3'

Botanical Map ..33

Pre-Historical Map ..179

Roman Map 199

Anglo-Saxon Map ., 223

Domesday Map .,235

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

PREFACE

aim and scope of this work. The succeeding three volumes, although
containing certain general articles, will be mainly devoted to the history
of the parishes and manors of the county. A detailed consideration of
the work of past historians in this department, and of the methods and
achievement of the present undertaking, will more suitably find a place
in those volumes.

The editors desire to thank the members of the County Committee
and others who have in various ways assisted in the collection and
arrangement of materials. Particularly would they express their in-
debtedness to Mr. Edwards, the Curator of the Museum of the
Victoria Institute at Worcester.

A HISTORY OF
WORCESTERSHIRE

GEOLOGY"

THE records of the ancient history of the earth are written in the
various clays, sandstones, Hmestones, and other stony materials of
which its solid surface is composed. These are classified for
convenience into larger and smaller groups, according to their
order of position, and the fossilized remains of plants and animals which
they contain. Each group may comprise strata of very diverse mineral
character, but the larger divisions mark the chief life epochs of which
records more or less complete are preserved in all parts of the world,
while the smaller groups indicate the more local conditions of natural
history. Thus we refer to the Silurian period as one of the great epochs
of geological history, and to the Woolhope Limestone or Ledbury Shales
as one of the more or less local conditions in that great epoch.

Geological history is for the most part deciphered from ancient sea-
beds. The great oceans and the shallow seas are areas in which are ever
being deposited various accumulations of sand and shingle, mud or clay,
of shell, coral, or organic ooze. The land-surfaces are areas mainly of
waste, from which materials are carried away by streams and rivers, or
by the sea itself, to be spread over the ocean-bed along with remains of
plants and animals that may be carried out to sea, or which live and die
in the ocean. The chief areas of deposition on the land are along the
courses of rivers and in lakes.

In the course of ages all the land-areas would have been wasted
away had not disturbances, which have happened again and again,
brought old sea-beds or old lake-beds to the surface. There they have
been acted upon by rain, and rivers, and glaciers, and have been worn
down or eroded. Through subsequent depression, marine and sometimes
extensive lacustrine deposits have been spread over the eroded surfaces of
the older strata. This has occurred again and again in the area which
now forms Worcestershire, and it will be understood that the intervals
during which the strata were upheaved to form land are for the most
part breaks in geological time, locally unrepresented by strata.

Thus it is that while Worcestershire contains a most interesting and
varied series of geological records — records which date from the earliest
known geological times — yet there are great gaps unrepresented in the
county by any geological formation.

The following table shows the stratified formations and the igneous
rocks which appear at the surface in different parts of the county : —

* In the parts relating to the Lias and Rha:tic Beds the writer has had the advantage
of some MS. Notes prepared by Mr. R. F. Tomes, F.G.S., whose observations are duly-
acknowledged.

Period

Formation

Character of the strata

Approximate
thickness
in feet

Ailuvi

Silt, clay, peat, gravel ....

Pleisto-
cene

Valley Gravel and Brickearth
Glacial Drift

Gravel, sand and loam ....
Sand, gravel and stony clay . .

20 and more
up to 50

Jurassic

Great Oolite Series

Inferior Oolite Series ....

'Upper

Lias Middle

Lower

Limestone and clay

Mainly oolitic limestone, with clay,
sand and calcareous sandstone .

Clay and shale, with subordinate
limestone

Hard ferruginous limestone, sands
and shales

Clays and shales ; argillaceous lime-
stones

15 to 25
up to 180
100 to 120

250
950

Rhst

Keup
Bunte

Limestone, black shale, sandstone
and marl

Red and variegated marl and clay,
with sandstone

Red sandstone

Red and variegated sandstones, with
pebble-beds

Triassic

1^ Sandstone ....

30 to 55

700 to 1,000
200 to 400

250 to 900

Permian

Breccia, sandstone and marl, with
conglomerate

500 to 800

Car-
boniferous

Coal Measures

Sandstones and shales, with thin
beds of limestone, seams of coal,
fire-clay and ironstone

1,000

2,000

Old Red
Sandstone

Lower Old Red Sandstone .

Sandstone and marl, with bands of
cornstone

3,000 to
4,000

Silurian

Ludlow
Series

Wenlock
Series

Llandovery
Series

Ledbury Shales . .

Downton Sandstone
Upper Ludlow Shales
Aymestry Limestone
Lower Ludlow Shales
Wenlock Limestone
Wenlock Shales . .
Woolhope Limestone
Tarannon Shales .
May Hill Sandstone

Red and purple shales, marls and
sandstones

Yellow sandstones

Sandy shales and thin limestones .

Concretionary limestones . .

Sandy shales

Nodular limestones and shale . .

Sandy shales

Impure limestone

Purple shales

Grey and purple sandstone and
calcareous bands

300

100

200
40
750
280
600
150
350

600

Cambrian

Tremadoc "

and

Lingula

Flag Series

Malvern Shales . .

Hollybush and
Lickey Sandstone
and Quartzite

Grey and black shales ....

Green and brown sandstone and

quartzite

1,000

500

Archaean

Chiefly f Uriconian . .
Igneous and -!
Metamorphic 1 Malvernian .

Various volcanic rocks and some

flaggy and slaty beds
Gneiss and schists

unknown

Of various
ages

^ f Basalt, Dolerite,
Igneous Diabase, Andesite,
^°^^^ [ Diorite, Rhyolite

GEOLOGY

The county of Worcester consists for the most part of a wide
undulating plain of red Triassic marls and sandstones, and of grey Liassic
clays and limestones, overspread in places with sundry superficial gravels.
It is bordered on the west by the bold though somewhat tiny mountain
range of the Malverns, which rises to a height of 1,394 feet in the
Worcestershire Beacon, and extends northwards to the Abberley Hills,
which attain a height of 779 feet. On the north the county comprises
portions of the Forest of Wyre and South Staffordshire coalfields, while
towards the north-east there is again a remnant of a mountainous region
in the Lickey Hills, and in the older rocks of Dudley, which appear
from beneath coverings of the newer strata. Hence three great groups
of rocks are represented ; (i) the older rocks of Malvern, Abberley, the
Lickey and Dudley, together with the coalfields ; (2) the Red rocks and
Lias of the plains ; and (3) the superficial gravels. With the Lias we
may include the Oolitic series, which is represented on Bredon Hill and
in some isolated portions of Worcestershire in the northern Cotteswold
Hills.

It has been shown in recent papers by Prof T. T. Groom that
the Malvern Hills exhibit all the characteristic features of a folded moun-
tain range. There the older rocks have been disturbed and bent into
anticlinal folds, and these inverted and faulted have become ' thrust-
planes,' whereby older strata have in places been thrust or pushed over
newer rocks. In his opinion this ancient range first arose during late
Carboniferous times, and was much faulted and denuded before the
Permian and Triassic and succeeding deposits were spread over and
against it. Consequently there is a great break between the older rocks
and the ' New Red ' strata ^ which rest irregularly on any of them, fiUing
hollows in their worn surfaces. Along the ranges of the older rocks the
denuded anticHnes exhibit portions of formations the most ancient any-
where known. These, Archaean or Pre-Cambrian in age, occur on
Malvern, at Martley, and at Barnt Green in the Lower Lickey Hills,
and they truly form portions of what have been termed by Prof Bonney
' the Foundation-stones of the Earth's Crust.'

ARCHAEAN

The geology of the Malvern Hills has naturally attracted the atten-
tion of geologists. The earliest description of the hills was that of
Leonard Horner (181 1), and the next important account was that of
Murchison in his great work on 'The Silurian System' (1839). To John
Phillips, however, we are indebted for the earliest elaborate account of
this and adjoining tracts.^ Since then the researches of a Worcester man,
Dr. Harvey B. Holl,^ of the Rev. W. S. Symonds (formerly Rector of

^ This term is converiently applied to both Permian and Triassic rocks, as they consist
mainly of red strata.

* ' The Malvern Hills, compared with the Palaeozoic districts of Abberley,' etc., Mem.
Geol. Survey, vol. ii., pt. I, 1848 ; see also Geology of Oxford, etc., 1871, p. 58.

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxi. p. 72.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Pendock), of Dr. C. Callaway, Mr. F. Rutley, and Prof. T. T. Groom*
have most largely added to our knowledge.

The most ancient rocks of Malvern are those which form the main
ridge and consist of hornblendic gneiss, with numerous dykes of diorite.
So long ago as 1865 Dr. Holl suggested that the crystalline schists and
gneiss which had before been regarded as altered Cambrian rocks, were
of Pre-Cambrian age, while shortly afterwards the Rev. J. H. Timins
showed by chemical analyses that the rocks could not have resulted from
the metamorphosis of any known Cambrian rocks. These views are
now generally accepted. These ' Malvernian ' rocks form the nucleus
of the Malvern and Abberley range and they are faulted against or over-
lain unconformably by Cambrian, and again by Silurian rocks. The
whole group was subsequently bent into an anticline, which is faulted on
the east against the New Red rocks. Westwards the successive beds of
Silurian strata dip beneath the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire.

In 1880 Dr. Charles Callaway recognized on the eastern side of the
Herefordshire Beacon certain compact felspathic and brecciated rocks,
evidently of volcanic origin, and similar to those named ' Uriconian ' in
the Wrekin area. These, although newer than the Malvern gneiss, are
of very great antiquity. This volcanic series, as observed by Prof. Groom,
consists of rhyolites, andesites, basalts and tuffs, while the bedding has a
prevailing easterly dip. The junction with the Malvernian is nowhere
actually exposed, and at present it is 'impossible to determine whether this
junction is a fault or a surface upon which the Uriconian series was
originally deposited.' ^

Prof Lapworth has observed that the best localities for studying the
essential characters of the Malvern rocks are the quarries of the North
Hill and the Wych, and the eastern slopes of the hills between Malvern
Wells and the Herefordshire Beacon.*

The Archcean rocks thus consist to a large extent of crystalline schists,
for the most part highly altered or metamorphosed igneous materials, whose
precise method of formation cannot be told, at any rate at present. Be-
longing to the same Pre-Cambrian period there are also beds of volcanic grit
and shale, and in some parts of Britain sandstones not unlike Old Red
Sandstone. None but obscure traces of organic remains have been found in
any of these rocks, and then but rarely ; nor are they to be expected. In
the region with which we have now to deal, and in most other localities,
the rocks have undergone such pressure-metamorphism that the materials
of which they were originally composed have crystallized afresh. More-
over, the schistose structure produced by mechanical movements, the
twistings and foldings, the faults and thrust-planes, would tend to obliterate
any evidences of organic structure. In some cases the rocks have been
penetrated by intrusive igneous rocks prior to the latest great earth-

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Iv. p. 129, and vol. Ivi. p. 138. (References to other
workers are given in these papers.)

* Ib'id.^ vol. Ivi. p. 140.

^ Article 'Geology' in Handbook of Birmingham (Brit. Assoc.) 1886, p. 222.
4

GEOLOGY

movements, whereby the whole group has been modified. Hence in one
sense these Archaean rocks are a complex of many ages.

The Malvern rocks are notably dislocated and shattered. As Phillips
remarked in 1848, ' Brecciated rocks are abundant on the eastern face
of the Malvern Chain, as at North End, in the Wych road, on the east
side of the Raggedstone Hill, and round the east and north of Key's-end
[Chase End] Hill. They consist of slightly displaced portions of the
adjoining masses, or else appear to be only crushed parts of these masses,
crushed in situ by the force which displaced and broke the chain, as it is
on the line of the great fault, and in places where much movement may
be believed to have happened, that these rocks appear.' ^

Further attention was drawn to these brecciated rocks by Prof.
Hughes in 1887, and he then pointed out ' that we may in certain cases
have a conglomeratic-looking mass composed of rounded pieces of rock
differing in lithological character both from the matrix and from one
another, occurring along what looks like the strike of the rocks, and yet
may be able to make out that it is entirely a superinduced structure due
to brecciation in place and subsequent decomposition of the broken
rock.'^

Noteworthy springs occur at various points along the hill range, for
v/hile, as pointed out by Phillips, the surface of the hills is exceedingly
dry, and the rain sinks into the many fissures, it reappears 'in many springs
at or about the level where the steep slopes of the hills end and the
Malvern rocks are covered by the strata of the lower ground.' ^ Thus we
find St. Ann's Well on the eastern side of the Worcestershire Beacon, also
the Holy Well (Malvern Wells), between Great and Little Malvern.
Again, Walms Well issues on the western side of the Herefordshire
Beacon.

The hill-range is one of mixed woodland and pasture, the thin soil
varying much according to the nature of the rocks. The gneissic tracts
are for the most part grassy, and the steep slopes of the Worcestershire
Beacon are slippery indeed in hot, dry weather. The more prominent of
the heights naturally formed strongholds in ancient times, and we find
encampments that were used by Britons, Romans and Danes. Some of
the hills too have at various times proved useful as beacons. PhilHps
mentions that across the ridge between the Worcestershire Beacon, and
the Wych ' runs a sort of vein of mica, giving origin to the only even
supposed mine in the Malverns — but a gold mine ! ' Many years ago,
indeed, a shaft was sunk to raise the gold, which was thought to be present,
but no traces of the precious metal were found.*

The occurrence of Archsean rock near Martley has for some time
been recognized. The structure of the region is a complicated one, and
according to the observations of Prof Groom, the old rocks have appar-

' Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. ii., pt. i, p. 44.

^ Geol. Mag. for 1887, p. 502 ; see also Groom, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Iv. p. 151.
' Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. ii., pt. I, p. 16.
* C. Hastings, Nat. Hist. IVorcestershire, 1834, p. 89.
5

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

ently been thrust on to the Cambrian quartzite, and the overthrust series
has been subsequently folded along a north-and-south axis, together with
the Old Red Sandstone. He adds that the Coal Measures were subse-
quently deposited unconformably on the faulted and folded series, while
in later times the old rocks covered by the Trias were let down on the
eastern side. Thus ' we appear to have in this small area an epitome
of the history of the Malvern and Abberley Ranges.'^

Near Barnt Green Junction, towards the southern end of the Lickey
Hills, there is an inlier of ancient tuffs and volcanic grits ; rocks described
by Prof. Lapworth as probably deposited in water during a time of
contemporaneous igneous action. They comprise also green, grey and
purple, flaggy and micaceous shaly beds, penetrated by diorites. These
Barnt Green rocks are apparently overlain by the Cambrian Lickey quart-
zite, but, as Mr. Walcot Gibson remarks, 'the actual relations of the two
formations are not visible.' ^

CAMBRIAN

Practically speaking the Cambrian rocks are the oldest known fossil-
iferous strata, for the obscure records, at present found in earlier sediments,
simply indicate that life existed. In the Cambrian period, however, we
find evidence, not merely of fucoids, sponges, and worm-burrows, but of
bryozoa, brachiopods, mollusca, and notably of trilobites. The Cam-
brian rocks have proved to be locally divided into, —

M ,.,„,„ cuoi c / Grey Shales with Dictyonema sociale.
alvern Shales i m , cu i ■ u /-v/

(. hlack Shales with Olenus.

Hollybush Sandstone with conglomerate and quartzite at base.

The Hollybush Sandstone is a greenish, micaceous sandstone, occa-
sionally calcareous, and it contains at its base pebbles which have been
derived from Archaean rocks. Upon these it probably in some places rests
unconformably, although the junction, according to Prof. Groom, is
mainly a faulted one. It occurs in a highly inclined position at White-
leaved Oak, to the south of Raggedstone Hill (839 feet high), and along
the western borders of that hill and Midsummer Hill (937 feet). For
many years only obscure worm-tracks and fucoidal remains had been
found in the Hollybush Sandstone, but there have now been recorded
remains of the brachiopods, Kutorgina cingulata and Obolella salteri, and of
the pteropod Hyolithus. The pebbles in the Hollybush conglomerate
differ in character from any of the local Archxan rocks, and thus support
Prof Groom's view that the Malvern Hills did not form a coast-line in
Cambrian times.'

The Malvern Shales overlie the Hollybush Sandstone, and in the
lower (black) portion a number of trilobites occur, such as Peltura

^ Groom, Quart. Journ. Geol. Sac, vol. Ivi. p. 163 ; see also C. St. A. Coles, Geol. Mag.,
1898, p. 304 ; and Symonds, Records of the Rods, p. 38.

^ See Lapworth, Proc. Geol. Assoc., vol. xv. p. 328 ; and Gibson in Summary of Progress
of Geo/. Survey for 1897, p. 67.

' Rep. Brit. Assoc, for 1900.

GEOLOGY

(O/enus) scarabceoides and Agnostus pisiformis. In the higher (grey) shales,
on the borders of Chase End Hill, the Rev. W. S. Symonds first found
the characteristic ' hydroid zoophyte ' Dictyonema.

Prof. Lapworth in referring to the numerous intercalated igneous
rocks which occur both in the Hollybush Sandstone and Malvern Shales
remarks that the majority are certainly intrusive.^ Prof Groom remarks
that they include basalts and ophitic diabases, and were probably in-
truded in Ordovician times.

Much of the ground occupied by these Cambrian rocks is pasture
land.

The famous quartzite of the Lower Lickey, described in 1821 by
Buckland, is well seen at Bilberry Hill, and further north at Rubery,
where it is flanked by May Hill Sandstone. It has been compared with
the quartzite of Hartshill, near Nuneaton, and like that rock it is
extensively used for road-metal. According to Prof Lapworth, how-
ever, the Lickey quartzite represents only the lower and middle portions
of the Hartshill rock, the upper portion not being recognized at Lickey,
although represented at Malvern by the Hollybush Sandstone. The
only traces of fossils found in the Lickey rock are worm-burrows. The
sequence of events at Lickey, according to the observations of Mr. W.
Gibson, indicates that after the volcanic era of the Barnt Green rocks,
a long period may have intervened before the laying down of the
quartzite,

SILURIAN

Among the fossiliferous strata of Worcestershire none have proved
more attractive than the Silurian, whether at Malvern or Dudley. The
collections formed by the late Dr. R. B. Grindrod (of Townshend
House, Malvern), and by the late John Gray (of Hagley), were remark-
ably rich, and many other important sets of fossils have been gathered
together.

The rocks appear in broken anticlinal ridges at the Lickey Hills
and Dudley, and again along the Malvern and Abberley ranges, but
they do not occupy a large superficial area in the county. A great
break separates them from the Cambrian, for we have no representatives
in place of any of the Ordovician (or Lower Silurian) strata.

The oldest subdivision known as the May Hill (or Upper Llan-
dovery) Sandstone consists at Malvern of purple and grey grits and
brown sandstones, some of them calcareous, some pebbly. Evidently
a shore deposit, the May Hill Sandstone appears to rest indifferently
on the older rocks whether Archaean or Cambrian, but we have to be
cautious as Prof Groom remarks in distinguishing between the normal
overspread of the newer formation, and the displacements due to sub-
sequent earth-movements.

Among the fossils of the May Hill Sandstone are Pentamerus

* Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. p. 338 ; Groom, Rep. Brit. Assoc, 1 900.
7

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

oblongus, Stricklandinia lens, Orthis calligramma, Atrypa reticularis, Lingula
parallela, Ctenodonta, Encrinurus punctatus, etc.

Prof. Groom remarks that the May Hill beds on the north of
Midsummer Hill are separated from the gneissic series by a well-marked
band of hard Cambrian conglomerate and quartzite, which he terms the
Hollybush Conglomerate and Quartzite.^ Further north the May Hill
beds occur at Swinyard Hill, south of the Herefordshire Beacon. Over-
lying them at Malvern the Rev. W, S. Symonds observed a group of
grey and purple shales, ' Woolhope Shales,' about 350 feet thick, which
probably represent the Tarannon Shales of Montgomeryshire.

In the Lickey Hills, as at Malvern, a long period elapsed after the
deposition of the Cambrian quartzite, ' of which no record remains in
the form of sediments, but during some portion of which the quartzite
and Barnt Green rock were compressed and folded by earth-movements,'
followed by faulting. Slow subsidence set in when the May Hill or
Upper Llandovery grits and Wenlock Shales were laid down.^ Here the
May Hill beds, which occur at Rubery, consist of coarse reddish sand-
stone with casts of Pentamerus and other fossils, and they are overlaid
by the Lower Wenlock shales and flags, including a band of limestone
from which Mr. W. Wickham King obtained a number of fossils.
These indicate a local representative of the Woolhope Limestone.^

The Woolhope Limestone which takes its name from Woolhope,
near Hereford, comprises impure and nodular limestone and shale. It
occurs at North Malvern and has been well exposed near the Wych.
Many trilobites of the genera Illcenus, Phacops, Acidaspis, Encriiiurus
and Calymene occur, and fine specimens were obtained during the ex-
cavation of the Malvern and Ledbury tunnels.

In the region near Dudley the rock is known as the Barr Lime-
stone, from Great Barr near Walsall, a locality from which the charac-
teristic trilobite, Illcenus barriensis, was first brought into notice.

The Wenlock Shales consist mainly of soft grey shales, but they
contain thin nodular layers of limestone. As a rule they are highly
fossiliferous and yield the corals, Favosites gothlandica and Heliolites inter-
stincta ; the brachiopods, Orthis elegantula, Strophotyiena rhomboidalis and
Atrypa reticularis ; and the trilobites, Phacops caudatus, Encrinurus
punctatus, etc. Many examples were obtained from near the mouth of
the Malvern and Ledbury tunnels, where, as observed by Prof. Groom,
the shales are faulted against the Old Red Sandstone.* The shales are
usually exposed on the slopes and borders of the valleys.

The Wenlock Limestone is a more or less concretionary limestone,
and it contains large nodules of carbonate of lime. It is in many places
exceedingly fossiliferous, as in the quarries at Colwall Coppice and the
Winnings near Malvern, and in other exposures on Watts Hill and near

' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Iv. p. 139.

W. Gibson, Summary of Progress of Geological Survey for 1897, p. 69.
^ Lapworth, Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. p. 357.
* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Ivi. p. 147.

GEOLOGY

Martley. It yields corals, such as Halysites catenularia, and Favosites
gothlandica ; crinoids ; the brachiopods, Strophomena depressa and iS".
euglypha ; also the pteropod, Conularia. Among trilobites, Calymene
blumenbachi, Phacops caudatus and P. doisoningice (the last named generally
curled up) are characteristic forms.

Referring to the interesting exposures of the strata at Dudley Castle
and the Wren's Nest, Prof Lapworth remarks that ' the Silurian limestone
rises up in steep dome-like forms. This limestone, which is that of
the Wenlock [Dudley Limestone] of Siluria, is here composed of two
calcareous bands — the higher about 28 feet in thickness, and the lower
about 42 feet — separated from each other by an intermediate zone of
about 90 feet of grey shales. The limestone has been worked for
centuries as a flux for the ironstones of the [South Staffordshire] coal-
field. The hills have been mined to a great depth, and all the best
limestone rock extracted. The intervening and enveloping shales have
been allowed to remain, and the present structure of the hills is that of
a central dome surrounded by two enveloping shells separated from each
other by two more or less empty spaces. Where the dip of the rock
is higher, and these excavated parts are exposed, they form deep moat-
like hollows bounded by walls of shale. Where the dip is low, and the
overhanging rocks are supported by the vast pillars left by the workmen,
these excavations form magnificent caverns of peculiar weirdness and
beauty. In the heart of the hill at greater depths they form damp
gloomy chasms of enormous extent, which can only be seen to perfec-
tion when lit up by artificial light.' ^

At one time fine slabs of limestone with beautiful weathered-out
examples of trilobites and crinoids, brachiopods and corals, were
obtainable from the Wren's Nest.

The Wenlock Limestone passes upwards into the Lower Ludlow
Beds, which consist for the most part of grey shales. Here remains
have been found of the oldest known fish, Scaphaspis ; also cephalopods,
such as Orthoceras and Lituites ; starfishes, graptolites, etc.

The Aymestry Limestone, which takes its name from a village
north-west of Leominster, is a blue and grey concretionary limestone
of somewhat inconstant character. It is characterized by such fossils as
Pentamerus kntghti and P. galeatus^ Lingula, Cardiola, etc. The rock
has been exposed at Hales End quarry, Malvern, and is represented
also at Abberley.

The Aymestry Limestone passes up into the Upper Ludlow Beds.
These comprise shales with calcareous bands and thin-bedded sandstones.
They yield brachiopods such as Chonetes lata and Discina ; also Serpuhtes,
trilobites and other fossils. The strata are capped in places by a thin
layer known as the Ludlow bone-bed, which contains coproUtes, minute
scales and fin-rays, and other remains of fishes, including Onchus, Scaphas-
pis, etc. ; also remains of the Crustacea Eurypterus, Pterygotus, etc.

* Article 'Geology' in Handbook of Birmingham (Brit. Assoc), 1886, p. 229.
9

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

The Downton Sandstones are yellow and grey sandstones which
are quarried in places for building purposes. They yield Lingula cornea,
and also remains of fishes and Crustacea as in the Upper Ludlow rocks.

From the Upper Ludlow Beds to the Old Red Sandstone the series,
which includes in ascending order the Downton Sandstones and Ledbury
Shales, is a transitional one, and the strata are often spoken of as ' Passage
Beds.' The Ledbury Shales comprise red and mottled marls and sandy
beds, as well as shales, and they were well exposed in the Ledbury
tunnel on the Worcester and Hereford railway. Together with
equivalent Tilestones, they were grouped by the Rev. W. S. Symonds
with the Silurian, as they contain fossils which for the most part have
Silurian affinities, although the fishes serve to connect them with the
Old Red Sandstone. Certain gritty beds yielded Auchenaspis salteri, while
from the Tilestones of Trimpley, near Bewdley, many fossils have been
obtained, such as Pterygotus, Cephalaspis, Auchenaspis, etc.^ It is in-
teresting to notice that the Silurian passage-beds have been proved in a
boring near Halesowen.^

In Silurian times we have evidence of conditions that were entirely
marine, and generally those of warm regions. We have distinct evi-
dence of old coral-growths, and in the later deposits we find the earliest
traces of land-plants and also of fishes. Among the newer strata also
shallower water conditions prevailed ; and we pass in the Worcester-
shire region gradually from marine into what are regarded as the con-
tinental conditions of the Old Red period.

OLD RED SANDSTONE

The Old Red Sandstone, to which especial charm is attached
through the writings of Hugh Miller, tells of huge lakes tenanted
by curious fishes and still stranger Crustacea.

The Rev. W. S. Symonds questioned whether the formation was
laid down in freshwater areas, because some of the characteristic genera,
both of fishes and Crustacea, occur in association with marine forms in
the later Silurian strata.^ Be this as it may, the region was probably a
subsiding one, as the higher beds of the Old Red Sandstone extend over
a wider tract than do the lower portions. In the Worcestershire area
we have, however, to deal only with the Lower Old Red Sandstone ;
and it may be observed that a considerable portion of the formation is
composed of red and mottled marls, resembling many beds in the
Permian and Triassic or ' New Red Sandstone ' series, and that
such coloured strata are usually associated with freshwater or estuarine
conditions.

Notwithstanding all that has been written about its organic
remains, the Old Red Sandstone is not a very fossiliferous formation.

* Symonds, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xvii. p. 152 ; Murchison, Silurla ; and G. E.
Roberts, Geologist, vol. ii. p. 1 17.

^ Lapworth, Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. p. 354.

' See also E. Ray Lankester, Geol. Mag., vol. vii. p. 399.

GEOLOGY

It is only in certain localities and at certain horizons that fossils have
been obtained in abundance.

The Lower Old Red Sandstone comprises red marls and sandstones,
and beds of impure concretionary and unfossiHferous limestone, known
as cornstones ; and it has yielded remains of Pteraspis and Cephalaspis
among fishes ; also Pterygotus and Stylonurus among Crustacea.

The rocks are exposed along the western side of the Malvern range,
and along the borders of the Teme at Tenbury. At Cradley, west of
Malvern, the sandstones have been quarried for building-stone.

The soil is variable, but much of it is a fertile loam suitable for
hop-gardens and orchards. East of Tenbury there are masses of tufa or
travertin derived from the cornstones of the Old Red Sandstone, and
which have been accumulated in narrow dells at the Southstone Rock
and near Spouthouse Farm.^

The Lower Old Red Sandstone, as previously remarked, is quite
conformable with the Silurian. The earth-movements affected both
formations ; but Prof Groom is of opinion that the Malvern range
arose later on between the Middle and Upper Coal Measures.^ Near
Bewdley, in the Trimpley anticline which may be regarded as a nor-
therly prolongation of the Malvern-Abberley range, the Old Red Sand-
stone has been folded and probably to some extent thrust over the Coal
Measures. According to Mr. T, C. Cantrill the movement advanced
from the south-east, and was effected apparently during the period of the
Upper Coal Measures.^

The Upper Old Red Sandstone, which contains beds of quartzose
conglomerate as well as sandstone, is not exposed in our district.

COAL MEASURES

Portions of the Forest of Wyre coalfield are included in Worces-
tershire, and they comprise a wooded tract extending westwards from
Bewdley and southwards towards the Abberley Hills.

The formation is made up of a series of sandstones, grits and shales,
with bands of Spirorbis-\in\fiionQ and a few seams of coal and ironstone.
The beds rest irregularly on the Old Red Sandstone, and attain a thick-
ness of from 200 to about 1,700 feet. The strata are much disturbed,
and they are locally altered by the intrusion of a sill or dyke of fine-
grained basalt, an igneous rock which forms a ridge at Shatterford, and
occurs for some distance in the country east of Upper Arley.

The coal-seams are thin, sulphurous, and of poor quality in the
Worcestershire region, where the beds belong mainly to the Upper Coal
Measures, but they have been worked at Pensax, Abberley, Mamble,
Arley Wood and Shatterford. A boring near Dowles Brook was carried

* Murchison, Proc. Geol. Soc, vol. ii. p. 78.
' Quart. 'Journ, Geol. Soc, vols. Iv. p. 157, Ivi. p. 165.

' ' A Contribution to the Geology of the Wyre Forest Coalfield,' 8vo, Kidderminster,
1895, pp. 13, 16, 36.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

to a depth of 1,200 feet with unsatisfactory results : salt water filled the
bore-hole. Another boring at Arley Colliery, near Bewdley, was carried
to a depth of 1,350 feet, and then reached a basaltic rock like that of
Shatterford.'

Sections of the sandstones and shales are exposed on the banks of
the Severn between Bewdley and Upper Arley. At Shatterford the
basalt dyke is quarried for road-metal, while some of the sandstones
furnish good building-stone.

Attention was first called by E, W. Binney to the occurrence of
%ror(^/j-limestone : this comprises thin grey, black and brown lime-
stones, which contain the Annelide Spirorhis pusillus.

In the sandstones, and more particularly in the shales, remains of
ferns, also Stigmaria, Calamites, and fish-remains occur.

Exposures of Upper Coal Measures occur on either side of Rubery
Hill in the Lower Lickey, resting on the Cambrian quartzite and Silu-
rian rocks, but they are not of particular economic importance. In this
region strata of the age of the Coal Measures probably occur over a
larger area than is shown on the map, as certain so-called Permian strata,
are now recognized as Coal Measures.^

Portions of the South Staffordshire coalfield, the ' Black Country,'
occur in the county of Worcester, between Dudley, Halesowen and
Stourbridge. Here the general sub-divisions are thus noted by Prof
Lapworth :^ —

( Red and grey shales and sandstones with 'n Feet.

Upper J S/i/V«r^if-limestone . . . . ( ^

Coal Measures J Halesowen Sandstones . . . '' '

Red clays with sandstone and conglomerate
Lower f Grey and white sandstones, clays, shales,

Coal Measures (. and beds of coal and ironstone

500 to 1,050

Of special interest is the great Ten-yard seam or Thick coal, which
in the southern part of the coalfield is made up of about fourteen seams
of coal, elsewhere parted by unproductive strata, and attaining 500 or
600 feet in total thickness.

Some dykes and sills of igneous rock (dolerite) occur in the Coal
Measures near Dudley, as at Rowley Regis, but these are rather outside
the boundaries of the county.

In this important coalfield, as in the case of the Forest of Wyre, the
Coal Measures rest in part directly on Old Red Sandstone, and in part
on the Silurian rocks. Prior to the general disturbance of the strata and
the production of the anticline of Dudley, the Coal Measures rested in
places on the tilted and worn surface of the Silurian, and, as remarked by

' See D. Jones, Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc., vol. x. p. 37 ; Geol. Mag. for 1 87 1, p.
200, for 1873, p. 350 ; and Trans. Fed. Inst. Mining Eng., vol. vii. p. 287 ; G. E. Roberts,
Geologist, vol. iv. pp. 421, 468 ; T. C. Cantrill, ' Geol. Wyre Forest,' »/>. cit., and Co//. Guard.,
vol. Ixxi. (1896) p. 351 ; Symonds, Records of the Rocks, p. 385.

^ See W. Gibson in Summary of Progress of Geo/ogica/ Survey for 1898, p. 124.

^ Proc. Geo/. Assoc, vol. xv. p. 366 ; see also J. B. Jukes, 'The South Staffordshire Coal-
field,' Mem. Geo/. Survey, ed. 2, 1859.

GEOLOGY

Jukes, the unconformity was distinct, although the discordance was not
very striking.

Of especial importance in the region is the Fire-clay, mined at
King's Swinford and Old Swinford, near Stourbridge, for the manufacture
of fire-bricks, saggers, crucibles, etc. Fire-clay is one of the kinds of
impure clay in the Coal Measures, and is usually regarded as an ancient
exhausted soil. The clay, in consequence, will bear intense heat without
melting, because of the small amount of lime, protoxide of iron and
alkalies contained in it.^

Many plant-remains have been obtained in the South Staffordshire
coalfield from the shaly beds, notably giant club-mosses {Lepidodendron
and Sigillaria), horse-tails {Calamites), and sundry ferns. Freshwater or
estuarine mollusca such as Anthracosia also occur ; and there are marine
fossils, such as Aviculopecten, Lingula, etc., as well as fishes, such as
Megalichthys, which have been found in some of the ironstone bands
belonging to the Lower Coal Measures.

PERMIAN

Throughout the greater part of the country there is a marked break
between the Coal Measures and the succeeding deposits of Red rocks,
the lowest portion of which is grouped as Permian. This unconformity
is conspicuous along the eastern side of the exposed coal-fields of Derby-
shire, Yorkshire and Durham. In the Dudley district we find that the
so-called Permian rocks are nowhere distinctly unconformable to the
Coal Measures, and at one time they generally overspread the area.

The Permian is divided into : —

Feet.
Upper Sandstones and marls (local) ..... 300

Breccia, sandstones and marls, with beds of calcareous \

conglomerate | 200 to 500

Lower Sandstones and marls 500 to 850

The mass of the Lower Sandstones and marls and some higher beds
have in recent years been proved to contain not only occasional layers of
limestone with Spirorbis, but also thin coal-seams. They evidently con-
stitute a portion of the Upper Coal Measures. Mr. T. C. Cantrill
indeed is inclined to regard the whole series up to the Upper Sandstones
and marls, a series which may be 1,500 feet thick, as belonging to the
Upper Coal Measures.^

The breccia of the Clent Hills, which is reckoned to be about 450
feet thick, forms a bold range of hills rising to a height of 1,028 feet.
The breccia is overlaid by the Bunter pebble-beds and the range extends
by Romsley to Bromsgrove Lickey, which is about 900 feet high. At
Northfield the strata are well exposed.

* See Analysis in Percy's Metallurgy, vol. i. p. 98.

2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. li. pp. 530-533, and Coll. Guard., vol. Ixxiii. (1897) p.
581 ; see also W. W. King, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. Iv. p. 97.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Phillips, in describing the Malvern and Abberley region, gave to
the breccia the name Haffield Conglomerate, from the locaHty west of
Bromesberrow and south of Ledbury, where the rock is well exposed.
It occurs at Warshill Camp, west of Kidderminster, Stagbury Hill, west
of Stourport, at Abberley Hill, Woodbury Hill, near Knightsford
Bridge, at Alfrick and Howlers Heath at the southern end of the Mal-
vern range. In this region it rests partly against Silurian and older rocks,
partly on Coal Measures, but everywhere unconformably. Elsewhere in
places it is underlain by red marls and sandstones, and overlain with
apparent conformity by the upper Permian Marls and the Bunter Sand-
stone and pebble-beds.

Geologically, the greatest interest attaches to the breccia. It was
originally termed ' Trappoid Breccia,' because the included fragments
are mostly igneous rocks. It comprises a red and purplish marly matrix
with angular and sub-angular blocks up to 2 feet in diameter, mainly
of volcanic grits and lavas, with also quartzite, sandstone and hmestone.

Ramsay in 1855 expressed the opinion that the Permian breccias
of the Bromsgrove Lickey and Clent Hills were the morainic matter of
glaciers scattered in the Permian sea by icebergs.^

Jukes at the time hesitated to accept this view, believing that the
fragments might have been derived from adjacent rocks now concealed
under the red rocks of the neighbourhood ^ ; so likewise did the Rev,
W. S. Symonds.^ Their views are supported nowadays. By Mr. W.
Wickham King and Mr. R. D. Oldham* the breccias are considered to
have been derived from scree-material and the stones to have been more
or less rolled by streams and torrents which bore them away from the hill
slopes. Whether part of the talus was of glacial origin, or whether the
striae found on the stones were produced during the slipping of scree-
material, or were derived from ancient slickensided surfaces may be
questioned. We need not, however, restrict our explanations to one
mode of action.

It is held by Prof Groom and others that the fragments were not
mainly derived from the old rocks of Malvern and Abberley, nor were
the strata deposited against a shore line of those hills. Land may have
existed east of the Malverns and the talus may thence have been derived.
Prof. Lapworth states that the prevalent rock-fragments resemble the old
Uriconian volcanic series, representatives of which occur at Barnt Green
and on the Herefordshire Beacon.^ Other fragments may have come from
the Lickey quartzite and the May Hill Sandstone.

In the calcareous conglomerates, which were formed somewhat
earlier than the breccias, there are many limestone pebbles derived from
Carboniferous and Silurian rocks.

* Quart. "Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xi. p. 186.

* 'The South Staffordshire Coal-field,' Mem. Geol. Survey, ed. 2, 1859, p. 15.
^ Records of the Rods, p. 409.

* King, Midland Nat., vol. xvi. p. 25 ; Quart. 'Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. Iv. p. 97 ; and
R. D. Oldham, ibid. vol. 1. p. 470.

^ Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. p. 373.

GEOLOGY

In the opinion of Phillips, the movement affecting the relations of
the Malvern ridge and adjacent New Red rocks was not completed until
after the deposition of much of the New Red series. He saw marks of
movement like ' the scratchings and smoothings of glaciers ' on some of
the North Malvern rocks and on the stones of the Haffield Conglomerate^ ;
and it may be noted that the great fault which was traced along the
eastern margin of Malvern by Mr. H. H. Howell is evidently one of a
date subsequent to the Lias.

In the region of the Lickey Hills, Mr. Walcot Gibson found evi-
dence of earth-movements older than the Trias, and later than the Coal
Measures.

TRIAS

The Triassic beds have been divided as follows : —

Rhaetic.

^ J Red and variegated marl, with bands of sandstone.

" \ White and brown sandstone, with calcareous conglomerate at base.

r" Upper brick-red and mottled sandstone.
Bunter ^ Pebble-beds.

(^ Lower brick-red and mottled sandstone.

Of these rocks the Keuper and Bunter occur over a large area in
Worcestershire.

The Bunter Sandstones are usually soft and unsuitable for building-
stone ; they are fine-grained, false-bedded sandstones, brick-red in colour,
but mottled with yellow or white. Some of the lower beds are locally
hardened by carbonate of lime, and they stand out in rocky form at Kin-
ver Edge, west of Stourbridge, just beyond the confines of the county.
The lower beds appear at Wribbenhall, and the upper beds extend from
Stourport by Churchill to Stourbridge, and again from near Hagley to
Blackwell, on the north of Bromsgrove.

The Pebble-beds, which form a middle division in the series, com-
prise for the most part a mass of brown and liver-coloured quartzites.
The beds form an escarpment in the area from Bewdley to the west of
Kidderminster and Blakeshall north of Wolverley ; and they occur south
of the Clent and Lickey Hills. The soil as a rule is light and sterile.

Fossils of Ordovician (Lower Silurian) age have been found in the
pebbles. One form is Orfiis budleighensis, which occurs also in the
quartzites of the Triassic pebble-bed of Budleigh Salterton, in Devonshire.
There is evidently a variety of stones in the Bunter beds. Some appar-
ently are of May Hill Sandstone, some are Devonian, and some may be-
long to the Lickey and Hartshill quartzites. The locality whence they
have been mainly derived and their method of formation are questions
concerning which there is great diversity of opinion.^

^ Pamphlet on The Geology of the Malvern Hills, 8vo (Worcester), 1855, p. 13.
* See Lapworth, Proc. Geol. Jssoc, vol. xv. p. 382 ; and T. G. Bonney, Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc, vol. Ivi. p. 299.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

On the whole the Bunter beds rest unconformably on all the rocks
below them, less conspicuously so on the Permian, the discordance be-
tween these not being of very pronounced character, although in places
the Permian was no doubt uplifted and denuded prior to or during
the Bunter period. There is no evidence, according to Prof Groom,
that the Malvern and Abberley ranges ever formed the margin of Triassic
waters ; but it is maintained by Mr. Gibson that in the Lickey region
the older rocks then formed a ridge around which the red rocks were
accumulated.^

The Bunter Sandstone occurs over a considerable area at and near
Stourport, Kidderminster and Stourbridge, and also to the south of the
Clent Hills.

The Keuper Sandstone, which is largely quarried as a building-
stone, forms an escarpment above the softer Bunter Sandstones, due as
observed by Mr. T. C. Cantrill to its greater power of resisting denu-
dation.^ He describes the lower part as a coarse, thick-bedded, reddish-
brown sandstone, with occasional quartz pebbles and hard calcareous
bands. It is generally conformable to the Bunter, and occurs over a
large area at Bromesberrow south of the Malvern range, and again near
Martley, Ombersley, and east of Stourport to Hagley and Clent, and
around Bromsgrove.

Remains of the fish Dipteronotus have been recorded from the Lower
Keuper Sandstone of Bromsgrove, and elsewhere remains of the amphi-
bian Labyrinthodon. Other fish-remains, plant-remains, and Estheria
minuta have been discovered. Fossils, however, are exceedingly rare.

Both the Bunter and Keuper Sandstones, as well as the Bunter
Pebble-beds, are water-bearing strata, and considerable supplies are
usually obtainable from them. The ground in general is light and dry
at the surface, and the scenery is pleasantly diversified with woodland
and pasture, orchard and ploughed land. As a residential district it is
much to be preferred to the area of the red marls.

The Keuper Marls form an undulating plain, for the most part
under cultivation, of meadow and pasture lands, orchards and ploughed
fields. The village of Redmarley d'Abitot, which is partly on Old Red
Sandstone and partly on Keuper Marl, evidently takes its name from the
nature of the soil. The Keuper Marl extends along the eastern side of
Malvern over Malvern Chase and the country near Upton-on-Severn,
Kempsey, Worcester and Droitwich, to Redditch and Moseley near Bir-
mingham. The strata consist of red and variegated marls or clays,
analysis showing but a small proportion of carbonate of lime.*

Occasional and impersistent bands of sandstone occur in the marls,
as at Longdon, Eldersfield and Inkberrow, and these are of sufficient im-
portance to be quarried in places. Scattered over the surface of the vale
of the Severn are numerous patches of gravel and sand, and these yield

* Summary of Progress of Geological Survey io\ 1898, p. 125.

* Geol. Mag. for 1895, p. 265.

' G. Maw, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxiv. p. 371.
16

GEOLOGY

the local supplies of water to the villages and farm-houses, sources
which are liable to pollution in populous places through surface con-
tamination.

Pseudomorphous crystals of rock salt have been occasionally found
in the Keuper Sandstones, while in the Keuper Marls the presence of
rock salt is indicated by the occurrence of brine springs.

These springs in Worcestershire have been known since the Roman
occupation, but the deeper-seated and stronger springs were not proved
until much later, that of Droitwich in 1725, and Stoke Prior in 1829.
At Stoke Prior a shaft was sunk and a small amount of rock salt obtained ;
subsequently a boring was carried to a considerable depth. At Droit-
wich a shaft has been sunk 80 feet and a boring carried to a total depth
of 210 feet through soil, drift, red marl and gypsum, and red marl with
rock salt. Here as at Stoke Prior the deeper borings now extend to
about 1,000 feet. At both localities the brine is copious, and when not
kept down by pumping, it rises to the surface. At Droitwich the town
and neighbourhood have been affected by the pumping from the brine-
pits, and subsidences have occurred through the loss of material under-
ground.'

H. E. Strickland in 1842 drew attention to some old salt works on
DefFord Common, mentioning that seventy years previously (about
1770) a shaft was sunk to a depth of 175 feet, and that brine then over-
flowed. The lowest bed penetrated was the grey marl of the Triassic
series, which occurs on top of the red marl.^ Saline water has been
encountered at Aberton, north-east of Pershore, the village being situated
on a faulted junction between the Red Marl and Lower Lias. A salt
well to the south of Dudley, known as Lady Wood Saline Spa, is situ-
ated on the Coal Measures.

The red marls and sandstones were deposited in desert regions with
inland salt lakes, the area being subject to wet and dry seasons ; in the
former the clayey or marly sediments were laid down, in the latter the
rock salt was precipitated.^ It is not unlikely that some of the sandy
Triassic layers were drifted by winds, especially those which are re-
markably false-bedded.

On top of the Keuper Marls we find a series of passage-beds which
connect the Triassic with the Liassic formations. These are the Rhatic
Beds, so named from the Rhstian Alps in the Tyrol, and they indicate
the incoming of marine conditions, perhaps locally in the form of a large
inland sea like the Caspian.

The Rhsetic Beds occur in the outliers south of Upton-on-Severn,
and at Bushley on the right bank of the Severn.

Their main outcrop lies on the left bank of the Severn from Hill
Crome northwards to Norton near Worcester, and Dunhampstead, where
the beds are shifted by faults. They occur also north and west of

* J. Dickinson, Report on Landslips in Salt Districts, 1873.

* Proc. Geol. Soc, vol. iii. p. 732.

' See T. Ward, Trans. Manchester Geol. Soc, vol. xviii. p. 396.
I 17 C

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Evesham and near Cleeve Prior, as well as in outlying portions of the
county further east.

The general sequence of the strata is as follows : —

/■ Thin limestone and shale.

I Black shales with pyrites and bands of white or brown micaceous
Rhstic ] sandstone, which locally become thicker at or near the base ; with

Pullastra arenicoloy PccUn valoniensis, about 20 feet.

I Grey or green marls, 20 to 35 feet.
Keuper. Red and variegated marl.

The occurrence of the ' Bristol Bone Bed ' in the shaft previously
mentioned at DetFord was noticed by Strickland ^ ; and specimens indi-
cating its occurrence were found in a well-sinking at Hoblench.

This Bone bed is well seen at Aust Cliff on the Severn shores in
Gloucestershire, where it yields bones of saurians and teeth of Gyrolepis^
Acrodus^ Ceratodus, and other fishes.

The best sections that have been observed in Worcestershire are
those at Bushley and the railway-cutting at Dunhampstead, described by
Strickland, while further interesting details of Dunhampstead have been
noted by Mr. W. J. Harrison.^ Sections of Rh^tic beds, near Church
Lench, Wood Norton, Cleeve Prior and South Littleton, have also been
observed by Mr. R. F. Tomes.

The uppermost beds and their junction with the Lower Lias were
exhibited at Croome d'Abitot,^ and also at Churchill Wood, near
Spetchley, as noted by Mr. Harrison. The fossils which mostly occur
in the black shales, include the characteristic Avicula contorta, also Car-
dium rhceticum and Fecten valoniensis.

In the upper beds Ostrea liassica, Modiola minima., Monotis decussata
and Estheria minuta var. brodieana have been met with. Locally in
eastern Worcestershire the highest bed is a more or less nodular lime-
stone containing the variety of Estheria minuta., and in the Estheria bed
at Garden Cliff, Westbury-on-Severn, the writer has noticed arborescent
markings akin to those of the Landscape or Cotham Marble.

The upper layers of the Rhastic beds, and sometimes the lowest
beds of the Lias, have in places yielded remains of insects, and the term
' Insect Limestones ' was applied to them by the Rev. P, B. Brodie.*

In the outlying portion of Worcestershire which extends north-
wards from Shipston-on-Stour, beds of White Lias locally form the
upper part of the Rhstic formation. They occur at Armscot and New-
bold Fields near Alderminster, at Whitchurch and Lower Eatington,
where according to Mr. Tomes they have been quarried for building-
purposes, road-metal, and lime-burning.

Whether the grey or green marls that lie on top of the red and
variegated Keuper Marls should be regarded as Keuper or Rhstic, is

' Proc. Geo}. Soc, vol. iii. pp. 314, 586 ; Trans. Geo/. Sac, ser. 2, vol. vi. p. 551.
2 Pro:. Dudley Geol. Sec, vol. iii. p. 1 1 5.

' H. B. Woodward, ' Lias of England and Wales,' Geol. Survey, p. 147.
* /f History of the Fossil Insects, pp. 56, etc., 1845.
18

GEOLOGY

one of those vexed questions that is really of little consequence. There
is not the least doubt that the Rhsetic Beds are passage-beds between
the Trias and Lias, but they are generally grouped in this country, as
abroad, with the Trias. Curiously enough there is evidence in the
vicinity of Bridgend in South Wales of red marly beds on the horizon
of the black Rhstic shales, showing that conditions similar to those
which attended the deposition of the Keuper Marls locally occurred in
Rhstic times. This fact has lately been brought into notice by Mr.
R. H. Tiddeman.

It is worthy of remark that while beds of White Lias occur near
Shipston-on-Stour, as they do at Bath and towards the Mendips, they
are nevertheless absent or poorly represented over great part of Gloucester-
shire and South Worcestershire. A peculiar layer, called the ' Guinea
Bed,' has been observed by Mr. Tomes in Warwickshire,^ and this
contains an admixture of Lower Lias with Rhsetic fossils. It is not im-
probable, therefore, that there was locally an irregular overlap of the
Rhxtic Beds, accompanied by reconstruction of some layers, during
the changing conditions which ushered in the Lower Lias.^

LIAS AND OOLITES

Following the Rhstic Beds we have the three divisions of the
Lias.

A considerable portion of Worcestershire is occupied by the Lower
Lias, which consists of a group of argillaceous limestones, overlain by
a thick mass of blue and grey clays with only occasional bands of
limestone. The basement limestones are exposed along the scarps
from Strensham, Hill Croome, Croome d'Abitot, to Stoulton and Hanbury,
east of Droitwich, and they extend near the surface over the northern
portions of the Lias area in the county, and again at Hasler Hill, near
Evesham, Cleeve Prior, and the neighbourhood. Numerous quarries
have been opened in the beds, though fewer are now worked than was
the case in past times. Outliers occur at Bushley and at Berrow to the
south-east of the Malvern range.

These lower beds of limestone, which are interbanded with shales,
are not much more than 20 feet in thickness, and some of the layers
are fissile and banded. They yield plant-remains, Crustacea, such as
Eryon, also Ammonites johnstoni, and in the lowest layers Pleuromya crow-
combeia, and many examples of Ostrea liassica. Remains of the large
reptiles Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus are also found, as well as the fishes
Dapedius and Pholidophorus.

The stone is burnt for lime, while some smooth and even-grained
slabs are used for inside paving, others for steps, tombstones, etc.
In several locaHties the surface beds of limestone have been disturbed,
a feature to which further reference will be made.

' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xvi. p. 394 ; vol. xxxiv. p. 182.
^ ' Lias of England and Wales,' Mem. Geol. Survey, p. 151.
19

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

The Lower Lias Clay extends over the vale of Evesham, around
Pershore and Great Comberton, to the foot of Bredon Hill, and the
northern end of the Cotteswolds. Here fertile meadows and pastures
characterize the land, but the stiffness of the calcareous clay is much
ameliorated by superficial coverings of sand and gravel ; hence the rich
fruit grounds and market gardens near Evesham and Pershore.

Judging by a deep boring at Mickleton in Gloucestershire the full
thickness of the Lower Lias is over 950 feet/ The several beds are
distinguished by successive groups of fossils, as noted in 1840 by Strick-
land.^ These groups are characterized by species of Ammonites, and
although there is nowhere any definite plane of division in the strata,
yet it is convenient to subdivide them into zones, because the relative
order of succession of the fossils is maintained over wide areas while
the lithological characters and the thicknesses of the strata are subject to
change.

Thus above the limestones before-mentioned, which are character-
ized by Ammonites planorbis (or A. johnstoni), we have beds characterized
by Ammonites angulatus, A. bucklandi^ and A. semicostatus. These occur
further east of the scarp as at Bredon, Defford, and Besford, and again at
Evesham and Hampton, at Chadbury, and east of the Littletons. Higher
stages yield Ammonites obtusus, A. oxynotus, and A. jameso?ii, as near
Pershore, Honeybourne, and Aston Magna ; and again A. capricornus
should be found along the northern base of Bredon Hill.

A fine series of Lower Lias fossils many of which are now in
the British Museum was locally obtained by the late T. J. Slatter, of
Evesham.^ Among the more noteworthy of the Worcestershire fossils
are Lima gigantea, Gryphcea arcuata, fine examples of Cardinia, and the
rugged bivalve Hippopodium ponderosum, also corals of the genus Heter-
astrcea.

Saline waters have been encountered in shallow wells at Evesham
and Hampton Spa. The villages in most cases are supplied from water
held in gravel which occurs in patches over the Lias clay, so that the
supplies are not always safe from surface pollution.

The Middle Lias occupies but small areas in Worcestershire, on the
northern and eastern slopes of Bredon Hill, and on the slopes of the Cottes-
wolds near Broadway and Blockley. In these situations it is much obscured
by debris from the heights above. It is a somewhat variable formation,
250 feet thick, or more, the lower part comprising micaceous loams,
clays and sands, while the upper part is a rock bed of ferruginous and
sandy limestone, sometimes termed the Marlstone.

The clays and loams are characterized by Ammonites margaritatus,
and the rock bed by A. spinatus. In this upper bed, which is 8 or

' H. B. Woodward, * Lias of England and Wales,' Mem. Geol. Survey, p. 156.

* Proc. Geol. Soc, vol. iii. p. 314 ; see also Murchison, Geo/. Cheltenham, edit. 2, by
J. Buckman and H. E. Strickland, 1845.

2 See also Wright, ' Lias Ammonites ' {Palaontographical Soc), p. 375; and R. Tate,
Quart. Jouin. Geol. Soc., vol. xxvi. p. 396.

GEOLOGY

lo feet thick, fossils as a rule are well preserved. Here Rhynchonella
acuta, R. tetrahedra and Gryphcea cymbium occur.

Springs are thrown out by clayey beds which often occur at the
base of the marlstone rock bed, and again at lower levels when sandy
beds rest on loams or clays. The waters are usually somewhat ferru-
ginous. The rock bed is much quarried in some localities for road-
metal, and the loams and clays are serviceable for brick-making. The
soil is generally fertile, and is well suited for orchards.

The Upper Lias is for the most part a clay formation, having
occasional nodules of limestone. A few more persistent bands of lime-
stone occur at the base, and these are associated with about 20 feet of
paper shales which are slightly bituminous. The Upper Lias occurs
above the marlstone in Bredon Hill and in the Cotteswold Hills, but is
seldom well exposed. Its thickness varies from 100 to 120 feet, and it is
characterized by Ammonites serpentinus, A. bifrons and A. communis.

The lower beds of the Upper Lias have attracted much attention
on the borders of Worcestershire, especially at Alderton (Dumbleton),
and our knowledge is largely due to the researches of the Rev. P. B.
Brodie, ^ Mr. R. F. Tomes,^ and others. The beds have yielded sau-
rians, also fishes, such as Leptolepis, Pachycormus and Tetragonolepsis,
insects including forms allied to Libellula, corals, and cephalopods with
the ink-bag preserved.

That the lower beds of the Lower Lias were formed in com-
paratively shallow water is indicated by the presence of insects and plant
remains, as well as large saurians. Mr. Tomes has noted rain-spots on
some of the limestone layers, and in one instance he discovered the large
wing of a dragon-fly which had been broken through by a spot of
rain when lying on an exposed surface of soft calcareous mud. He
has also observed distinct evidence of dust having been blown on to
these ancient mud-flats. The clayey beds indicate a deeper sea, but
this became shallower during the deposition of the Middle Lias and
the basement portions of the Upper Lias, and again deeper when the
main mass of the Upper Lias clay was spread out.

The dark shales of the Lias sometimes led in old times to fruit-
less trials for coal as was the case at Hasler Hill, near Evesham, and
at Bretforton.'

The Inferior Oolite series which forms great part of Bredon Hill,
and of the northern Cotteswolds, as at Broadway, Cutsdean and Blockley,
comprises at its base a group of sandy and ferruginous beds with con-
cretions of calcareous sandstone. These lower strata form the passage-
beds between the Upper Lias and Inferior Oolite, they include the zones
oi Ammonites jurensis and A. opalinus, and are known as the Midford
Sands, or locally in the Cotteswold Hills as the Cotteswold Sand and
Cephalopoda bed. Rhynchonella cynocephala is a characteristic fossil.

' Fosiil Insects, p. 55 ; Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. v. p. 32.

« Geol. Mag., 1886, p. 108.

3 Memoirs of H. E. Strickland, pp. 83, 88.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

In Worcestershire we have no precise information concerning these
strata as they are obscured by a talus of oolitic rubble. Nor have we
present the entire mass of the Inferior Oolite which includes not only
beds of oolite freestone and marl, but occasional layers of sand and clay,
as at Snowshill, south of Broadway, and thick beds of ragstone further
south.

The freestone has been quarried in several places on Bredon Hill,
and there are good exposures west of Overbury. Much of it is in a very
shattered and broken condition, due to excessive weathering which
probably dates back to glacial times, when thick accumulations of oolitic
rubble were formed along the slopes of the Cotteswold Hills. Some of
these shattered masses have been re-cemented by carbonate of lime, an
example of which is seen in the Bambury stone.^

The freestone which is quarried is a brown more or less shelly and
oolitic limestone, in places largely made up of crinoidal fragments.
Ammonites and Belemnites are occasionally met with, also Trigonia, Pecten
personatus, Terebratula plicata and T. perovalis. The beds probably
belong to the zone of Ammonites murchisonce?

Near the Fish Inn, Broadway, the freestones, about 30 feet thick,
have also been quarried, and here higher strata are locally faulted against
the freestone. These comprise sandy beds, greenish-grey clay, and
rubbly limestone with Clypeus, Nerincea, etc.

Thick and heavy stone tiles were formerly obtained from the Inferior
Oolite at Hyatt's Pitts, near Snowshill. The formation yields a brashy
and loamy soil, forming good land for corn and roots, and yielding also
much pasture for the famous Cotteswold sheep.

The formation is water-bearing, and copious springs are given out
in places, as at Seven Wells, east of Snowshill, at the junction with the
Upper Lias clays.

At Daylesford, in an outlying portion of Worcestershire, there
are small areas of Lower, Middle, and Upper Lias, Inferior Oolite,
and even Great Oolite. In this region the Inferior Oolite has under-
gone changes, and is represented apparently by only the lowest and
highest stages of the formation. There are thin layers of pebbly
sand and calcareous sandstone which approximate to the Northampton
Sands, and these are overlaid by high beds of Inferior Oolite with
Clypeus ploti and Terebratula globata, and again by hard and somewhat
sandy limestones 10 or 12 feet thick, known as the Chipping Norton
limestone.

Above this local bed of Inferior Oolite, near Daylesford, there is a
small area of Great Oolite, comprising about 3 feet of marly clays with
Ostrea sowerbyi and Rhynchonella concinna, overlaid by flaggy and rubbly
oolitic limestones with Terebratula maxillata and Nerincea?

' G. F. Playne, Proc. Cotteswold Club, vol. vi. p. 225.

* H. B. Woodward, 'Lower Oolitic Rocks of England,' Mem. Geo/. Survey, pp. 138,
140, 462, etc.

^ H. B.Woodward, 'Lower Oolitic Rocks of England,' Geol. Survey, pp. 153, etc.

GEOLOGY

An immense break in the series occurs between the Great Oolite
and the succeeding deposits which are now found in Worcestershire.
We miss all the Middle and Upper Oolites, the whole of the Cretaceous
and Tertiary strata, and our next records are those of a time when man
had probably appeared on the scenes.

In the meanwhile the changes that took place must have been
enormous, both as regards the deposition of great masses of strata and
their subsequent removal by rain, rivers and sea. There can be little
doubt that the Oolites were spread over the Malvern and Lickey areas,
in fact over the entire county ; and that they suffered denudation during
Upper Cretaceous times, when the Chalk extended far and wide over the
country in general. Since then the Chalk has been removed, and the
great vale between Malvern and the Cotteswold Hills carved out.

GLACIAL DRIFT, VALLEY DEPOSITS AND ALLUVIUM

We have at present but very imperfect knowledge of the Drift de-
posits of Worcestershire, or indeed of the Vale of Severn. The latest
deposit, the ordinary Alluvium, is composed of silt and mud and gravel
brought down by the river since it commenced to flow, much in its pre-
sent form. It is now liable to be swollen by heavy rains and by rapid
thaw after snow, though it is more hampered than at one time by the
works of man.

Bordering the river at higher levels are beds of gravel, which extend
in patches over a wide area in the Vale of Severn and in the Vale of
Evesham.^ The gravels are made up of quartzite, quartz, slaty rock,
flint and Jurassic material.

Some of these patches are old river gravel and brickearth ; they
contain Unio and other freshwater mollusca, as well as hippopotamus,
rhinoceros, mammoth and other mammalian remains. Sections have
been opened up at Cropthorne, Fladbury, Bengeworth, Little Comberton,
Eckington, Defford, and Pull Court, near Bushley.

Remains of mammoth have been found at Droitwich, and of reindeer
at Upton Snodsbury. Again, in what Prestwich has called the ' Rubble
Drift,' remains of mammoth and rhinoceros were found in digging the
foundations of the Imperial Hotel at Malvern.^

Other deposits of gravel and sand in the Severn Vale contain marine
shells, or fragments of marine shells, as well as mammaUan remains.
Among the shell-fragments are those of Cyprina islandica, Cardium edule,
Lucina borealis, Rissoa, Turritella terebra and Purpura lapillus. One of
the localities is Beckford, and here have been found remains of mammoth.
Rhinoceros antiquitatis. Bos taurus var. primigenius and reindeer. At Kempsey,
near Worcester, and other places along the Severn Valley below Bewdley,
both mammoth and rhinoceros have been found. It is by no means unlikely

* See T. G. B. Lloyd, Quart. 'Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xxvi. p. 204.

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlviii. p. 317 ; see also Life and Letters of Prestwich, 1899,
p. 262.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

that the fragments of marine shells at these localities are in some, if not
all, cases derived from older Glacial gravels, together with many quartz-
ite pebbles and derived Jurassic fossils.

In 1836, Murchison, from the evidences afforded by the recent
species of mollusca, suggested ' that the sea must at the time have covered
the valley of the Severn from Bridgnorth to the Bristol Channel, thus
separating Wales and Siluria on one side from England on the other.' ^
Later on the vievv^ of ' The Ancient Straits of Malvern ' formed the theme
of an essay by James Buckman.^

Prestwich, in 1892, remarked: 'There can be little doubt that the
sea of the Raised Beach period stretched northw^ard up the Valley of the
Severn ; but whether it formed a deep bay or estuary, or whether at that
time it was prolonged through to the Irish Channel, forming the " Severn
Straits " of Murchison, seems uncertain. It is probable that the marine
beds at the higher levels should be referred to an earlier stage of the
Glacial period.' ^ Mr. W. J. Harrison, however, considers that these
recent marine shells were originally derived from a lobe of the ' Irish
Sea Glacier ' which invaded Shropshire, and which had scraped up the
shells from the bed of the Irish Sea.^ Be this as it may, we can still re-
gard those shell-fragments which we find with the mammoth in the
valley drifts as having been redistributed from earlier Drift deposits.

The district, however, is of considerable interest as being on the
borders of the large region which was mantled by the ice-sheet during
the accumulation of the Great Chalky Boulder Clay of the midland and
eastern counties, and which was not affected by any marked glaciation
during the later phases of the Glacial period.

The southern limits of the Boulder Clay must be sought to the
north of Bredon Hill, the evidences of the ice action being discernible
here and there in the Vale of Evesham and in the vale at Aston Magna
and Mickleton, where Boulder Clay was observed in 1853 by G. E.
Gavey.^ At the time Mr. R. F. Tomes obtained glaciated Chalk from
this Drift. In connection with the discovery, it is interesting to note
that pebbles of hard red and white Chalk were found by Buckland in
1 82 1, to the south-east of Shipston-on-Stour.

' Modified Drifts,' in the form of thin scattered drifts with quartzite
pebbles, and of valley gravels and loams, succeeded the Boulder Clay, or
the melting of the ice which brought it ; and these deposits appear to
merge into the old alluvial, and, perhaps in part, estuarine deposits of
the great Severn Valley.

That the Cotteswolds themselves have not been glaciated, is shown
by the thick accumulations of oolitic rubble which flank their slopes.

' Proc. Geo/. Soc, vol. ii. p. 334.

^ 8vo, London [1849] > see also W. S. Symonds, The Severn Straits, Svo, Tewkesbury,

1884, and E. Witchell, Prcc. Cotteswold Club, vol. iv. p. 216.

' Quart. Journ. Gecl. Soc, vol. xlviii. p. 287.

* Proc. Geo/. Aisoc, vol. xv. p. 404.

* Quart. Journ. Geo/. Soc., vol. ix. p. 29 ; see also S. V. Wood, Jun., ihid. vol. xxxvi.
p. 483 ; and H. B. Woodward, Geo/. Mag. for 1897, p. 485.

GEOLOGY

Even the Bredon outlier of Inferior Oolite exhibits at the surface 30 or
40 feet of rubble. The rock, indeed, is irregularly weathered, and the
resulting gravelly detritus contains in its midst isolated masses and pin-
nacles of unweathered limestone.

W. C. Lucy connected the distribution of the rubble w^ith soil-
movements, the weathered rock slipping down the hill-sides during times
of thaw after severe frost. In Witchell's opinion, this Rubble Drift was
' due to storm-waters or surface-drainage, which brought the detritus
down the hill upon a frozen surface, and deposited it in those places where
the frost usually disappeared in spring before it left the higher ground.' '
Both explanations may be to a certain extent true and they accord much
better with the facts than does the explanation of Prestwich, whereby
this Rubble Drift would be due to the effects of wide submergence.*

At Church Honeybourne, east of Evesham, the Lower Lias Clay is
contorted, and again at South Littleton the exposed beds of limestone and
clay have been nipped up on the surface in a series of sharp folds. As far
west as Croome d'Abitot, near Pershore, in Worcestershire, similar evi-
dences of surface disturbance were observed.'* Probably the ' Lias clay
with contorted beds of Lias limestone,' noted in the railway-cutting at
Dunhampstead by Strickland in 1840, exhibited features of the same
character. At Halford, north of Shipstou-on-Stour, the beds of White
Lias are much disturbed in places.

In this region, although the disturbances are similar to those pro-
duced by glacial action, we have (with the exception of the Aston Magna
Drift) no distinct evidence of Boulder Clay, the superficial deposit being
a few feet of reddish-brown clay with pebbles of quartz and quartzite.
This Drift occurs here and there over a wide area, and may be a result
of the denudation of Boulder Clay. Near Birmingham, on the borders
of Staffordshire and Worcestershire, there are abundant evidences of
Boulder Clay and other Glacial Drifts. At Moseley and on Frankley
Hill there are considerable beds of sand and gravel which belong to the
Glacial period.

Until the Drifts are separately mapped, it is impossible to deal
adequately with the diverse deposits which are scattered over the surface
of the country, for the most part in patches, although much has been
written on the subject by Strickland, Brodie, W. C. Lucy, H. W. Cross-
key, and others.*

In the modern Alluvial deposits peaty layers are sometimes met
with, and T. G. B. Lloyd noted a bed 8 feet thick, resting on gravel, at
Chadbury. In it many antlers of red deer were found. The Alluvial
clays have been used for brick-making, while the land in general forms
fertile meadows and pasture.

* Proc. Cotteswold Club, vol. v. p. 43 ; vol. vi. p. 150 ; and H. B. Woodward, Lower
Oolitic Rocks of England, p. 462.

* Quart. "Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlviii. p. 314.

' H. B. Woodward, Jurassic Rocks of Britain, vol. iii. pp. 146, 150, 310.

* See W. J. Harrison, ' A Bibliography of Midland Glaciology,' Proc. Birmingham Phil.
Soc, vol. ix. p. 116 ; also Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xv. p. 400.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

From what has already been said, it may be inferred that the broad
vale forming great part of Worcestershire, which lies between the Mal-
vern and Abberley Hills on the west, the Lickey Hills on the north, and
the Cotteswold Hills on the south, has been excavated during Tertiary
and subsequent times. We cannot say whether or not any of the Lower
Tertiary (Eocene) strata ever extended over the region ; but we may feel
confident that since Eocene times the area has more generally been sub-
ject to waste by rain and rivers. The Oligocene and Miocene periods
were times of warmth and, perhaps, of tropical rains ; while in the Gla-
cial period the scenes had changed to intense cold, with local floods, due
to the melting of glacial ice. These changes were gradually brought
about during the intervening Pliocene epoch, when the climate was
temperate. The material derived from the waste of the Red rocks. Lias
and Oolites, in the vale has been mostly borne away to other regions, and
the only relics are the scattered Drifts to which we have called atten-
tion.

PALAEONTOLOGY

TO the student of the past history of vertebrate life Worcestershire
is lacking in the interest which attaches to many English
counties, since it possesses no peculiar extinct vertebrate fauna
of its own. Indeed, vertebrate remains of any description are
comparatively rare within the limits of the county ; this being to some
extent accounted for by the circumstance that many of the Worcester-
shire formations were laid down at a period when vertebrates had not yet
made their appearance, while others were deposited when fishes seem to
have been the highest type in existence.

Perhaps the greatest pal^ontological interest in the county is centred
in the circumstance that within its borders are found some of the oldest
fossils in England, several of which were first determined from Worcester-
shire specimens. These oldest fossils occur in the Hollybush Sandstone
of the Malvern Hills, which belong to the upper division of the
Cambrian epoch. The species known are comparatively few in number,
and all indicate low types of invertebrate life ; with the exception of
worm-tracks, they are comparatively rare, and require much patience to
find. Certain transversely wrinkled or plaited flexible tubes, which are
usually found crossing the strata obliquely or vertically, have been
regarded as indicating tube-dwelling worms, or annelids, for which the
name Trachyderma antiquissimum has been proposed. Other tubes of a
smoother type of structure have been described as Serpulites fistula, and
apparently indicate a second type of marine tube-dwelling worms. The
brachiopods, or lamp-shells, were represented by several small forms.
Most of these pertain to totally extinct genera, but the minute Lingula
{Lingulella) squamosa belongs to a genus still existing in modern seas. The
fossil form (which is distinguished by the presence of a groove in the
beak) is very minute, but the existing type, which is a flattened bivalve
triangular shell of a green colour and horny consistence, with a flexible
stem for attachment, attains a couple of inches in length. An allied
family is represented by Kutorgina cingulata, a species common to the
Upper Cambrian of Canada ; the genus Kutorgina differing from the
nearly related Oholella by the straight hinge-line.'

In the overlying black Malvern shales the same species of Kutorgina
occurs, but the Lingula was distinguished by Dr. HoU as L. pygmaa.

^ The Hollybush species is described by Dr. H. B. Holl in the Quart. Journ. Geo/. Soc,
vol. xxi. p. 89, as Oholella phillipsi ; the other fossils from this horizon being mentioned in
the same paper.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Here, too, are met with several small representatives of those remarkable
Palaeozoic crustaceans known as trilobites, which take their name from
the circumstance that the body, or middle portion of the carapace, is
more or less distinctly divided into three longitudinal lobes. Externally
trilobites present a distant resemblance to woodlice, but they were
marine creatures related to the existing king-crabs of the Moluccas.
They are very important to the palaeontologist, as their occurrence always
indicates that he has to do with Palaeozoic rocks. The trilobites from
the Malvern shales belong to the genera Olenus, Conocoryphe, Sphcer-
ophthalmus, and Agnostus. In some of the shales the small Olenus humilis
occurs in such profusion as to have suggested the name of ' Olenus
shales ' for these particular beds. The green shales overlying the black
shales in the neighbourhood of Hayes Copse contain a curious net-like
fossil named Dictyonema socialis. This presents a considerable superficial
resemblance to the modern lace-corals, but since its skeleton is not
calcareous, and bears cups for the reception of polyps, it is considered
to belong to the same group as the recent sertularians, or hydroid
polyps.

The invertebrate Silurian fossils of Worcestershire, although much
more numerous in species than those of the Cambrian (and in certain
localities exceedingly abundant in individuals), require somewhat less
detailed notice than those of the last-named period for the reason that they
are for the most part identical with those of the neighbouring counties.
A large series of these fossils were collected by the late Dr. Grindrod,
of Malvern, which are now in the Museum at Oxford, and there is also
a fine collection in the Museum of the Malvern Field Club.

Like those of other counties, the Silurian rocks of Worcestershire
are characterized by the abundance of brachiopods, or lamp-shells, and
cephalopods, or chambered molluscs ; gastropods, or ordinary univalve
molluscs, and bivalves^ being much less abundant. In the May Hill Sand-
stone (Upper Llandovery), which takes its title from the hill of that name
in Gloucestershire, two very characteristic fossils are Fentremites oblongus
and P. lens^ both easily recognizable by having vertical partitions within
the valves ; they often occur in the form of casts. Other brachiopods
from this formation are Atrypa reticularis, Orthis protensa, 0. calU-
gramma, Strophomena compressa, S. antiquata, and Stricklandinia. Of these
Atrypa and Stricklandinia are the most common. The two species of
Pentamerus and Orthis calligramma occur in the May Hill Sandstone
of the Lickey Hills, near Bromsgrove. Gastropods are represented
by the nautilus-like Bellerophon and the spiral Murchisonia ; while
the cephalopods include the long, straight Orthoceras barrandei and the
less common Tretoceras bisiphonatum. Among tube-dwelling worms
we have "Tentaculites ornatus and Cornulites serpularia. Trilobites, too,
are abundant, but none are peculiar to this particular formation, such
forms as Calymene blumenbachi and Phacops stokesi having a large vertical

* Strictly speaking, lamp-shells are also bivalves, but in these the two valves are front and
back, instead of right and left.

PALAEONTOLOGY

range in the Silurian. At Dudley Calymene blumenbachi is very numerous,
and locally known as ' the locust.' Of the corals, it will suffice to
mention the simple cup-shaped Petrcea elongata and the more complex
Favo sites and He Ho Ikes.

Of the Woolhope limestone the fossils are generally the same as
those of the overlying Wenlock beds, but there are two peculiar trilobites,
respectively known as Homalonotus delphinocephalus and Illanus barriensis ;
whether, however, these actually occur within the limits of the county
it is difficult to ascertain. On the western flanks of the Malverns the
Wenlock limestone and shale, especially the latter, are exceedingly rich
in fossils, but since Worcestershire is not the typical area for this
formation, mention need be made of only a few. In the limestones the
sponge-like Stromatopora, and corals of the genera Omphyma (cup-coral),
Heliolites, Haly sites (chain-coral), Favosites, and Cyathophyllum are ex-
ceedingly abundant. Those curious Palaeozoic organisms known as
graptolites also occur ; they consist of a tubular shaft on one or both
sides of which are small cups for the reception of the polypites.
Echinoderms of a primitive type, many of which were stalked (stone-
lilies), are also common. Trilobites are represented by the genera
Acidaspis, Encrirmrus, Calymene, Lie has, Phacops, Homalonotus, etc. ; and
many curious jaws of annelid worms have also been discovered. Among
the lamp- shells we have representatives of the straight-hinged genera
Strophomena, Pentamerus, Spirifera, Orthis,Atrypa, etc., but in the absence
of figures there would be little use in enumerating the various species
by which these and other generic types are represented. A few genera
of bivalve molluscs occur, as well as gastropods of the Paleozoic genera
Euomphalus, Murchisonia, Bellerophon, etc.

Since the Ludlow and Aymestry beds, forming the top of the
Silurian, as well as the Old Red Sandstone, are but poorly represented in
the county, no special mention need be made of their fossils. Neither
would any advantage be gained by referring in detail to the vegetable
and other fossils of the Forest of Wyre coalfield, which are, at least for
the most part, identical with those of the English Coal Measures
generally. It may be mentioned, however, that ferns presenting a net-
work arrangement of the veins (a somewhat rare type) have been
described by the late Professor John Morris ^ from a shaly sandstone
near Kidderminster, and assigned to the genus Woodwardites. A shale
bed near Dowles Brook is remarkable for the number of impressions
of fern-leaves it contains.

The Permian beds of the county appear mostly unfossiliferous ;
while the Triassic (inclusive of Rhastic) strata contain very few inver-
tebrate fossils. The Upper Keuper Sandstone of Pendock yields, how-
ever, the bivalve-like shells of the little crustacean known as Estheria
minuta. As regards the Lower Lias of the county, it must suffice to say
that its fossils are for the most part those of this formation generally.
An exception must, however, be made with regard to the so-called

^ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xv. p. 8o.
29

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Strensham group, which takes its title from the village of that name east
of Upton-on-Severn. From these particular beds the late Rev. P. B. Brodie
succeeded in obtaining a number of insect remains of great interest/

Of the vertebrate fossils of Worcestershire by far the most im-
portant are the primitive fishes of the lower portion of the Old Red
Sandstone. Since, however, only a very small area of the county is
occupied by this formation, the number of species of these fishes that
have actually been discovered within its limits falls considerably short of
those known from Ledbury and Cradley, in Herefordshire, where ex-
cellent sections of these strata are exposed. On the other hand, all these
Old Red Sandstone fishes may really be regarded as pertaining to the
Worcestershire fauna, since it must be largely due to accident that
specimens of the whole of them have not hitherto been found within
its borders ; and some of the Cradley section runs into the county.

Most of these fishes belong to an entirely distinct group, which
ceased to exist before the close of the Paleozoic epoch, and are
characterized by the head and body being enveloped in a bony cuirass,
and the imperfect ossification of the internal skeleton. The group is
collectively known as the Ostracodermi, but is divided into three sec-
tions. Among the first section, in which the head and fore part of the
body were protected by a bony shield while the hinder half of the
body and tail were covered by small angular plates or scales, remains
of Pteraspis rostrata have been discovered at Heightington and Trimpley,
and those of P/. crouchi at the first-named place. This second section,
in which the head assumes a different form, and is shaped like a bent
cheese-cutter, is represented by Cephalaspis lyelli and C saliveyi in the
Lower Old Red Sandstone of Heightington ; the former being typically
a Scottish species, while the latter is confined to the west of England. A
totally different Palaeozoic group of fish-like creatures is that of the berry-
bone fishes, or Arthrodira, of which the typical representative is the
well-known Coccosteus of the Scottish Old Red Sandstone. In these
strange creatures the armour, which is confined to the head and fore part
of the body, has the external surface like coarse shagreen ; and although
there were no pectoral fins, the pelvic pair were well developed. The
group is represented in the Old Red Sandstone of the county by
Phlyctanaspis anglica, a species first described on the evidence of Here-
fordshire specimens. Another Herefordshire Old Red Sandstone fish,
Climatius ornatus, belonging to a group of primitive sharks known as
Acanthodii, also occurs in the corresponding formation of the county.

In the Carboniferous rocks fish remains appear to be very scarce, but
a tooth from Bewdley in the British Museum indicates a pavement-
toothed shark belonging to the family Cochliodontida . In the Keuper such
remains are less uncommon, and the species Acrodus keuperitius, a pave-
ment-toothed shark of the family Cestraciontidce, has been named on the
evidence of Worcestershire specimens which occur at Pendock, Ripple,

» See Brodie, Fossil Insects (1845).
30

HISTORY OF "WOECZSTEBSHIKE

OROGRAIr

/V"^

;

\ ■"

THE VICTORIA HISTORY

CAL MAP

HE COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND

County Boundary

PALEONTOLOGY

and Burgehill. A tooth in the British Museum from the upper Ripple
has been described as a new species of barramunda, under the name of
Ceratodus Icevissimus, but is now regarded as probably identical with the
continental C. kaupi. The existing barramunda, it may be observed, is
a large air-breathing fish restricted to the rivers of Queensland. A fossil
fish from the Keuper of Bromsgrove, now preserved in the Museum of
the Geological Survey, has been described as a new genus and species
of ganoid under the name of Deuteronotus cyphus, but is now believed
to be referable to some member of the genus Chlithrolepis. The list
of fishes closes with Phabodus brodiei, a primitive shark of the group
Ichthyotomi, named after the late Rev. P. B. Brodie. This species is
known only by two teeth in the British Museum, one of which (the
type) was obtained from the Upper Keuper of Warwickshire, and the
second from the Lower Keuper of Pendock.

So far as the writer is aware, reptilian remains do not appear to
have been obtained from the Worcestershire Keuper, but certain tracks
met with in these beds may have been made by the Triassic lizard
Rhynchosaurus. From the Lower Lias of Brockeridge and Defford
Commons, which are situated on the southern side of the county near
Tewkesbury, numerous bones of Ichthyosaurus, and perhaps also of Plesio-
saurus, have been obtained, but these reptilian remains seem never to
have been specifically determined. The British Museum has, however,
part of the skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus from near Tewkesbury which has
been assigned to Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris, and may possibly have been
obtained in Worcestershire. In any case, it may be taken as certain that
these Worcestershire Ichthyosauri belong to the same species as those
whose remains are so common in the Lower Lias of Dorsetshire.

The only other vertebrate remains met with in the county appear
to be those of Pleistocene mammals from the river gravels of the Severn
valley. These doubtless belong to the ordinary species of the epoch.
Mr. D. Mackintosh^ recording the mammoth [Elephas primigenius),
woolly rhinoceros (Rhinoceros antiquitatis) , and reindeer [Rangifer tarandus)
from a bed of estuarine sand and gravel, and the straight-tusked elephant
{Elephas antiquus) and the Pleistocene hippopotamus {Hippopotamus am-
phibius major) from an underlying deposit.

* Quart, Journ. Geo/. Soc, vol. xxxvi. p. i8i (1880).

HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

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THE VICTORIA HISTORY

)ISTRICTS,

E COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND

BOTANY

GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTY
WITH RELATION TO THE FLORA

THE outline of Worcestershire is exceedingly irregular, and not
only is this the case, but several detached portions lie outside
the main body as islands in neighbouring counties, the largest
of these being Dudley in the north and Shipston and Blockley
in the south-east. The county may not inaptly be compared in shape
to that of a vine-leaf, of which a few fragments have been broken off
and scattered near it. And this simile is the more apt because with
slight exceptions the whole of the county lies in the watershed of the
Severn, which river, running roughly from north to south, divides it
into two unequal parts ; and if we place the leaf with the stem down-
wards, the venation may roughly represent the tributary streams. Those
portions of the county which are not within the basin of the Severn are
the extreme north-east, including the north-eastern slopes of the Lickey,
where the water runs into the Rea, and so into the Trent ; and the
detached portions in the south-east, which are drained by the Evenlode,
and are in the valley of the Thames. Another peculiarity may be
noticed. Nearly all round, with the exception of the north-west, where
the Severn enters the county, the north-east, where the county borders
upon Warwickshire, and the south-west, where the Severn leaves it, the
margin is higher than the centre ; so we may carry our simile further,
and place our vine-leaf in a saucer, parts of the lip of which have been
broken away.

While the central portion of the county, the wide vale of the
Severn, consists of marl overlaid in places with gravelly drift, the higher
land towards the margins is mostly of different geological formations.
On the west is the long range of the Malvern Hills, rising to the height
of 1,394 feet, and composed of plutonic rock with Silurian deposits
on their western sides. The county boundary runs for the most part
along the summits of these hills, but extends sometimes down the
western slopes. Towards Abberley in the north the Malvern range
meets the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, on which is situated the
district towards Tenbury in the north-west of the county. To the east
of Abberley is an extent of New Red Sandstone stretching out to Clent,
where the Clent Hills, composed of Permian breccias and sandstones, rise
to a height of over i,ooo feet, and are bounded on the north by the coal
measures, through which the Silurian rocks of Dudley protrude. Hence
1 33 °

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

to the north-eastern extremity of the county the boundary sweeps round
over New Red Sandstone in a wide semicircle, between the points of
which, on Warwickshire soil, stands the city of Birmingham. From
the north-eastern corner the boundary turns suddenly in a nearly southerly
direction over the Red Marl, until in the neighbourhood of Inkberrow it
passes on to the Lias formation, having enclosed the Bromsgrove Lickey,
with all its curious variety of geological structure, where the Beacon Hill
rises to a height of 956 feet. Below Inkberrow the boundary meets the
Avon, and, crossing the river, plunges into the hilly district of the
Cotswolds, becoming extremely irregular, and stretching down to the
south-east, where a number of isolated portions of the county reach
to within some fifteen miles of Oxford. Here a section of the Oolitic
system is brought within the limits of Worcestershire. The south-
eastern promontory of the mainland of the county is Broadway, which
rises at the Beacon to 1,024 ^^^t. The southern boundary of the county
is perhaps the most irregular of all, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire
penetrating each other in great lobes ; it crosses Bredon Hill, 848 feet
high, and, sinking down to the level of the Severn at Tewkesbury, bends
sharply back to leave the parish of Twyning to Gloucestershire ; and
after more irregularities, having crossed the Severn, turns to the north at
Redmarley d'Abitot, and meets again the Malvern Hills.

The surface of Worcestershire generally is undulating and diversified,
the only portion of comparatively flat land being that known as the Vale
of Evesham, largely occupied at the present time with market gardens.
In the south and west of the county hops are largely cultivated, a few
hopyards only being found to the east of Worcester. Apple and pear
orchards are a feature of the same districts ; and these trees grow not
only in orchards, but are scattered thickly in the hedgerows. No
orchards, however, occur in the north and east of the county, and with
them disappear also hedgerow trees of the same kind. Here also the
mistletoe, so plentiful in the orchards of the west, and on poplars and
other kinds of trees, is quite unknown. The feature of the hedgerow
timber of Worcestershire is the small-leaved elm, Ulmus campestris, which
flourishes to such an extent in the red marl and sandstone that it has
gained the name of the ' Worcestershire weed.'

In the north-east of the county the general level rises considerably,
and encloses the Lickey Hills, which are an island of altered Cambrian
rock rising out of Red Sandstone and Permian formations. The aspect of
this part of the county, with that of the Permian and coal measures
further to the north, is markedly bleaker and colder than that of the
valley of the Severn. On the Lickey the bilberry flourishes, and the
hills are clothed with ling and heather, all plants that are unknown in
south-east Worcestershire. The holly grows extensively on the lower
slopes of these hills, and the hedgerows sometimes for considerable
distances are formed exclusively of this plant. XJlex Gallii flourishes
abundantly on this high land, as it does throughout the county where the
height is some 500 feet above the sea, except in the Cotswold district.

BOTANY

The place of the elm as hedgerow timber is taken by the oak, which
however does not usually grow to any great size. Sycamores grow
finely on the southern slopes of the hills, and the hornbeam occurs
occasionally in the neighbourhood of Bromsgrove. Traveller's joy.
Clematis Vitalba, which plentifully decks the hedgerows where the soil is
at all calcareous, seldom strays on to the New Red Sandstone of the northern
parts. Primroses, absolutely abounding in the valley of the Teme, and
general elsewhere, thin out as the northern part of the county is
approached, where they lurk only on hidden banks and in the thickets of
woods, while in the extreme north-east they hardly occur ; but the
woods and dingles which clothe the hills in this district are the chosen
home of the bluebell and wood-anemone. The roadside wastes and
hedgerow banks show little floral decoration after speedwell, stitchwort,
and wild parsley have disappeared with the first burst of spring. A
feature of the sandstone banks of the north is Saxifraga granulata^ some-
times occurring most abundantly ; but Cotyledon Umbilicus, even in places
which seem typical habitats, is unknown except in Habberley Valley and
Wolverley near Kidderminster. In many localities on the Red Sandstone,
and occurring more sparsely elsewhere, are two somewhat rare plants —
Arabis perfoliata and Campanula patula. The former is especially abundant
on the sides of the railway to the north of Kidderminster ; and the latter
fringes in quantity the deep railway-cutting through the water-stones to
the south of Stourbridge, but entirely disappears to the north-east of
the Clent Hills.

There are no natural lakes in Worcestershire, the largest sheets
of water being that in Westwood Park, some 60 acres, and Pirton Pool,
a few miles to the south of Worcester. But the brooks coming down
towards the Stour from the high land at Clent have been formed
into chains of pools, usually of no great size. Some large reservoirs have
been constructed in the neighbourhood of the Lickey and at Tardebigge
to feed the Birmingham Canal. Many marshy spots have been drained,
and the plants that love such spots have vanished. Especially is this the
case with Longdon Marsh, near Upton-on-Severn, in the south of the
county, which in rainy seasons used to assume the appearance of a
vast lake. Here grew, and possibly some of them still linger in lesser
quantity, Butomus umbellatus, Carex disticha, Cnicus pratensis, Hippuris
vulgaris, Lathyrus palustris, Lysimachia vulgaris, CEtianthe Lachenalii,
CE. Peucedanifolia, Phragtnites communis, Poterium officinale, Rumex maritimus
and Scirpus maritimus. In the far north of the county Moseley Bog,
the drainage of which ultimately found its way into the Trent, but the
site of which is now nearly covered by extending Birmingham, once
produced many rare plants, including Anagallis tenella, Cnicus pratensis,
Drosera rotundifolia, Equisetum sylvaticum, Eriophorum vaginatum, Hyperi-
cum elodes, Menyanthes trifoliata, Molinia ccerulea, Narthecium ossifragum,
Osmunda regalis, Parnassia palustris, Pedicularis palustris, Potentilla Coma-
rum, Rhyncospora alba, Vaccinium Oxycoccus and Viola palustris. Some
eight miles to the east of Droitwich there formerly existed a tract

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

of land called Feckenham Bog, long since brought under cultivation.
Here have been recorded Alisma ranunculoides, Anagallis tenella, Cnicus
pratensis, Carex distans, Cladium Mariscus, Pinguicula vulgaris, Schcenus
nigricans and Zannichellia palustris. All these plants have disappeared.
Cradley Park, between Stourbridge and Halesowen, before it became
absorbed into the Black Country, nourished some rare plants so lately as
1832, among them Carex distans, C. strigosa, Pyrola media and Sambucus
Ebulus. Of a list of plants growing at the Lickey in 1834, the following,
through drainage or other causes, have vanished, Andromeda polifolia.
Erica Tetralix, Parnassia palustris, Potentilla comarum, Vaccinium Oxy coccus
and Scirpus ccespitosus. Anagallis tenella remained here up to 1890.

In its course through the county the Severn has worn for itself
a deep channel in the red marl of the district through which it flows,
while above Holt precipitous banks of red sandstone in places bound its
course. Below Worcester flat meadows stretch out on either side of the
river. The sandstone cliffs are frequently clothed with woodland,
notably at Shrawley and Stagbury, below and above Stourport respec-
tively, on its right bank. The red marl banks are not productive of any
especially rare plants, except in the case of the Mythe Toot at Tewkesbury,
on which precipitous cliff Isatis tinctoria flourishes abundantly. This
locality, however, though nearly surrounded by Worcestershire territory,
is locally in Gloucestershire, and the former county can lay no claim
to the plant. At Tewkesbury the Severn receives on its left side the
river Avon, which comes down in wide meanders from the Lias country
to the north and west of the Cotswolds. No other stream of any size
joins the river on the same side till Hawford, some miles above
Worcester, is reached. Here it receives the Salwarpe, and by its side the
canal from Droitwich, which follows the course of the river. The
Salwarpe comes down from the western slopes of the Lickey some fifteen
miles away, and is joined below Salwarpe Church by Dordale Brook,
which rises in Pepperwood and receives streams from the Randans and
Chaddesley Woods. Further to the north, at Stourport, the Stour falls
into the Severn on the same side, having been joined at Hoobrook, below
Kidderminster, by a number of streams that converge there coming
from the higher land in the neighbourhood of Clent ; and on the same
side of the Stour, just above Kidderminster, at Broadwaters, more
streams from the same district join its course. These streams flow
through a country nearly entirely situated on the new red sandstone,
except the highest portions of the Clent Hills, where Permian sandstones
and breccia are met with. Above Kidderminster the Stour, leaving on
its right bank the sandy district of Blakeshall Common, passes out of this
county into Staffordshire, joining Worcestershire again near Stourbridge,
whence for some distance it forms the boundary of the county, with the
detached portion of Dudley to the north of it. At Halesowen the Stour
again enters Worcestershire, passing over the coal measures to find its
sources on the north-eastern slopes of the Clent Hills. We have here
reached the easternmost part of the watershed of the Severn ; further on

BOTANY

in this direction the streams run into the Rea, while Yardley, the extreme
north-easterly parish of Worcestershire, drains into the Cole. A little to
the south are the large reservoirs connected with the Birmingham Canal,
whose waters run into the Arrow, and so into the Avon

On the right bank of the Severn its most northern tributary is
Dowles Brook, which divides Worcestershire from Shropshire. Follow-
ing up Dowles Brook, the water-parting dividing it from the basin of
the Teme is arrived at, on the other side of which the Rea flows into
that river at Newnham Bridge. Following down the course of the
Teme, which runs in a most picturesque valley, at Eastham, on the right
bank, some rare orchids have been observed. The tributary brooks in
this district are highly charged with lime, which in places is deposited
as masses of travertine, so plentiful at Southstone Rock and elsewhere
that it forms a useful building material in the neighbourhood. The soil
of this district appears favourable to the growth of orchidaceous plants,
and the following have occurred, some very abundantly : Epipactis
latifolia, E. palustris, Habenaria bifolia, H. conopsea, H. viridis, Neottia nidus-
avis. Orchis pyramidalis, O. Morio, Ophrys apifera, O. muscifera and Spir-
anthes autumnalis. Just outside the county boundary on the Herefordshire
side of Sapey Brook, which runs into the Teme, a single plant of Epi-
pogum aphyllum was gathered in 1854, unknown before to the flora of
Britain, but the plant has not again rewarded the most diHgent search in
the locality. Near here, and as close to the county boundary, but in
Herefordshire, grows Eryngium campestre.

On the left, or east, bank of the Teme rise the Abberley Hills
reaching a height of over 800 feet, and possessing quite a sub-alpine
appearance ; and to the south of them is Woodbury Hill, nearly the
same height. But these hills are curiously barren botanical ground, and
little of any interest has been observed in the locality. To the north
of Abberley is a little tract of carboniferous measures forming the Pensax
coalfield, which also is not a prolific botanical district. At Knightsford
Bridge the Teme breaks through a ridge of high land, leaving Ankerdine
Hill on the left bank and Rosebury Rock, a mass of Permian breccia, on
the right. Henceforward the Teme runs through broad meadows to its
confluence with the Severn below Worcester, receiving on its way two
tributary brooks — Leigh Brook, coming up the from south-west and the
high land which forms the continuation northwards of the Malvern
chain, and falling into the Teme at Leigh ; and Laughern Brook, which
for some miles pursues a parallel course to the Severn, often not a mile
away from that river, and falls into the Teme at Powick Bridge.

In the northern part of its course through the county the Severn, in
comparatively quite recent times, flowed over a wider bed than at
present contains it, and this at a time when its waters were at least
brackish. Lagoons seem to have been left in many places by the
retreating waters, which were first marshes and are now dry sandy wastes
or valleys. Habberley Valley, near Kidderminster, is a well-marked in-
stance, and of the same nature is Hartlebury Common. Maritime plants

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

still exist in some of these localities. On Hartlebury Common Convolvulus
Soldamlla has been gathered, and Erodium maritimum occurs there and at
Habberley. The valley in which the Salwarpe runs from Droitwich to
the Severn at Haw^ford was probably an arm of the river of a similar
character, and in it is found a remarkable collection of maritime plants,
including Apium graveolens, Spergularia salina, Glaux maritima, and abun-
dantly on the banks of the river at Droitwich, Lepidium latifolium, which
are perhaps survivals of the former flora kept from disappearing by some
brackish quality in the water of the neighbourhood.

Worcestershire possesses two considerable tracts of native woodland,
which have possibly never suffered more at the hand of man than
thinning and felling. The Randans and the nearly adjoining wood of
Pepperwood stretch from some three miles from north-east to south-
west in the neighbourhood of Bromsgrove, and Wyre or Bewdley Forest
covers a much more considerable tract of land in the north-west of the
county, extending over into Shropshire, Dowles Brook, which runs
through the forest, forming the county boundary. The latter wood is
composed nearly entirely of oaks {Quercus Robur) and scattered yews, but
possesses few large specimens, the timber being usually cut down as soon
as it grows to a size fit for poles. In Wyre Forest grew the historic sorb
tree, Pyrus domestica, possibly the only wild tree of the species in Britain.
This tree, noticed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
in 1678, and then old, continued to exist until 1862, when it was burned
down by a fire kindled by a vagrant at its foot. It had become very de-
crepid and was alive only at the ends of its gaunt branches, but it produced
flowers within a few years of its destruction. Grafts taken from it are
flourishing trees in the arboretum at Arley Castle near Bewdley. Wyre
Forest yields several plants not to be found in other parts of Worcester-
shire, including Cephalanthera ensifolia. Geranium sylvaticum, Pyrola fninor,
Rubus saxatilis, Spiranthes cestivalis, now probably extinct, and Thalictrum
minus. The undergrowth of Shrawley Wood, by the side of the Severn,
consists to a large extent of the small-leaved lime, Tilia parvifolia. In
the neighbourhood of Pershore are several large woods, and a considerable
amount of woodland, though in scattered portions, covers the hilly
district that forms a northern continuation of the Malvern range. In
the extreme east are the Slads and Yield Woods, and between them and
Evesham is Craycombe Hill and the wooded heights behind Wood-
norton. In the more southern portion of the county there is but Httle
woodland, nor are there any large woods in the extreme south-east.
About Halesowen deep ravines have been cut in the softer measures by
the numerous streams that descend from the hills, and for the most part
these are shaded by belts of woodland, which sometimes join on to large
expanses, as in the case of Ufmore Wood. In these dingles are Cam-
panula latifolia, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Geum rivale and Paris
quadrifolia, pretty generally distributed.

The Malvern Hills run parallel with the average course of the
Severn for a distance of nine miles, some four miles to the west of the

BOTANY

river, and rise suddenly from the lower land, which was formerly
unenclosed, and known as Malvern Chase. The Worcestershire Beacon,
the hill immediately behind Great Malvern, is the highest point in the
range, which is chiefly composed of syenite. To the north of the
Malverns is a series of eminences composed of Upper Silurian rocks,
capped in places with Permian, which includes the hills of Ankerdine,
Berrow and Woodbury, and curves round by the Abberley Hills to the
east, while to the west of this range is the Old Red Sandstone district of
Worcestershire. Lime-loving plants are found on these eminences,
including Clematis Vttalba, Anthyllis Vulneraria and Onobrychis sativa,
which do not stray far on to the red marl. Malvern Hills themselves
are bare, and covered with close-cropped turf, affording little that is
peculiar to their circumstances. Sedum album was found only in the
county in a native condition on these hills, and Potentilla "verna is also
thus limited. The bilberry grows only sparsely, and heather is un-
common. On the different commons on the low ground that still
represent Malvern Chase several damp spots afford aquatic plants, but
many have disappeared on account of the enclosure and cultivation of
the greater part of the district.

In the south-east part of Worcestershire a country of quite a
different character is entered upon. Most of it is on the Lias formation,
while Broadway and Bredon Hills are capped with Oolite. Through this
district meanders the Avon, differing from Severn and Teme in the fact
that its waters are always bank high, while the other two rivers have cut
for themselves deep channels in which they flow. The valley of the
Severn is bounded on the east in the middle part of its course through
the county by a bold escarpment of marl on which rest Lias limestones
and shales, and behind which the limestone crops out in lower ridges,
the western faces of which are usually thickly clothed with trees and
underwood, in which Viburnum Lantana is plentiful. The plants of the
higher parts of the district about Bredon and Broadway belong nearly
entirely to the flora of the Cotswolds. Such are Astragalus hypoglottis,
Hippocrepis comosa and Asperula cynanchica. Cnicus acaulis. Reseda lutea
and Linaria minor are also characteristic of the same locality. The Lias
stretches as far north in the county as Hanbury, and penetrates the Red
Marl in two tall narrow peaks, which join towards the south, and widen
out into a broad belt of surface.

NOTES ON THE BOTANICAL DISTRICTS

Worcestershire is divided into four botanical districts : (i.) Avon ; (ii.) Severn ; (iii.) Mal-
vern ; (iv.) Lickey. In a great measure these divisions are purely artificial ; they are formed
virithout regard to geological structure, and their boundaries are difficult to follow, and pay no
respect to the water-partings of the several rivers.

(i.) The Avon district comprises the south-eastern portion of the county. Its northern
limit on the county boundary is reached at Headless Cross, near Redditch, and continues
north-westerly along the Bromsgrove road to the point where this crosses the Birmingham
canal, along which the boundary proceeds in a south-westerly direction as far as Oddingley.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

From Oddingley the line of demarcation stretches nearly due south, roughly following the
boundary of the Lias formation on the west as far as Tewkesbury, a distance of sixteen miles.
The district is a roughly triangular area, with its apex to the north, very irregular in the
south-east, and its southern base extending from point to point, with many breaks and in-
terruptions, some twenty-five miles from Tewkesbury to Daylesford.

In itselfthe district falls into three divisions : the valley of the Avon, where the marl of the
New Red Sandstone is met with ; the Lias division ; and the hills of Broadway and Bredon,
capped with inferior Oolite. At the northern apex of the Avon division, some three miles
to the east of Bromsgrove, there is at Tardebigge a large reservoir by the side of the
Birmingham canal, where a series of plants occurs remarkable enough to merit special mention.
It comprises Bidens tripartita, Butomus umbellatus, Campanula latifolia, Lepidium ruderale,
Lysimachia Nummuiaria, Malva moschata. Nasturtium amphibium, Paris quadrifo/ia, Sedum
Te/ephium, Sium angustifolium, Spiranthes autumnalis and Typha angustifolia . This is a part of
the district which is upon the measures of the New Red Sandstone, and the spot, though locally
in the Avon division, from its characteristics should more properly belong to the Lickey
division, which it adjoins.

The Lias district is separated from the marls of the valley of the Severn by a bold escarp-
ment facing westwards, behind which the limestone crops out in lower ridges possessing a
similar aspect, the faces of which are usually thickly clothed with trees and underwood, in
which Viburnum Lantana is plentiful. About Himbleton the meadows display Genista tinctoria
and Spiraa Filipendula. The Trench woods in this neighbourhood is an interesting botanical
locality, where are to be found Allium vineale, Bupleurum rotundifolium, Pimpinella major
and Poterium muricatum. At Crowle Lathyrus Aphaca has been gathered, and Lotus tenuis
occurs frequently ; while in the neighbourhood are to be found Cichorium Intybus, Cokhicum
autumnale. Daphne Laureola, Dipsacus sylvestris, Linaria Elatine and Sparganium ramosum.
About the Lenches, more to the east, occur AnthylUs vulneraria, Cnicus acaulis, Cnicus erio-
phorus, Hypopitys multiflora and Rosa rubiginosa ; and at the Slads, among Juniperus communis,
far removed from human habitation, grows Asparagus officinalis. Hippocrepis comosa, Ophrys
apifera, and Picris hieracioides are also to be found here, while in the neighbourhood Anagallis
carulea almost replaces A. arvensis. Between Evesham and Fladbury, Craycombe Hill rises
on the right bank of the Avon, and here have been gathered Astragalus glycyphyllos, Cuscuta
Epithymum, Galium tricorne, Lathyrus Aphaca, Lathyrus NissoUa and Samolus Valerandi. At
Tiddesley Wood, near Pershore, Agrimonia odorata and Lathyrus sylvestris occur. The con-
spicuous vegetation of the Avon itself includes Butomus umbellatus. Iris Pseud-acorus, Lysimachia
vulgaris, Lythrum Salicaria, Nuphar luteum. Polygonum amphihium, Phragmites communis, Rumex
hydrolapathum, Sagittaria sagittifolia and Scirpus lacustris ; while Limnanthemum peltatum is
found in the river near Eckington. In some low places in the Lias district saline springs yet
occur, the remains, perhaps, of a great salt marsh in times gone by. On DeflFord Common
Spergularia media occurs, and Scirpus maritimus has been gathered there. Smyrnium olusatrum
occurred at Badsey, but has now disappeared ; Apium graveolens, however, still lingers in the
ditches in the locality.

The far south-east of the county is pure Cotswold country. At Blockley, a detached
portion of the shire, Habenaria chlorantha and Neottia Nidus-avis occur ; and at Evenlode, a
more distant isolated portion, which and Daylesford, still further to the south-east, are the
only parts of Worcestershire which touch Oxfordshire and are in the watershed of the
Thames, Thlaspi perfoliatum has been noticed. Another detached portion in this vicinity in-
cludes Alderminster and Tredington, with the town of Shipston-upon-Stour, and here Cuscuta
Trifolii, Galium erectum, Gentiana amarella and Valerianella carinata, the latter perhaps extinct,
have been found, with other plants typical of the Lias formation.

At Broadway, situated on the Oolite, Arenaria tenuifolia, Brassica alba, Cerastium arvense
and Specularia hybrida have been recorded. There also occur here AnthylUs Vulneraria,
Campanula glomerata, Carlina vulgaris, Reseda lutea and Scabiosa Columbaria ; while Cnicus
acaulis grows commonly on the hilly wastes. Close to Broadway, at Snowshill, which however
is in Gloucestershire, Anemone Pulsatilla and Polypodium Robertianum occur, but it is doubtful
if they have ever overleapt the county boundary into Worcestershire. In its course towards
the Severn the Avon leaves on its left bank Bredon Hill, an outlier of the Cotswolds belonging
to the Oolitic formation. Characteristic of this eminence are Asperula cynanchica. Astragalus
hypoglottis, Brachypodium pinnatum, Calamintha Nepeta, Campanula glomerata, Cnicus acaulis,
Cnicus eriophorus, Hippocrepis comosa, Linaria minor, Onobrychis sativa, Potamogeton densus, Reseda
lutea, Scabiosa Columbaria, Spiraa Filipendula and Viburnum Lantana.

BOTANY

The following twenty-one plants are peculiar to the Avon district, not having been found
elsewhere in Worcestershire, and the first and last of them only doubtfully recorded. Anemone
Pulsatilla, Ranunculus tripartitus, Glaucium luteum, Thlaspi perfoliatum, Linuni angustifolium.
Astragalus hypoglottis, Hippocrepis comosa, Saxifraga hypnoides, Lythrum hyssopifolia, Asperula
cynanchica, Cnicus acaulis, Limnanthemum peltatum, Cuscuta epithymum, Calamintha Nepeta,
Chenopodium hybridum. Euphorbia platyphyllos, Buxus sempervirens, Alisma ranunculoides, Cladium
Mariscus, Festuca uniglumis and Polypodium Robertianum.

(ii.) The Severn district is a strip down the centre of the whole of the county, broad
in the north, where it extends from the western limit of Bewdley Forest to the point where
the Stour becomes the county boundary in the east ; from this point to Tardebigge it abuts
on the Lickey district ; and then turning south it is bounded as far as Tewkesbury by the
Avon district. Of the western side, the northern portion is irregular until the boundary meets
the Teme, after which it follows southward the course of that river and of the Severn, and the
district ends in a narrow point opposite Tewkesbury. The northern part is chiefly on the
New Red Sandstone, but by far the greater portion consists of the Red Marl.

There are several interesting botanical localities in this district. On the left bank of the
Severn at Hawford, the canal from Droitwich falls into the river. Between Hawford and
Dodderhill church may be found on its banks, or near thereto, Apium graveolens, Atriplex
laciniata, Carum segetum, Geranium perenne (in quantity on the railway embankments near
Droitwich railway station), Glaux maritima, Glyceria distans, Lepidium latifolium (abundantly
by the Salwarpe at Droitwich), Lepidium ruderale, Medicago maculata, Myosurus minimus {18^2),
Pimpinella major. Ranunculus parvijlorus, Saponaria officinalis, Senebiera Coronopus, Spergularia
salina, Triglochin palustre and Verhascum nigrum. Daphne Laureola and Lonicera Xylosteum
occur by the lake in Westwood Park. Valisneria spiralis, the occurrence of which cannot be
accounted for, was found shortly before 1877, inhabiting a pond in a brickyard at Northwick
near Worcester, but none remains in the county except in the form of specimens in the
Museum at Worcester.

Following up the left bank of the Severn to Stourport, in the angle between it and the
river Stour is Hartlebury Common, a wild space of land consisting of two distinct tracts — a
sandy waste at the top of a steep bluff, and a moor-like expanse at the bottom of it. The
sandy summit is covered with Calluna vulgaris, and here 'grow Botrychium Lunaria, Diplotaxis
tenutfoUa, Erodium maritimum, Hypocharis glabra, Lycopodium clavatum, L. inundatum, Ornithopus
perpusillus, Plantago Coronopus, Silene conica, Spergularia rubra and Teesdalia nudicaulis. The lower
portion of the common is a pallid similitude of a Highland moor, with similar peaty cracks
filled with stagnant water, and nourishing weak specimens of similar plants. Here are to be
found Drosera rotundifolia in abundance reddening the ground, Eriophorum polystachion,
Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Pedicularis palustris, and Viola palustris. One small pool is entirely
filled with a mass of Potentilla Comarum and Menyanthes trifoliata. On the drier parts of
the low ground, Anthemis nobilis, Marrubium vulgare, Sedum acre, Sisymbrium Sophia, Trifolium
striatum, T. scabrum and Fiola canina are to be found.

At Hoobrook, below Kidderminster, several streams converge on their way to the Stour.
One of these comes from Stanklin Pool, the one locality in the county where Parnassia
palustris still flourishes, and in abundance. About the pool grow also Agrimonia odorata,
Menyanthes trifoliata, Myriophyllum spicatum, Pedicularis palustris, Potentilla Comarum and
Typha angustifolia, and an Orchis once held to be 0. incarnata, but now referred to 0. latifolia.
By the side of the stream from this pool was the last known locality for Osmunda regalis in the
county. Another stream passes through the wild dingle called Fenny Rough, in which the
vegetation is most luxuriant. Here are Aquilegia vulgaris, Cardamine impatiens, Carex Bcen-
ninghauseniana, Convallaria majalis, and Polygonatum multiflorum. Above Kidderminster a
chain of pools stretches out towards the high land in the north-east ; Nuphar luteum occurs
in several of them, but Nymphaa alba is entirely absent. It was in one of these pools that
Elatine hexandra and E. hydropiper were once found. Near the northern boundary of the
county in the neighbourhood of Blakeshall a sandy, heather-covered common extends for some
distance, near which Cotyledon Umbilicus and Erodium maritimum are to be found. Habberley
Valley, some two miles north-west from Kidderminster, is an interesting spot ; Cotyledon
Umbilicus is found here also, and in the neighbourhood Botrychium Lunaria, Erodium maritimum
and Verhascum virgatum are recorded.

The banks of the Severn and its neighbouring pools afford Brassica nigra, Carex Pseudo-
cyperus, Geranium pratense, Hypericum quadrangulum, CEnanthe Phellandrium, Scirpus sylvaticus

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

and ThaUctrum flavum. Sometimes these banks are fringed with woods, in which Pyrus
torminalis occurs. Nasturtium sylvestre is often conspicuous by the water's edge, and many rare
Carices lurk in the ditches near the river, such as Carex ampullacea, C. axillaris, C. hinervis,
C. canescens, C. disticha, C. elongata, C.fulva, C. strigosa and C. vesicaria. Among the grasses
of the meadows by the Severn are found Avena pubescens, Brotnus commutatus, Bromus madri-
tensis, Festuca loliacea, Hordeum pratense, Phalaris canadensis, Poa compressa and Setaria glauca.
The western bank of the river above Worcester shows several large woods. In Astley Wood
Galanthus nivalis has been found, and near Shrawley church Tulipa syhestris. In Shrawley
Wood occurs Aquilegia vulgaris, Convallaria majalis, Dipsacus pilosus, Orobanche major, Pyrola
minor, Sedum Telephium, and Ficia sylvatica ; while Tilia parvifolia forms much of the under-
growth. Higher up the river near Stourport Geranium phaeum occurs ; and still more to the
north, above Bewdley, Coronilla varia is plentiful by the river side, where it has been known
for fifty years or more, in a spot which by the alteration of the county boundary has lately
been taken into Worcestershire.

Here, on the confines of the county, is situated Bewdley or Wyre Forest, spreading over
both sides of Dowles Brook, which divides Worcestershire from Shropshire. Geraniutn sangui-
neum occurs on the Shropshire side of the brook, but has not been known for many years to
have crossed the stream into Worcestershire. Among the plants which have been found in
this district are Aquilegia vulgaris, Botrychium Lunaria, Carex montana, Convallaria majalis,
Cephalanthera ensifoUa, Doronicum Pardalianches, Echium vulgare, Epipactis palustris, Eriophorum
latifolium, Gentiana campestris. Geranium sylvaticum, Hyoscyamus niger, Lithospermum officinale,
Lycopodium clavatum, Melica nutans, Nartheciu?n ossifragum, Ornithogalum umbellatum, Pyrola
rotundifolia, Rosa rubiginosa, Ruhus saxatilis, ThaUctrum minus, Triglochin palustre and Tulipa
syhestris. Spiraa salicifolia formerly grew in a naturalized condition by the side of Dowles
Brook, but has now disappeared ; and Spiranthes aestivalis has also gone from the locality.

Some eighty plants have been recorded for the Severn district which have not been found
elsewhere in Worcestershire ; and among them, besides several of those mentioned in the
above lists, are Ranunculus Lingua, Crepis paludosa, Lactuca virosa, JVahlenbergia hederacea, Ver-
hascum Lychnitis, Utricularia minor. Crocus vernus, Sparganium natans, Carex digitata, Festuca
sylvatica and what has been recorded as Lycopodium complanatum, though it is now contended
that no true L, complanatum has been found in Britain.

(iii.) The Malvern district is a band of uneven width, following the western boundary
of the county down its entire length from north to south, possessing a varied geological struc-
ture, and comprising, as well as the heights of Malvern, a considerable portion of the valley of
the Teme after that river enters the county in the north. The eastern limit of this district is
the western boundary of the Severn district for the whole of its length. The Malvern Hills
run parallel with the average course of the Severn for a distance of nine miles, some four miles
west of the river ; they rise suddenly from the lower land, which was formerly unenclosed
and known as Malvern Chase. Though the greater part of the chase has been enclosed and
cultivated much of it is still wet and waste. Apium inundatum, Bupleurum tennissimum,
Epilohium roseum, E. virgatum, Heleocharis acicularis, H. multicaulis, Limosella aquatica,
Lemna gibba, Mentha piperata, M. pulegium, Myriophyllum alterniflorum, CEnanthe Lachenalii,
CE. peucedanifolia, Peplis Portula, Polygonum minus, Pulicaria vulgaris, Scirpus Caricis,
S. fluitans, S. sctaceus, Triglochin palustre and ZannichelUa palustris have been recorded for
this district. On the hills themselves, which are for the most part bare of any conspicu-
ous vegetation, are Cardamine impatiens, Corydalis claviculata. Cotyledon Umbilicus, Geranium
lucidum and Spergularia rubra. Digitalis purpurea is sometimes a feature in the summer, and
Myosotis versicolor is plentiful in the spring ; while Ornithopus perpusillus and Hypericum
humifusum are common. Both Erica cinerea and E. tetralix are wanting on the Malvern
Hills, and Culluna vulgaris becomes rare in the southern part of Worcestershire ; the southern-
most station in the county for Erica tetralix is Broadheath near Worcester. Narcissus Pseudo-
narcissus is plentiful in the meadows on the west and south of the hills. On the north hill
Sedum album occurred, but is now almost certainly gone. Rarer plants that have been met
with in the district are Centunculus minimus, Gagea lutea, Lactuca scariola, Lathyrus syhestris
and Orobanche elatior. The high land to the north of the Malvern chain is in many places
thickly covered with wood, which consists chiefly of oak and hazel, but contains also a con-
sideraisle quantity of Tilia parvifolia and T. platyphyllos. Betula alba predominates in some
places. Prunus Avium is very common, and Populus tremula is generally distributed. Fagus
sylvatica, Pyrus Aria and Carpinus Betulus are entirely absent as native trees from the Malvern

BOTANY

district. Daphne Laureola occurs in these woods ; and also Habenaria chlorantha^ Neoitia
Nidus-avis, and Paris quadrifolia.

Up the valley of the Teme the county extends an arm to the west which enters Here-
fordshire. At Berrington, near the extreme western point, Inula Helenium flourishes.
Damasonium stellatum has been found by the side of a pool near Tenbury, and Jconitum
Napellus is recorded from Eastham. About Pensax, on the left bank of the Teme, Narcissus
Pseudo-narcissus occurs in an apparently indigenous condition. Further to the south, on the
same bank of the river, is Martley, where Anthyllus vulneraria, Bromus erectus, Onobrychis
sativa and Ophrys apifera occur, the two former in considerable quantity. At Rosebury Rock
are to be found Cotyledon Umbilicus, Lathraa Squamaria and Pulmonaria officinalis ; below
Knightsford Bridge the valley of the Teme opens out ; at Broadwas Trifolium ochroleucum and
Lathyrus Aphaca have been gathered, and at Leigh Epipactis purpurata is by no means rare in
the neighbourhood. Besides the plants that have been mentioned, the following occur in the
district : Jquilegia vulgaris, Campanula Trachelium, Cardamine impatiens, Chrysosplenium alterni-
folium, Helleborus fcetidus, H. viridis, Hesperis matronalis, Mentha viridis, Myrrhis odorata.
Narcissus bifiorus, Rumex acutus and Vinca minor, the latter in some quantity.

Including varieties there are 114 plants which have been recorded for the county only in
the Malvern division, but of two of them, Eriophorum gracile and Polypodium Phegopteris, the
record is doubtful. Many casuals are brought into the district with the manures used in the
hop-yards.

(iv.) The LiCKEY district is formed of the north-eastern corner of the county, and is of
varied geological structure, its southern boundary starting at Headless Cross near Redditch,
continuing in a direction a little to the north of west by Bromsgrove to Chaddesley Corbett,
and thence passing north to Stourbridge. The Randans and Pepperwood are in this district,
large extents of woodland in a natural state. In the Randans a struggling plant of Lycopodium
clavatum was observed some years ago ; and in Chaddesley Wood, part of the larger Randans,
occurs Pulmonaria officinalis, apparently in a perfectly wild condition, with Paris quadrifolia,
Viola Reichenbachiana and Viola palustris. In one locality Lathnea Squamaria is fairly
abundant.

The Lickey Hills, whence the Salwarpe river rises, form a portion of the water-parting
of central England, the streams to the west reaching the Severn, those to the north-east reach-
ing the Trent, and those from the south-eastern portion joining the Arrow, and so flowing
into the Avon. Several rare plants still linger on the hill-sides and about the large reservoirs
which feed the Birmingham Canal, and whose overflow runs into the Arrow. The hills are
densely covered with Calluna vulgaris. Erica cinerea and Vaccinium Myrtillus, among which
occurs Rubus Sprengelii ; and in the locality occur Equisetum maximum. Geranium lucidum,
Hydrocotyle vulgaris, Myosotis repens, Solidago virgaurea and Trifolium filiforme. The woods
contain Betula alba, Pyrus Aucuparia, and quantities of Ilex aquifolium. Several forms of
Rubus are to be found, with some quantity of Rubus Idaus. In the neighbourhood are Calli-
triche verna, Corydalis claviculata, Epilobium angustifolium, Epipactis purpurata, var. media,
Equisetum sylvaticum. Geranium columbinum, Geum rivale, Habenaria viridis, Lomaria Spicant,
Malva moschata, Myrrhis odorata, Nephrodium Oreopteris and Viola palustris. Near the reser-
voirs have been found Heleocharis acicularis, Limosella aquatica, Littorella lacustris, Rumex
Hydrolapathum, Salix triandra and Sagittaria sagittifolia ; while about Alvechurch Anagallis
tenella, Equisetum sylvaticum. Euphorbia amygdaloides, Fritillaria meleagris, Hydrocotyle vulgaris,
Lathyrus Nissolia, Veronica Anagallis and Viola palustris have been noticed.

One of the streams which fall into the Stour below Hoobrook comes from Harvington
Hall, in the moat about which grows Acorus Calamus. In the more northern parts of this
district the characteristic plants are Arabis perfoliata. Campanula patula. Erysimum cheiranthoides.
Geranium columbinum, Ornithopus perpusillus, Potentilla argentea, Saxifraga granulata, Senecio
sylvaticus, Spergularia rubra, Trifolium arvense and Verbascum nigrum. On the hills of Clent
are Cerastium quaternellum, Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus, Cytisus scoparius, Hypericum humifusum
and Linaria repens. On parts of this range of hills Ranunculus parviflorus occurs in the greatest
abundance, sometimes forming large tufts ; of late years it has been spreading along the higher
parts, towards the north-east, in great quantity. Doronicum Pardalianches occurs at Hagley
and Clent, and with it at Hagley flourished Borago officinalis, which has now perhaps dis-
appeared ; and in Hagley Hall garden Chenopodium rubrum is always present as a weed.
There is no heather of any kind on the Clent hills, though heaths flourish in the sandy lanes
at their feet to the southward. Nor on the higher parts of this district is any IJlex Europeea

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

to be found. In the valleys between the hills occur Adoxa Moschatellina, Allium ursinum,
Asperula odorata. Campanula latifolia, Cardamine amara, C. impatiem, Chrymplenium alterni-
folium, Epipactls purpurata, var. media, Geum rivale and Myoioin sylvatica. On the upland
pastures is Ophioglossum vulgatum, which, however, is not confined to the hills, but grows
freely in several localities. In the valley between Clent and Walton hills Scrophularia
umbrosa has been located, and at its mouth Cotyledon Umbilicus and Erodium maritimum re-
corded, neither of which is now to be found there. Deep ravines have been cut through the
softer measures by the numerous streams, and for the most part these are shaded by belts of
woodland. Here are to be found Agrimonia odorata, Carex pallescens, Chlora perfoliata,
Erythriea Centaurium, Dipsacus pilosus, Geum rivale, Genista tinctoria, Hahenaria conopsea,
Lathraa squamaria. Ononis spinosa, Paris quadrifolia, Senecio Erucafolius and Trifolium medium.
Equisetum Hyemale occurs at Frankley, Carlina vulgaris on nearly the highest part of the slope
near St. Kenelm's church, and Sagittaria sagittifolia and Butomus umbellatus in the canal at
Halesowen.

The island of Worcestershire constituting Dudley, situated outside the north-west portion
of this district, is chiefly given up to pit mounds and ironworks, forming part of the Black
Country, and therefore it does not afford good botanizing ground. In the north part of this
island an intrusive arm of Staffordshire includes the limestone hill on which Dudley Castle is
situated, and .robs this district of Atropa Belladonna, which is always to be found in the Castle
courtyard.

On the north-eastern slopes of the Clent Hills the streams run into the Rea, while
Yardley, the extreme north-easterly parish of Worcestershire, drains into the Cole. This
parish formerly contained many rare plants, but the proximity of growing Birmingham has
changed its character. There have been found there Butomus umbellatus, Cardamine amara,
Carex Goodenovii, Carex vesicaria. Nasturtium amphibium, and Ranunculus heterophyllus, vars.
peltatus and pseudo-fluitans.

Twenty-nine plants are peculiar to the Lickey district, not having been recorded else-
where in the county ; one of them, Claytonia perfoliata, probably by this time having
established itself in the other districts also, has lately been seen near Worcester.

ACOTYLEDONES
Ferns, Horsetails and Club-Mosses

Some few of these plants have been mentioned while dealing with the Botanical Districts
into which Worcestershire is divided. Twenty-five kinds of ferns have been recorded for
Worcestershire, but of these several are now extinct, and one, Polypodium Phegopteris, is only
doubtfully reported from the Teme valley, and another, Polypodium Robertianum, quite as
doubtfully from Broadway. Polypodium Dryopteris is possibly extinct in all its old Worcestershire
localities, but one plant has lately been seen in Pepperwood, Belbroughton. Osmunda regain
once grew at Moseley, and to a later time maintained its existence near Kidderminster, but
has now disappeared. Cryptogramme crispa was at one time to be found on the Herefordshire
Beacon at Malvern, but only one plant remained in 1 851. Cystopteris fragilis, recorded in
all the districts except Malvern, has possibly disappeared, or lingers only on Bredon Hill.
Aspknium viride grew on Ham Bridge across the Teme up to 1853, when it was destroyed
during some repairs to that structure. Near Bell End, in the Lickey district, Nephrodium
Oreopteris flourishes exceedingly, the fronds in some instances being four feet long. One fine
patch of this fern was unfortunately discovered some years ago by a peripatetic fern-gatherer,
and was entirely swept away, doubtless to be sold for sixpence a root in Birmingham Market
Hall. This fern occurs in all the districts except Avon, but is quite rare. Asplenium Ceterach
is a rare fern throughout the county, but in the Lickey district is widely distributed, though
growing only sparsely where it is found. Asplenium Ruta-muraria is common, and reaches an
abundant development on the wall that surrounds Lea Castle, in Wolverley. The hart's-
tongue, Scolopendriu/n vulgare, is by no means common, but grows finely at Rosebury Rock,
in the valley of the Teme. In the northern part of the county it is only to be seen in a
stunted condition on some dry wall, or lining the inside of a well in the Red Sandstone, while
in the extreme north-east it is nearly unknown. Asplenium Adiantum-tiigrum, though gener-
ally distributed, is seldom seen ; and Lomaria Spicant, which formerly occurred abundantly in
the Lickey district, and on the higher parts of the district of Severn and Malvern, is becoming
less frequent. It is not reported from the Avon district. Aspidium lobatum is becoming rare

BOTANY

in all its localities, but Aspidium angulare is finely developed in some of the water-worn ravines
that are found in the Lickey district.

The more common ferns of Britain are very abundant, especially Nephrodium Filix-mas,
Polypodium vulgare, and Pteris aquilina. Polypody sometimes fringes in great quantities the
banks of the deep-cut lanes in the red sandstone, and bracken grows to a great height in many
of the woods in the Severn district. Nephrodium dilatatum is common in moist woods, and
Nephrodium spinulosum occurs frequently in coppices on drier soil. The lady-fern, Asplenium
Filix-fcemina, is frequently found in such damp places as it loves ; but the most widely diffused
fern in the county is the male-fern, Nephrodium Filix-mas. Ophioglossum vulgatum is common
in the upland meadows of the Lickey district, and is fairly abundant elsewhere. Botrychium
Lunaria has also been recorded in every district. This fern formerly grew in quantity and
very finely on the upper Lickey, but disappeared ; it has just been rediscovered in its former
locality after an absence of twenty-three years. It exists also in other places in the same
neighbourhood.

The Horse-tails are well represented in Worcestershire, Equisetum arvense indeed in
many cases too much so, being an ineradicable field weed, especially in the sandy districts.
Equisetum maximum perhaps attains its highest development in Fenny Rough in the Severn
district, where its luxuriance is truly tropical. Equisetum hyemale is reported in all the districts
except Avon ; in the Lickey district it has been discovered in two localities, and as well grew
formerly at Moseley Bog.

Of the four club-mosses recorded for Worcestershire two are extinct. These are Lyco-
podium Se/ago, which formerly grew at Moseley, and Lycopodium complanatum, which was
gathered in 1836 on Hartlebury common, and of which the specimen still exists, though
it is now contended that it is not true L. complanatum. The stag's-horn club-moss, Lycopodium
clavatum, grows also on Hartlebury common, but is less abundant than formerly was the case.
It has also been found on the upper Lickey, in Bewdley Forest, and at the Randans ; and on
Walton Hill, in Clent, it maintained a struggling existence till 1882, when the turves on which
it was growing were taken by a rustic to mend a neighbouring hedge-bank. Lycopodium inun-
datum still occurs on Hartlebury Common.

A COMPLETE LIST OF THE PLANTS OF
WORCESTERSHIRE

OBSERVATIONS
The order and nomenclature of this list are those of Sir J. D. Hooker's Student's
Flora, 3rd edition, 1884. The numbers after the names of species are taken from the
London Catalogue of British Plants, 9th edition, 1895, and are intended to form a scale of
rarity, or frequency, in relation to Britain as a whole, expressing the number of counties or
county divisions, 112 in all, in which the species has been reported to occur, as set out in
Watson's Topographical Botany, 2nd edition, 1883. The letter C or I indicates that the plant
occurs in a wild state only in the Channel Islands or Ireland respectively.

A, Avon District ; 5, Severn District ; M, Malvern District ; L, Lickey District.

* Extinct plants ; t Doubtful for any cause ; % Not native ; § Require recent confirma-
tion.

These marks when necessary are affixed to the localization of the plants in the several
districts, but must not be taken to be exhaustive in any sense.

The numbers before the names of orders are those of the Student's Flora.

This list of Worcestershire plants has been taken chiefly from Mr. Edwin Lees's Botany
of Worcestershire (1867), so carefully analyzed by Mr. William Mathews in vols. x. to xvi.
(1887-93) of the Midland Naturalist, with additions from the Transactions of the Worcester-
shire Naturalists' Club, and the Reports of the Botanical Exchange Club ; and from the
observations of Mr. J. E. Bagnall, Mr. John Humphreys, Mr. Carleton Rea, and Mr.
R, F. Towndrow, from all of whom I have received great assistance in forming this list.

There are six plants marked in this list as belonging to Worcestershire for which no
districts are assigned. These are Arabis hirsuta, Cerastium pumilum, Cerastium tetrandrum,

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Cicuta viroia and Valerianella Auricula. These do not appear in the h'st given in Mr. Lees'
book, though they are all located in Worcestershire, four of them with Mr. Lees* name
appended, in Watson's Topographical Botany. Another plant which requires special mention
is Potamogeton preelongm. This is not marked in Mr. Lees' list, but with a note of interroga-
tion after it is given for Worcestershire in the Topographical Botany. Ranunculus marinus,
Rosa stylosa and Betula glutinosa, also have no districts assigned to them, since only the
varieties given are found in the county. In appendix B, for the most part, only the varieties
are localized.

In three appendixes are given : (A) those species excluded by Sir Joseph Hooker,
but placed by him in an appendix to his Flora, which have been recorded for Wor-
cestershire ; (B) Plants and some Rubi, not mentioned by Sir Joseph Hooker, but given in
the 9th edition of the London Catalogue, being chiefly hybrids and varieties found in the
Malvern district, the records having been supplied by Mr. R. F. Towndrow ; and (C) a
list of casuals and a few hybrids not mentioned either in the Student's Flora or the
London Catalogue. The Malvern district records in this also have been supplied by Mr.
R. F. Towndrow.

This list is complete to the end of December, 1900.

1. Ranunculace^
Clematis, L.

— Vitalba, L. — 49 ....
Thalictrum, L.

— minus, L. — 36 ....

— flavum, L. — 69 ....

var. sphaerocarpum, Lej. .
Anemone, L.

— Pulsatilla, L.— 18 . . .

— nemorosa, L. — 108 . . .
Adonis, L.

— autumnalis, L. — 6.
Myosurus, L.

— minimus, L. — 44 ....
Ranunculus, L.

— heterophyllus, Fries. — 43.

var. peltatus. Fries.

var. pseudo-fluitans, Bab. .

— marinus. Fries

var. Baudotii, Godr. — 45 .

— fluitans, Lamk. — 56 . . .

— trichophyllus, Chaix. — 52 .

var. Drouettii, F. Schultz ?

— circinatus, Sibth. — 60

— tripartitus, DC. — 13 .

— lenormandi, F. Schultz-

— hederaceus, L. — 105 .

— Lingua, L. — 8 1

— Flammula, L. — 112 .

— auricomus, L. — 87

— sceleratus, L. — 100 .

— acris, L. — 112.

— repens, L. — 112 .

— bulbosus, L. — 102

— hirsutus, Curtis

— arvensis, L. — 68 .

— parviflorus, L. — 58

— Ficaria, L. — 1 10 . .

var. incumbens, F. Schultz
Caltha, L.

— palustris, L. — 112.

var. Guerangerii, Boreau .
Helleborus, L.

— viridis, L. — 28

S
S

M
M

M
M*

M
M

L
L

Helleborus foetidus, L. — 16
Eranthis, Salisb.

— hyemalis, Salisb. .
Aquilegia, L.

— vulgaris, L. — 60 .
Delphinium, L.

— Ajacis, Reichb. . .
Aconitum, L.

— Napellus, L. — 7 . .

2. Berberide^
Berberis, L.

— vulgaris, L. — 82 . .

3. NYMPH.ffi;ACE.iE

Nuphar, Smith

— luteum, Sm. — 91 .
Nymphasa, L.

— alba, L.— 88 . . .

4. Papaveraceje
Papaver, L.

— hybridum, L. — 40

— Argemone, L. — 87 .

— dubium, L. — 104. . . .

var. Lecoqii, Lamotte — 22

— Rhceas, L. — 104 . . . .

var. strigosum, Boenn.

— somniferum, L

Chelidonium, L.

— majus, L. — 96 . . . .
Glaucium, Hall

— luteum, Scop. — 52 . . .

5. Fumariaceje
Fumaria, L.

— capreolata, L. — 32

sub-sp. confusa, Jord. — 47
sub-sp. muralis. Sender .

— officinalis, L. — 106 .

— parviflora, Lam. — 2 1 .

sub-sp.VaiIlantii,Lois. — 13
Corydalis, DC.

— daviculata, N.E.Br.— 87. .

A*X

s*t

Mi'

M
M

M
M
M

s
s

BOTANY

Corydalis lutea. Scop.
— solida. Hook. .

6. Crucifer^
Cheiranthus, L.

— Cheiri, L . . . .
Nasturtium, L.

— officinale, Br. — 112 .

var. siifolium, Reichb,

— sylvestre, Br. — 63 .

— palustre, DC. — 84. .

— amphibium, Br. — 46 .
Barbarea, Br.

— vulgaris, Br. — 97 . . .

var. arcuata, Reichb. — ?

sub-sp. stricta, Andrz. — I 2

sub-sp. intermedia, Boreau

— 13 ....

— praecox, Br

Arabis, Linn.

— hirsuta, Br. — 96 .

— perfoliata. Lam. — 38.
Cardamine, L.

— hirsuta, L. — no . . .

sub. sp. flexuosa, With
lOI

— pratensis, L. — 112

— amara, L. — 75. . . .

— impatiens, L. — 27.
Sisymbrium, L.

— Thalianum, J. Gay — 99 .

— Irio, L. — I

— Sophia, L. — 64 .

— officinale, Scop.- — iio

— Alliaria, Scop. — 99 . .
Erysimum, L.

— cheiranthoides, L. — 38 .
Hesperis, L.

— matronalis

Brassica, L.

— campestris, L. .

var. Napus, L,
var. sylvestris, H. C,
var. Briggsii, H. C

— monensis, Huds. — 16

sub-sp. Cheiranthus

— c.

— • nigra, Koch. — 112

— Sinapis, Visiani. — 82

— alba, Boiss. — 82 .
Diplotaxis, DC.

— tenuifolia, DC. — 41

— muralis, DC. — 53.
Erophila, DC.

— vulgaris, DC. — 104

— brachycarpa, Jord. — 33
Alyssum, L.

— calycinum, L .

— maritimum, L.
Cochlearia, L.

— Armoracia, L .
Camelina, Crantz

— sativa, Crantz .
Capsella, Moench

Wats,
Wats,

Vill

MX
MX

M
M

MX
M
M

s
s

M
M

Capsella Bursa-Pastoris, Moench

Senebiera, DC.

— didyma, Persoon — 45.

— Coronopus, Poiret — 81
Lepidium, L.

— latifolium, L. — 19.

— ruderale, L. — 38 . .

— campestre, R. Br. — 86

sub-sp. Smithii, Hook. -

— Draba, L

Thlaspi, L.

— arvense, L. — 84 .

— perfoliatum, L. — 4 .
Iberis, L.

— amara, L. — 14. . .
Teesdalia, Br.

— nudicaulis, Br. — 72 .
Raphanus, L.

— Raphanistrum, L. — no

7. RESEDACE.ffi:

Reseda, L.

— Luteola, L. — 95 .

— lutea, L. — 53 .

— alba, L

8. CisTiNE.ffi:
Helianthemum, Tourn.

— vulgare, Gaertn. — 92 .

9. VlOLACE^

Viola, L.

— palustris, L. — 104

— odorata, L. — 80 . . . .

— hirta, L. — 72

— canina, L. — 67 . . . .

— sylvatica, Fries. — 100

sub-sp. Reichenbachiana,
Bor

— tricolor, L. — 112. . .

sub-sp. arvensis, Murr. —
100 f

10. P0LYGALE.K
Polygala, L.

— vulgaris, L. — 79 . . . .
sub-sp. oxyptera, Reichb.

—35

sub-sp. depressa, Wend.

—91

12. CARVOPHYLLE.ffi

-48

Dianthus, L.

— Armeria, L.-

— prolifer, L. — 8. .

— deltoides, L. — S 5 . . .
Saponaria, L.

— officinalis, L

Silene, L.

— Cucubalus, Wibel. — 104.

var. puberula, Syme .

— conica, L. — 1 1 . . .

— anglica, L. — 57 . . .

M
M

S
S

M
M
M

M
M

s
s

M
M

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Silene nutans, L. — 1 6

— noctiflora, L. — 44
Lychnis, L.

— Flos-cuculi, L. — 112. .

— diurna, Sibth. — 1 11.

— vespertina, Sibth. — 102 .
Githago, Desfont.

— segetum, Desfont. — 100.
Cerastium, L.

— quaternellum, Fenzl. — 5 1

— tetrandrum, Curtis — 75

— pumilum, Curtis — 10

— semidecandrum, L. — 87

— glomeratum, Thuill. — 1

— triviale. Link — 112 .

— arvense, L. — 69 .
Stellaria, L.

— aquatica, Scop. — 57 .

— nemorum, L. — 47

— media, Vill. — 1 12

sub-sp.umbrosa,Opi2.-
var. neglecta, Weihe

— Holostea, L. — 109 .

— palustris, Ehrh. — 54 .

— graminea, L. — 109 .

— uliginosa, Murr. — 1 10
Arenaria, L.

— tenuifolia, L. — 34.

— trinervia, L. — 100

— serpyllifolia, L. — 1 10

var. leptoclados, Guss.
Sagina, L

— apetala, L. — 70 .

sub-sp. ciliata, Fr. — 66

— procumbens, L. — 112

— nodosa, Fenzl. — 98 .
Spergula, L.

— arvensis, L. — I 12 .

var. sativa, Boenn. .
Spergularia, Persoon

— rubra. Pars. — 97 .

— salina, Pers. — 45 .

— media, Pers. — 44 .

13. PoRTULACE^E

Montia, L.

— fontana, L. — 108 .

var. minor, Gmel. .
Claytonia, L.

— perfoliata, Don. . .

14. ELATINEiE

Elatine, L.

— hexandra, DC. — 2 1 . .

— Hydropiper, L. — 3 . .

15. Hypericine^
Hypericum, L.

— Androsaemum, L. — 80.

— calycinum, L

— perforatum, L. — 10 1.

var. angustifolium, Bab.

— quadrangulum, L. — 76 .

— tetrapterum. Fries. — 102

s
s

M
M

Hypericum humifusum, L. — 98.

— pulchrum, L. — ill . . .

— hirsutum, L. — 89. . .

— montanum, L. — 45 . . .

— elodes, L. — 61.

16. Malvace.*
Malva, L.

— sylvestris, L. — 96 . . . .

— rotundifolia, L. — 83 . . .

— moschata, L. — 88. . . .

17. TiLIACEJE

Tilia, L.

— parvifolia, Ehrh. — 18. . .

— platyphyllos. Scop. — 3 . .

— vulgaris, Hayne . . . .

18. LlNE^
Linum, L.

— catharticum, L. — 112 . .

— angustifolium, Huds. — 36 .

— usitatissimum, L

Radiola, Gmelin

— linoides. Roth — 84 . . .

19. Geraniace^e
Geranium, L.

— sanguineum, L. 63

— sylvaticum, L. — 56

— pratense, L. — 90 .

— perenne, Huds. — 58

— phasum, L. . . .

— molle, L. — 1 12 .

— rotundifolium, L. — 2

— pusillum, L. — 79 .

— columbinum, L. — 76

— dissectum, L. — iio

— Robertianum, L. — 1 1

— lucidum, L. — 93 .
Erodium, L'Herit.

— cicutarium, L'Herit.-

— moschatum, L'Herit. — 11

— maritimum, L'Herit. — 33
Oxalis, L.

— Acetosella, L.-

104

•109 .

20. IlICINEjS

Ilex, L.

— Aquifolium, L. — 105.

22. Celastrine«
Euonymus, L.

— europasus, L. — 74. .

23. Rhamne^
Rhamnus, L.

— catharticus, L. — 57 .

— Frangula, L. — 63 . .

24. Sapindace«
Acer, L.

— campestre, L. — 62
— ■ Pseudo-platanus, L. .

s
s

BOTANY

25. LEGUMlNOSil

Vicia sativa, L

Genista, L.

— angustifolia, L. — 92 . . .

— anglica, L.— 86 ....

var. Bobartii, Koch. . .

— pilosa, L. — 6

— lathyroides, L. — 54 . . .

— tinctoria, L. — 76 ....

— bithynica, L.— 18 . . .

Ulex, L.

Lathyrus, L.

— europaeus, L. — 112 . . .

— Aphaca, L. — 27 . . . .

— nanus, Forster — 27 . . .

— Nissolia, L. — 40 ....

sub-sp.Gallii, Planch.— 5 5

— pratensis, L.— 112 . . .

Cytisus, L.

— sylvestris, L. — 62 ....

— scoparius, Link — 109. . .

— palustris, L. — 20 ....

Ononis, L.

— macrorrhizus, Wimm. — 107

— spinosa, L. — 71 ....

26. Rosacea

sub-sp. repens, L. — 100 .

Prunus, L.

Trigonella, L.

— communis, Huds. — 108 . .

— ornithopodioides, DC— 29 .

sub-sp. insititia.Huds. — 65

Medicago, L.

sub-sp. domestica, L. . .

— sativa, L

— Cerasus, L. — 33 . . . .

— lupulina, L.— 105 . . .

— Avium, L. — 97 ....

— denticulata, Willd.— 20 . .

Spira:a, L.

var. apiculata, Willd. . .

— Ulmaria, L. — 112 . . .

— maculata, Sibth. — 43 . . .

— Filipendula, L. — 63 . . .

Melilotus, Hall

— salicifolia, L

— altissima, Thuill. — 72 . .

Rubus, L.

— alba, Desr.- 40 ....

— saxatilis, L. — 67 ....

— officinalis, Desr

— Idaeus, L — I lo . . . .

Trifolium, L.

— fruticosus, L

— arvense, L. — 94 ....

sub-sp. suberectus, Anders.

— incarnatum, L

var. plicatus, W. and N. .

— ochroleucum, L. — 1 1 . .

sub-sp. rhamnifoIius,W.S;N.

— pratense, L. — 112 . . .

var. incurvatus, Bab. .

var. parviflora, Bab. . .

sub-sp. Lindleianus, Lees .

— medium, L. — 106 . . .

sub-sp. corylifolius, Sm. .

— striatum, L. — 74 ....

var. sublustris Lees. . .

— scabrum, L. — 49 ....

var. Balfourianus, Blox

— hybridum, L

sub-sp. caesius, L. . . .

— repens, L. — 112 ....

var. tenuis. Bell. Salt. . .

— fragiferum, L. — 72 . . .

sub-sp. discolor, W. and N.

— procumbens, L. — 105 . .

var. thyrsoideus, Wimm. .

— dubium, Sibth. — 109 . .

sub-sp. leucostachys, Sm. .

— filiforme, L. — 64 ....

sub-sp. villicaulis, Weihe .

Anthyllis, L.

sub-sp. Salteri, Bab. . .

— Vulneraria, L. — loj . . .

sub-sp. umbrosus, Arrh. .

Lotus, L.

sub-sp. macrophyllus, Weihe

— corniculatus, L. — 112 . .

sub-sp.mucronulatus, Boreai

sub-sp. tenuis, Waldst. &

sub-sp. Sprengelii, Weihe

Kit.— 66

sub-sp. dumetorum, Weihe

— uliginosus, Schkuhr. — 100 .

var. tuberculatus, Bab.

Astragalus, L.

var. diversifolius, Lindl. .

— hypoglottis, L.— 41 . . .

sub-sp. radula, Weihe . .

— glycyphyllos, L.— 64 . . .

sub-sp. Bloxami, Lees . .

Ornithopus, L.

var. scaber, Weihe . . .

— perpusillus, L. — 83 . . .

var. fusco-ater, Weihe . .

Hippocrepis, L.

sub-sp. Koehleri, Weihe .

— comosa, L. — 45 ....

var. infestus, Weihe . .

Onobrychis, L.

sub-sp. Hystrix, Weihe .

— sativa, Lamk. — 30 . . .

var. rosaceus, Weihe . .

Vicia, L.

sub-sp. pallidus, Weihe .

— tetrasperma, Moench — 74 .

var. foliosus, Weihe . .

— hirsuta. Gray — 109 . . .

var. hirtus, Weihe . . .

sub-sp. gracilis, Loisel.— 24

sub-sp. glandulosus. Bell .

— Cracca, L.— 112 . . . .

var. bellardi, Weihe . .

— sylvatica, L.— 78 ....

var. rotundifolius, Blox. .

— sepium, L. — no . . . .

sub-sp. pyramidalis, Bab. .

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Geum, L.

— urbanum, L. — 107 .

— rivale, L. — 93 ....

— intermedium, Ehrh. — 57
Fragaria, L.

— vesca, L. — 1 11 ...

— elatior, Ehrh

Potentilla, L.

— Comarum, Nestl. — 99

— Tormentilla, Scop. — 112

sub-sp. procumbens, Sibth

— reptans, L. — 95 . . .

— verna, L. — 22 ....

— anserina, L. — 112. . .

— Fragariastrum, Ehrh. — 106

— argentea, L. — 57 .
Alchemilla, L.

— • arvensis, Scop. — 111 .

— vulgaris, L. — 107 . . .
Agrimonia, L.

— Eupatoria, L. — 105 . . .

sub-sp. odorata, Mill. — 44
Poterium, L.

— Sanguisorba, L. — 74 .

— muricatum, Spach.

— officinale. Hook, fil. — 64
Rosa, L.

— spinosissima, L. — 94 .

— villosa, L.

sub.-sp. mollis, Sm.
sub-sp. tomentosa, Sm
var. scabriuscula, Sm.

— involuta, Sm. .

var. Sabini, Woods
var. Doniana, Woods

— rubiginosa, L. — 62

sub-sp. micrantha, Sm,
sub-sp. agrestis, Savi.
var. inodora, Fries.

— canina, L. — 112 .

— f. lutetiana, Leman .

— f. urbica, Leman . .

var. arvatica. Baker

— f. dumetorum, Thuill.

— f. andevagensis, Bast. .

var. verticillacanth

— arvensis, Huds. — 69 .

var. bibracteata, Bast,
sub-sp. stylosa, Bast,
var. systyla. Bast. .
Pyrus, L.

— torminalis, Ehrh. — 50

— Aria, Ehrh. — 50 . .

— Aucuparia, Ehrh. — 108

— communis, L. — 49 .

var. Pyraster, L.
var. Achras, Ga:rt.

— Malus, L.— 88 . .

var. acerba, DC.
var. mitis, Wallr. .
Cratasgus, L.

— Oxyacantha, L. — 1 1 1

sub-sp. monogyna, Jacq

Merat

M
M

L !

L i

M
M

L
L

M
M

M
M
M

M
M

27. Saxifrage.®
Saxifraga, L.

— umbrosa, L. — I. . . .

— tridactylites, L. — 81 . .

— granulata, L. — 78

— hypnoides, L. — ?
Chrysosplenium, L.

— oppositifolium, L. — 107

— alternifolium, L. — 70
Parnassia, L.

— palustris, L. — 82 . . .
Ribes, Linn.

— Grossularia, L. . . .

— alpinum, L. — 35 .

— rubrum, L. — ? . . .

— nigrum, L. — ? . . .

-54

28. Crassulace.*:
Cotyledon, L.

— Umbilicus, L,
Sedum, L.

— Telephium, L. — 75

— album, L. — ? . .

— dasyphyllum, L. .

— acre, L. — 107 .

— rupestre, Huds. — 12

— reflexum, L. . .
Sempervivum, L.

— tectorum, L. .

29. Droserace«
Drosera, L.

— rotundifolia, L. — 109

30. Halorage^
Hippuris, L.

— vulgaris, L. — 90 ....
Myrioph)-llum, L.

— verticillatum, L. — 49

— alterniflorum, DC. — 80 . .

— spicatum, L. — 78
Callitriche, L.

— verna, L. — ?

sub-sp. platycarpa, Kuetz.

—93

sub-sp.hamulata,Kuetz. — ?

31. LyTHRACEjE

Peplis, L.

— Portula, L. — 98 . . . .
Lythrum, L.

— Salicaria, L. — 92 . .

— hyssopifolia, L. — 6 .

32. Onagrarie,«
Epilobium, L.

— angustifolium, L. — 96

— hirsutum, L. — 96

— parviflorum, Schreb. — 103 ,

— montanum, L. — 112

— roseum, Schreb. — 46

— tetragonum, L. — 42

sub-sp. obscurum, Schreb
—97

MX
M

M
MX

M
M

BOTANY

Epilobium palustre, L. — no .
(Enothera, L.

— biennis, L

Circaea, L.

— lutetiana, L. — 103

33. CuCURBITACEffi

Bryonia, L.

— dioica, Jacq. — 59 . . . .

34. Umbellifer-b:
Hydrocotyle, L.

— vulgaris, L. — no . . .
Astrantia, L.

— major, L

Sanicula, L.

— europaea, L. — 109
Conium, L.

— maculatum, L. — 104.
Smyrnium, L.

— Olusatrum, L. — 63 .
Bupleurum, L.

— rotundifolium, L. — 39 . .

— aristatum. Bard. — 2 .

— tenuissimum, L. — 23
Apium, L.

— graveolens, L. — 58 . . .

— nodiflorum, Reichb. fil. — 82

var. repens, Hook. fil. — i

— inundatum, Reichb. fil. — 96
Carum, L.

— Carui, L

— segetum, Benth. & Hook, fil

-45

— Petroselinum, Benth. & Hook

fil.
Sison, L.

— Amomum, L. — 54 .
Cicuta, L.

— virosa, L. — 37.
Sium, L.

— latifolium, L. — 42 .

— angustifolium, L. — 81
./^gopodium, L.

— Podagraria, L. — 100 .
Pimpinella, L.

— Saxifraga, L. — 102 .

var. dissecta, Retz .

— major, Huds. — 5 i
Conopodium, Koch

— denudatum, Koch — 108
Myrrhis, L.

— odorata. Scop. — 65 .
Scandix, L.

— Pecten- Veneris, L. — 93
Chaerophyllum, L.

— temulum, L. — 99
Anthriscus, Bernh.

— vulgaris, Bernh. — 79

— sylvestris, HofFm. — 107

— Cerefolium, HofFm. .
Seseli, L.

— Libanotis, Koch — 3 .
Foeniculum, L.

A*
A

s
s

M
M

A
A
A

s
s
s

M
M

s*
s

A
A

s
s

M
M
M

A
A

s
s

St
St

M
M

L
L

Foeniculum officinale. All.
CEnanthe, L.

— fistulosa, L. — 68 .

— pimpinelloides, L. — 16 .

— peucedanifolia. Poll. — 22

— Lachenalii, C. Gmel. — 72

— crocata, Linn. — 92 .

— Phellandrium, Lam. — 56
^thusa, L.

— Cynapium, L. — 96 .
Silaus, Bess.

— pratensis, Bess. — 68 .
Angelica, L.

— sylvestris, L. — in
Peucedanum, L.

— sativum, Benth. & Hook, fil

—57

Heracleum, L.

— Sphondylium, L. — n2 .
Daucus, L.

— Carota, L. — 109 ...
Caucalis, L.

— daucoides, L. — 28 . . ,

— arvensis, Huds. — 57 .

— Anthriscus, Huds. — 107.

— nodosa, Scop. — 73

35. ARALIACEiE

Hedera, L.

— Helix, L. — 112 . . . .

36. CoRNACE^

Cornus, L.

— sanguinea, L. — 67

37. CAPRIFOLIACEiE

Viburnum, L.

— Lantana, L. — 45 .

— Opulus, L. — loi
Sambucus, L.

— Ebulus, L. — 77 . . .

— nigra, L. — 109
Adoxa, L.

— Moschatellina, L. — 91 .
Lonicera, L.

— Periclymenum, L. — 1 1 2

— Xylosteum, L

— Caprifolium, L. . . .

38. RUBIACE*

Gallium, L.

— verum, L. — I n .

var. ochroleucum, Syme

— Cruciata, Scop. — 97 .

— palustre, L. — n2

var. Witheringii, Sm

— uliginosum, L. — 93 .

— saxatile, L. — ni

— sylvestre. Poll. — 28 .

— Mollugo, L. — 77

sub-sp. erectum, Hu
29 ....

— Aparine, L. — n2

— tricorne, Stokes — 43

M
M

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Gallium anglicum, Huds. — lo .

Achillea Millefolium, L.— 112 .

Asperula, L.

Matricaria, L.

— odorata, L. — 1 06 . . .

— Chamomilla, L. — 64. . .

— cynanchica, L. — 40 . . .

— inodora, L. — I II. . . .

Sherardia, L.

Chrysanthemum, L.

— arvensis, L. — 109 . . .

— segetum, L. — no . . .

— Leucanthemum, L. — 112 .

39. Valeriane-*

— Parthenium, Pers. . . .

Valeriana, L.

Tanacetum, L.

— dioica, L. — 73 ....

— vulgare, L. — 105 ....

— officinalis, L. — ? . . . .

Artemisia, L.

var. sambucifolia, Mikan .

— Absinthium, L. — 72 . . .

Centranthus, DC.

— vulgaris, L. — no. . . .

— ruber, DC

Petasites, L.

Valerianella, Moench

— vulgaris, Desf.— 105 . . .

— olitoria, Moench — 99 . .

Tussilago, L.

— carinata, Loisel. — 15. . .

s§

— Farfara, L.— 112 ....

— auricula, DC— 37 . . .

Doronicum, L.

— dentata, Poll.— 82 . . .

— Pardalianches, L

var. mixta, Dufr. . . .

Senecio, L.

— eriocarpa, Desv. — 5 . . .

— vulgaris, L. — 112. . . .

— sylvaticus, L. — 107 . . .

40. DlPSACE.ffi

— viscosus, L. — 3 3 . . . .

Dipsacus, L.

— Jacobaea, L. — 112 . . .

— sylvestris, Huds. — 74 . .

— erucifolius, L. — 67 . . .

— pilosus, L. — 52 ....

— aquaticus, Huds. — in . .

Scabiosa, L.

— squalidus, L

— succisa, L. — iiz . . . .

Arctium, L.

— Columbaria, L. — 72 . . .

— majus, Bernh. — 43 . . .

— arvensis, L.— 98 ....

sub-sp. minus, Bernh. — 9 1
var. intermedium, Lange

41. Composite

-36?

Eupatorium, L.

var. nemorosum, Lej. —

— cannabinum, L. — 98. . .

28 ?

Erigeron, L.

Carlina, L.

— acre — 65

— vulgaris, L. — 83 ....

— canadense, L

Centaurea, L.

Solidago, L.

— nigra, L.— i n ....

— Virgaurea, L. — 109 .

var. decipiens, Thuill.

Bellis, L.

— Scabiosa, L.— 82 ....

— perennis, L. — 112 . . .

— Cyanus, L.— 95 ....

Inula, L.

— paniculata, L. — C . . .

— Conyza, DC— 58 . . .

— Calcitrapa, L.— 17 . . .

— Helenium, L. — ?

— solstitialis, L

Pulicaria, Gaertn.

Serratula, L.

— dysenterica, Gaertn. — 79

— tinctoria, L. — 64 ....

— vulgaris, Gaertn.- 25.

Carduus, L.

Gnaphalium, L.

— nutans, L. — 75 ....

— sylvaticum, L. — 102 .

— crispus, L. — 87 ....

— uliginosum, L. — 1 1 1 .

var. acanthoides, L. . .

Filago, L.

— pycnocephalus, L. — 70 . .

— germanica, L. — 96 .

Cnicus, L.

var. apiculata, G. E.

Sm.

— lanceolatus, Willd. — 1 12. .

— 19 ....

— eriophorus. Roth. — 48 . .

— minima, Fr. — 91 . .

— acaulis, Willd.— 44 . . .

Bidens, L.

var. dubius, Willd. . .

— cernua, L. — 82 . .

— arvensis, Hoffin. — 112 . .

— tripartita, L. — 84. .

sub-sp. setosus, Bess. .

Anthemis, Mich.

— palustris, Willd.— 112 . .

— arvensis, L. — 73 . .

— Forsteri, Sm

— Cotula, L.— 74 . .

— pratensis, Willd. — 49. . .

— nobilis, L.— 49 . .

Onopordon, L.

Achillea, L.

— Acanthium, L. — 60 . . .

— Ptarmica, L. — no .

Silybum, Gaertn.

BOTANY

Silybum Marianum, Gxrtn. . .

Campanula rapunculoides, L. —

Cichorium, L.

— Intybus, L.— 65 ....

— Trachelium, L.— 59 . . .

Arnoseris, Gaertn.

— glomerata, L. — 51 . . .

— pusilla, Gaertn. — 23 . . .

Specularia, Heist.

Lapsana, L.

— hybrida, A. DC— 47 . .

— communis, L. — 112 . . .

Picris, L.

43. Ericace^:

— hieracioides, L.— 60 . . .

Vaccinium, L.

— echioides, L. — 65. . . .

— Myrtillus, L. — loi . . .

Crepis, L.

— Vitis-Idasa, L. — 67 . . .

— virens, L. — no ....

— Oxycoccos, L. — 68 . . .

— biennis, L. — 27 ....

Erica, L.

— foetida, L.— 15 ....

— Tetralix, L.— no . . .

— taraxacifolia, Thuill. — 3 1 .

— cinerea, L. — 108 ....

— setosa. Hall, fil

Calluna, Salisb.

— paludosa, Moench — 62 . .

— vulgaris, Salisb. — I n . .

Hieracium, L.

Pyrola, L.

— Pilosella, L.— no . . .

— minor, L. — 68

— aurantiacum, L

— media, Sw. — 42 ....

— ■ murorum, L. — 68. . . .

— rotundifolia, L. — 29 . . .

— sylvaticum, Sm. — 90 . . .
sub-sp. tridentatum. Fries

44. M0N0TR0PE«

—6

Hypopitys, Scop.

— umbellatum, L. — 88 . . .

— multiflora. Scop. — 46 . .

— boreale, Fries — 96 . . .
Hypochasris, L.

46. Primulace.®

— glabra, L.— 43

Primula, L.

— radicata, L. — in. . . .

— vulgaris, Huds. — in.' . .

Leontodon, L.

var. caulescens, Koch . .

— hirtus, L.— 7 1

X veris

— hispidus, L. — 92 ....

— veris, L.— 89

— autumnalis, L. — 1 10 . . .

Lysimachia, L.

Taraxacum, Hall

— vulgaris, L. — 78 ....

— officinale, Web. — 112.

— nemorum, L. — 109 . . .

var. erythrospermum, An-

— Nummularia, L. — 70. . .

drz

Glaux, L.

var. laevigatum, DC. . .

— maritima, L. — 71. . . .

var. palustre, DC. — 74 .

Centunculus, L.

Lactuca, L.

— minimus, L. — 64 ....

— virosa, L. — 5 1

Anagallis, L.

— Scariola, L.— 6 ....

M§

— arvensis, L. — 99 ....

- saligna, L.-9

var. pallida

— muralis, Fresen. — 69 . . .

var. caerulea, Schreb. — 48

Sonchus, L.

— tenella, L.— 97 ....

— arvensis, L. — 1 11. . . .

Hottonia, L.

— oleraceus, L. — in . . .

— palustris, L. — 48 ....

sub-sp. asper, Hoftin. —

Samolus, L.

104

— Valerandi, L.— 82. . . .

Tragopogon, L.

— pratense, L. — 84 ....

47. Oleace^

var. minor, Fries .

Ligustrum, L.

— porrifolius, L

— vulgare, L. — 83 . . . .
Fraxinus, L.

42. Campanulace.k

— excelsior, L. — 109. . . .

Jasione, L.

— montana, L. — 80 ....

48. Apocvnace*

Wahlenbergia, Schrad.

Vinca, L.

— hederacea, Reichb.— 46 . .

— minor, L. — 73

Campanula, L.

— major, L

— rotundifolia, L. — in

— Rapunculus, L. — 31 . . .

49. Gentiane.^

— patula, L. — 29

Chlora, L.

— latifolia, L.— 61 . . . .

— perforata, Huds. — 60 . .

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Erythraea, Pers.

— Centauriura, Pers. — 102.

sub-sp. pulchella, Fries-

Gentiana, L.

— campestris, L. — 85 . .

— Amarella, L. — 8 1 . . .
Menyanthes, L.

— trifoliata, L. — no. . .
Limnanthemura, S. P. Gmel.

— peltatum, S. P. Gmel. — 10

50. PoLEMONIACjE

Polemonium, L.

— caeruleum, L. — 5 .

-107
Don-

51. BoRAGINEjE

Echium, L.

— vulgare, L. — 92 .
Borago, L.

— officinalis, L. . . ,
Symphytum, L.

— officinale, Linn. — 86
Anchusa, L.

— arvensis, Bicb. — 105

— sempervirens, L. .
Lithospermum, L.

— officinale, L. — 77 .

— arvense, L. — 86 .
Pulmonaria, L.

— officinalis, L. — i .
Myosotis, L.

— palustris, With. — 104,
— • casspitosa, F. Schultz-

sub-sp. repens, D.
92 ... .

— sylvatica, HofFm. — 45

— arvensis. Lam. — 112

var. umbrosa, Bab.

— collina, HofFm. — 92

— versicolor, Reichb. — 108.
Cynoglossum, L.

— officinale, L. — 76 .

— montanum, Lamk. — 17 .

52. CoNVOLVULACEjE

Convolvulus, L.

— arvensis, L. — 96 .

— sepium, L. — 94 . . .

— Soldanella, L. — 46
Cuscuta, L.

— europsea, L. — 3 1 . . .

— Epithymum, Murr. — 46.

var. Trifolii, Bab. .

— Epilinum, Weihe . . .

53. S0LANACE.ffi

Hyoscyamus, L.

niger, L.— 79 . . .
Solanum, L.

— Dulcamara, L. — 97 .

— nigrum, L. — 64 .
Atropa, L.

— Belladonna, L. — 54 .

M
M§

it§

>■?

s
s

54. Plantagine^
Plantago, L.

— major, L. — 1 12 . .

var. intermedia, Gilib

— media, L. — 81. .

— lanceolata, L. — 112 .

var. Timbali, Jord.

— maritima, L. — 78.

— Coronopus, L. — 96 .
Litorella, L.

— lacustris, L. — 94 .

55. ScROPHULARINE.ffi;

Verbascum, L.

— Thapsus, L. — 91 . . .

— Lychnitis, L. — 12.

— nigrum, L. — 43 .

— Blattaria, L.— ? . . .

sub-sp. virgatum. With
Linaria, Tournf.

— Cymbalaria, Mill. .

— spuria. Mill. — 43 .

— Elatine, Mill.— 55

— repens, Mill. — 21.

— vulgaris, Mill. — 99

— minor, Desf. — 62 .
Antirrhinum, L.

— Orontium, L. — 47

— majus, L. . . .
Scrophularia, L.

— nodosa, L. — 109 .

— aquatica, L. — 72 .

var. cinerea, Dum.
sub-sp. umbrosa, Dum

— vernalis, L. .
Mimulus, L.

— luteus, L. . . .
Limosella, L.

— aquatica, L. — 43 .
Digitalis, L.

— purpurea, L. — 107
Veronica, L.

— agrestis, L. — 1 10 .

sub-sp. polita, Fries — 89

— Buxbaumii, Ten. — 90

— hederaefolia, L. — 100

— arvensis, L. — 1 11. .

— serpyllifolia, L. — 112

— officinalis, L. — 1 1 1 .

— Chamsedrys, L. — 1 1 1

— montana, L. — 89 .

— scutellata, L. — 107 .

— Beccabunga, L. — 1 1 2

— Anagallis, L. — 100 .

— spicata, L. — 3 . . .
Bartsia, L.

— Odontites, Huds. — 1 1 1

var. verna, Reichb.
var. serotina, Reichb,
Euphrasia, L.

— officinalis, L. — 112 .
Rhinanthus, L.

— Crista-galli, L. — 112 .

M
M

s§

M
MX

M
M

s
s

M
M

M
M
M

BOTANY

Pedicukris, L.

Salvia, L.

— palustris, L.— no .

. J

— Verbenaca, L.— 64 . . .

— sylvatica, L. — 112

. A

— pratensis, L. — 3 ....

Melampyrum, L.

Nepeta, L.

— pratense, L. — 107

. A

— Cataria, L.— 58 ....

var. montanum, Johnst

— Glechoma, Benth.— 103

— cristatum, L. — 10. .

Brunella, L.

Lathraea, L.

— vulgaris, L. — 112. . . .

— squamaria, L. — 62. .

Scutellaria, L.

— galericulata, L. — 103 . .

— minor, Huds. — 72 . . .

56. Orobanche;e

Orobanche, L.

Melittis, L.

— major, L. — 6 1 . . .

S M

— Melissophyllum, L. — 9 . .

— elatior, Sutton — 28 .

'. Ah

Marrubium, L.

— minor, Sra. — 32 . .

. A

S M

— vulgare, L.— 66 ....

57. Lentibularine^

Stachys, L.

— sylvatica, L. — 112 . . .

Pinguicula, L.

— palustris, L. — iii

— vulgaris, L.— 93 . .

. A*

M 1

— ambigua, Sm

Utricularia, L.

— arvensis, L. — 99 ....

— vulgaris, L. — 86 . .

— Betonica, Benth.— 82 . .

— minor, L. — 72 . .

Galeopsis, L.

— Ladanum, L. — ? ....

58. Verbenace^

sub-sp. angustifolia, Ehrh.

Verbena, L.

— officinalis, L.— 67. .

. A

— Tetrahit, L.— 112 . . .
sub-sp. speciosa. Miller —

59. Labiate

Mentha, L.

Leonurus, L.

— sylvestris, L. — 59 . .

— Cardiaca, L

— rotundifolia, Huds. — 52

Lamium, L.

— viridis, L

— purpureum, L. — 112. . .

— piperita, L.— 68 . .

. A

sub-sp. hybridum, Vill. —

var. officinalis, Hull
var. vulgaris. Sole .

— amplexicaule, L. — 96 . .

— • aquatica, L. — III. .

. A

— album, L. — loi ....

var. subglabra. Baker

— maculatum, L

s§

var. citrata, Ehrh. .

— Galeobdolon, Crantz— 66 .

var. palustris. Sole .

Ballota, L.

— sativa, L. — 82 . . .

. A

— nigra, L.— 77

var. paludosa. Sole .

Teucrium, L.

var, subglabra. Baker

— Scorodonia, L.— no. . .

sub-sp. rubra, Sm. — i

. A

Ajuga, L.

sub-sp. gentilis, L. — ?

— reptans, L. — 109 ....

— arvensis, L. — 10; . .

. A

var. agrestis. Sole .

60. Illecebrace.*

— Pulegium, L. — 52
Lycopus, L.

— europaeus, L. — 95

'. A

Scleranthus, L.

. A

— annuus, L. — 100 . . . .

Origanum, L.

61. Chenopodiace^

— vulgare, L. — 90 . .

. A

Thymus, L.

Chenopodium, L.

— Serpyllum, Fries — 112

. A

— Vulvaria, L. — 37 ....

sub-sp. Chamaedrys, I

"ries

— polysperraum, L. — 49

—40 ....

— album, L. — 1 11. .

Calamintha, Lam.

var. viride, Syme.

— officinalis, Moench — 62

. . A

— ficifolium, Sm. — 18

sub-sp. Nepeta, Clairv

—9 A

— urbicum, L. — 39 .

sub-sp. sylvatica, Br

3mf.

— murale, L. — 42 .

— 3 ....

— hybridum, L. — 25

— Clinopodium, Benth. — 8

9 ■ ^

— rubrum, L. — 64 .

— Acinos, Clairv. — 74 .

. . A

— Bonus-Henricus, L. — 100 .

Melissa, L.

Beta, L.

— officinalis, L. . . .

— maritima, L. — 57.

MX
M

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

AtnpJsi. L.

pamla^ L 92 ? - . •

V3I. ereoa, Hnds. . .

VST. a-npTH:rTfn1ia ^ ^rm

sabsp. haM-aw, L. — 95

— 70 ....

larrniara^ L ^4? .

62. PoLVGOKACEJE

Poh-Kmnm, L.
-'B:rt3-..L.--4 - -

— L-z:-'.:.z~., L.— 106

— l:.r:Lir-fi>l:7iTn. L. — loi

;P£T, 1^ — 105

Bapr-rt 1

S iM

S M
S JV

U
M

jir
jtr

Jir

S M
M

M
M

Mercnnali^ L.

— perermji, L. — 107

j Uit;^ L. ■

— mcns,Lu — 108
Parietaiia, L.

ftfiji-TnalU^ L.^— OX

M L

^ I
M

M L

M L
M

M L

J S U L

— ATciiana, L. — 1 11 . . .

— BESiiltB, L. — 37 . . . .

-2. SAUn»i.a.
Pc-p-.v L

— Caprea, L.-

5 ir

A St
s
s

M L
M L
Ji L
Ml n

Jffit

BOTANY

7+. CONIF-X-S

"9. DlOiCOR'^

Pinui, L.

. 1 Tamus, L. i

— sj-Ivestns, L.— 17. . . .^ St] J« « 1 — communis, L.—6q J

Jampem-s L. j| y . . - ^

S M L

— communis, L. — 77 ...AS
Taxji, Toamef.

1^ So. LuoACxe

— baccata, L.— 52 . . . . ^ S

M L R°«^L.

— acnleatns, L.— 29 . . .

75- HYDROCH-^RinX^

Asparagus, L.

Hydrocharis, L.

— officinalis, L.— 5 . ... At

— Morsus-ranas, L. — 47 . . S

^ Polygonatnm, Toumef

Elodea, Michx.

— mulriflomm. All. — 32 . .

S M

— canadensis, Michx. . . . Jl SX

m U Convallaria, L.

^ — majalis, L-jg ....

S M L

76. Orchide^

Am«n,L.

Neottia, L.

— TOieale, I 79 . . . . A

S M

— Nidus-avis, L. — S6 . . . J S

jg j^ var. compactmn, ThoiD. . A

Listera, Br.

— oleracenm, L. — 5 1 . .A

S M

— ovata, Br. — 105 ....AS

Ig I — carinatum, L.— 3 ....

Spiranthes, Rich.

— nisinum, L.— loS . . . A

S M L

•M L SdI]a,L.

— astivalis. Rich.— 2 ... $•

— nutans, Sm. — 112 . . . A

S M L

Cephalanthen, Rich.

Omith<^om, L.

M — pyrenaicnm, I 9 . . .

- umbellatnm, L. . . .

— pallens. Rich. — 30 ... J*

— ensifolia. Rich. — 34 ... J

St m

Epipactis, Adans.

— nutans, L.

St m

— latifolia, Sw. — 86 ...AS

fg J Fritilkria, L.

sub-sp.purpurata, Sm. — 6 ?

M — Meleagris, L.— 20 . . .

St Lt

var. media. Fries— 38 i . A S

Af L \ T«»lipa,L.

— palnstris, Crantz — 6+ . . S

jg sylvestris, L. — ? ....

S M

Orchis, L.

Gagea, Salisb.

— mascnia, L.— 106 ...AS

M L ~ ^°^^ Ker.— 42 ....

— btifolia, L.— 105 ...AS

If , Colchicnm, L.

sub-sp. incamata, L. — 67 1 S

— autnmnale, L. — 40 . . . A

S If L

— maculata, L.— loS . . .\ A S

^ ^ Narthednm, Moehr.

— Morio, L. — 63 ....AS

r, , — Ossifragum, Huds. — 95 . .

f L

— ustulata, L.— 43 .... s

^ ^ Paris, L.

— pjramidalis, L. — 6\ ...AS

g — quadrifblia, L.— 73 . . . A ^

• M L

Ophrp, L.

— apifera, Huds.— 59 ...AS

If 1 5'- Jvxci-s

— mnsdfera, Hnds.— 43 . . 1

tf Juncus, L.

— cffiisns,L.— 112 ...AS
^ L var. conglomeratus, L. —

^5 II* AS

« L — gUucus, Leers— 90 ...AS

Habenaxia, Br.

— conopsea, Benth.— 98 . . A S I

— albida, Br. — 48 ....

��� viridis, Br. — 97 . . . . A S i

— biiblia, Br.— 89 .... s i

— chlorantha, Bab A S I

M L

M L
M L

^ L var. difibsus, Hoppe— 36

^ — squarrosus, L. — 107 ...AS

M L

77- Irides

— compressus, Jacq.— 14 . . S

Crocus, L.

sub-sp. Gerardi, Loisel —

— vemus. All. ... «
Iris, L. • - u*

99 AS

— obtusiflorus, Ehrh.— 58 . . A

M
M

— Pseudacorus, L. — 112 . . A S k

— fctidissima, L.— 49 . . . A S i

— articulatus, L. — 1 11. . .A S
f L sub-sp. snpinns, Moench —
' 107 J S

M L
M L

78. AUARYLUDtS

sub-sp.lamprocarpus,Ehrh.

Narcissus, L.

—no AS

Af L

— Pseudo-narcissus, L. — -6 .ASM

— bufbniuj, L. — II 2 ...AS
' 1 L LuzuJa. DC.

M L

var. lobularis. Haw. . . Aj

— biflorus, Curtis .... StfM
Galanthus, L.

- nivalis, L-; S ^

Leucojum, L. 1

♦♦ 1 — maxima, DC.— loS ...AS
^ ! — vemalis, DC.— loS ...AS
j var. Borreri, Bromf. . .
— Forsteri, DC.— 29 ... S

M L
M L
M
Af

— *sdvum, L. 7 . 1

1 — campcstris, DC.— 107 ..AS

Af L

L 1 var. erecta, Desv. — 107 . A S

M L

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

83. Typhace«

88. CYPERACE.E

Sparganium, L.

Heleocharis, R. Br.

— ramosum, Huds. — 108 . .

— palustris, R. Br. — 1\\ . .

— simplex, Huds. — 99 . . .

— multicaulis, Sm. — 88 . .

— natans, L.— 54 ....

— acicularis, R. Br.— 73 . .

Typha, L.

Scirpus, L.

— latifolia, L.— 81 ....

— lacustris, L. — 10 1 . . .

— angustifolia, L. — 58 . . .

sub-sp. Tabernaemontani,
Gmel. — 57 ....

84. Aroide^

sub-sp. carinatus, Sm. — 7

Arum, L.

— maculatum, L. — 84 . . .
Acorus, L.

— Calamus, L.— 3 1 . . . .

s
s

M
M

L
L

— maritimus, L. — 84 . . .

— sylvaticus, L. — 75 . . .

— setaceus, L. — 108 . . .

— fluitans, L.— 86 ....

— Holoschoenus, L. — I . . .

A
A
A\

s
s
s
s

M
M
M
M

L
L

85. Lemnace^

— casspitosus, L. — 104 . . .

— pauciflorus, Lightf. — 91 . .

M
M

L
L

Lemna, L.

— Caricis, Retz. — 53 . . .

— minor, L. — 106 ....

Eriophorum, L.

— trisulca, L. — 73 ....

— vaginatum, L. — 90 .

— gibba, L.— 53

— polystachion, L. — 109 . .

— polyrhiza, L. — 56 . . .

sub-sp. latifolium, Hoppe
—54

86. Alismace^

— gracile, Koch — 4 ....

Alisma, L.

Rynchospora, Vahl

— Plantago, L. — 100 . . .

— alba, Vahl— 75 ....

var. lanceolatum, With. .

Schoenus, L.

— ranunculoides, L. — 87 . .

— nigricans, L. — 76. . . .

Elisma, Buchenau.

Cladium, P. Brown

— natans, Buch. — 14 . . .

— Mariscus, Br. — 39 . . .

Damasonium, Mill

Carex, L.

— stellatum, Pers. — 13 . . .

— pulicaris, L. — 107 . . .

Sagittaria, L.

— dioica, L. — 79 ....

— sagittifolia, L. — 58 . . .

— disticha, Huds.— 8 1 . . .

Butomus, L.

— paniculata, L. — 92 . . .

— umbellatus, L.— 60 . . .

— teretiuscula. Good. — 56 . .

— muricata, L. — 78 ....

87. Naiadacea;

sub-sp. divulsa,Good. — 50

Triglochin, L.

— vulpina, L. 86

— palustre, L. — no . . .

— echinata, Murr. — no . .

Potamogeton, L.

— remota, L. — 87 ....

— natans, L. — 100 ....

var. axillaris. Good.— 5 7 .

— polygonifolius, Pourr. — 107

var. Boenninghauseniana,

— plantagineus, Du Croz. — 32

Weihe— 17 ....

— rufescens, Schrad. — 70 . .

— leporina, L. — n2 . . .

— heterophyllus, Schreb. — 71 .

— canescens, L. — 76 . . .

— lucens, L. — 75 ....

— elongata, L. — 17 ....

— praelongus, Wulf. — 47 . .

— stricta. Good.— 44 . . .

— perfoliatus, L. — 93 . . .

— acuta, L. — 72

— crispus, L.— 94 . . . .

— Goodenovii, J. Gay — no .

— densus, L. — 59 ....

— limosa, L. — 26 ....

i§

— zosterifolius, Schum. — 20 .

— glauca, Murr. — 109 . . .

— obtusifolius, Mert. & Koch

— pallescens, L. — 90 . . .

— 54

— panicea, L. — i n . . . .

— pusillus, L.— loi . . . .

— pendula, Huds. — 75 . . .

— pectinatus, L. — 83 . . .

— prascox, Jacq. — 96 . . .

sub-sp. flabellatus, Bab.

— pilulifera, L. — 104 . . .

—48 ?

— montana, L. — 9 ....

Zannichellia, L.

— digitata, L. — 13 ....

— palustris, L. — 71 . . . .

1 — hirta, L.— 98

sub-sp. brachystemon, J.

: — flava, L.— 65

Gay— ?

sub-sp. CEderi, Retz. . .

sub - sp. pedunculata.

1 — distans, L.— 58 ....

jM*

Reichb.— 21 . . .

' sub-sp. fulva, Good.— 84

BOTANY

Carex binervis, Sm. — 98 . .

— sylvatica, Huds. — 87 .

— strigosa, Huds. — 35 .

— vesicaria, L. — 79 .

— ampullacea. Good. — 103

— Pseudo-cyperus, L. — 48 .

— paludosa, Good. — 77

— riparia, Curtis — 76 .

89. Gramine*

Setaria, Beauv.

— viridis, Beauv. — 34 .
Phalaris, L.

— canariensis, L. .

— arundinacea, L. —
Anthoxanthum, L.

— odoratum, L. — 1 1

— Puelii, Lecoq &Lamotte — 1 3
Alopecurus, L.

— agrestes, L. — (>"] .

— pratensis, L. — 105

— geniculatus, L. — 112

sub-sp. fulvus, Sm
Milium, L.

— efFusum, L.— 88 .
Phleum, L.

— pratense, L. — 108

var. nodosum, L.
Agrostis, L.

— canina, L. — loi .

— alba, L. — 104. .

— vulgaris. With. — 1 1:

var. pumila, L. .
var. nigra, With.
Polypogon, Desf.

— monspeliensis, Desf. — 7
Calamagrostis, Adans.

— epigeios. Roth — 60 .

— lanceolata, Roth — 39.
Gastridium, Beauv.

— lendigerum. Gaud. — 24
Apera, Adans.

— Spica-venti, Beauv. — 17
Aira, L.

— caryophyllea, L. — no

— praecox, L. — 1 11.
Deschampsia, Beauv.

— flexuosa, Trin. — 107.

— caespitosa, Beauv. — in
Holcus, L.

— lanatus, L. — in .

— mollis, L. — 107 . .
Trisetum, Pers.

— flavescens, Beauv. — 93
Avena, L.

— fatua, L. — 77 .

— pratensis, L. — 76 .

— pubescens, Huds. — 91
Arrhenatherum, Beauv.

— avenaceum, Beauv. — 112

var. bulbosa, Lindl. .
Sieglingia, Bernh.

— decumbens, Bernh. — 108

M
M

s
s

L
it

Phragmites, Trin.

— communis, Trin. — 104 .
Cynosuras, L.

— cristatus, L. — 112 . .
Koeleria, Pers.

— cristata, Pers. — 89
Molinia, Schrank.

— caerulea, Moench. — 108 .
Catabrosa, Beauv.

— aquatica, Beauv. — 94. .
Melica, L.

— nutans, L. — 49 . . .

— uniflora, Retz. — 96 .
Dactylis, L.

— glomerata, L. — 112 . .
Briza, L.

— media, L. — 108 .

— minor, L. — 7 ....
Poa, L.

— annua, L. — ni ...

— compressa, L. — 69 . .

— nemoralis, L. — 90

— pratensis, L. — no

— trivialis, L. — no. . .
Glyceria, R. Br.

— aquatica, Sm. — 79.

— fluitans, R. Br. — no. .

var. plicata, Fries — 72.
var. pedicellata, Town
send

— distans, Wahlenb. — 5 5 .
Festuca, L.

— elatior, L. — 95

var. arundinacea, Schreb.
-84 ... .

— sylvatica, Vill. — 30 . .

— ovina, L. — i n ...

sub-sp. rubra, L. — 100

— Myuros, L. — 52 .

sub-sp. sciuroides. Roth—
104

— uniglumis, Soland. — 19 .

— rigida, Kunth — 91 . .

— loliacea, Curt

— gigantea, Vill. — 98 . .

var. triflora, Syme . .
Bromus, L.
— • asper, Murr. — 96 . .

— erectus, Huds. — 49 .

— sterilis, L. — 108 . . .

— madritensis, L. — 1 1 .

— mollis, L. — 112 . . .

— racemosus, L. — 14 .

var. commutatus, Schrad
—92 ....

— secalinus, L. — 80 .

var. velutinus, Schrad.
Brachypodium, Beauv.

— sylvaticum, R. and S. — III

— pinnatum, Beauv. — 37 .
Lolium, L.

— perenne, L. — 112.

var. multiflora. Lam. .
var. italicum, A. Br. .

S
S

s
s

s§

M
M

s
s

s
sti

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Lolium temulentum, Linn. — 64

var. an'ense, With.
Agropyrum, J. Gaert.

— caninum, Beauv. — 90

— repens, Beauv. — 1 1 1

var. barbatum.Duval-Jouve
sub-sp. acutum, Roem

Schult

Nardus, L.

— stricta, L. — 107 . .
Hordeum, L.

— sylvaticum, Huds. — 27

— pratense, Huds. — 62 .

— murinum, L. — 78.

CRYPTOGAMS

90. FiLICES

Pteris, L.

— aquilina, L. — 112.
Cryptogramme, Br.

— crispa, Br. — 58.
Lomaria, Willd.

— Spicant, Desv. — in . .
Asplenium, L.

— Ruta-muraria, L. — 109 .

— Trichomanes, L. — 108 .

— viride, Huds. — 46

— Adiantum-nigrum, L. — 107

— Filix-foemina, Bernh. — 1 10

— Ceterach, L.— 68 . . .
Scolopendrium, Sm.

— vulgare, Sm. — loi
Cystopteris, Bernh.

— fragilis, Bernh. — 82 .
Aspidium, Sw.

— aculeatum, Sw.

sub-sp. lobatum, Sw. — 104

sub-sp. angulare, Willd

-63

Nephrodium, Rich.

— Filix-mas, Rich. — 112

— spinulosum, Desv. — 83

sub-sp. dilatatum, Desv

— Oreopteris, Presl. — 102
Polypodium, L.

— vulgare, L. — 112 .

— Phegopteris, L. — 76 .

— Dryopteris, L. — 73 .

sub - sp. Robertianum
Hoffm. — 24 . .
Osmunda, L.

— regalis, L. — 89.
Ophioglossum, L.

— vulgatum, L. — 87.
Botrychium, Sw.

— Lunaria, Sw. — 103

91. Equisetace^

Equisetum, L.

— arvense, L. — 1 1 1 .

— maximum, Lam. — 83

— sylvaticum, L. — 106

— palustre, L. — 106.

var. polystachya

— limosum, Sm. — 107

var. fluviatile, L.

— hyemale, L. — 41 .

92. Lycopodiace.«

Lycopodium, L.

— Selago, L.— 88. . .

— inundatum, L. — 57 .

— davatum, L. — 94 .

— complanatum, L. — 55

sub-sp. Alpinum, L.

APPENDIX A

Plants placed by Sir Joseph Hooker in the Appendix of Excluded Species in The
Student's Flora which have been recorded for Worcestershire : —

Anemone appenina, L. . .
Epimedium alpinum, L. .
Glaucium phoeniceum, Crantz
Alyssum incanum, L. .
Erysimum orientale, Br. .
Lepidium sativum, L. . .
Silene Armaria, L. . . .
Saponaria Vaccaria, L.
Geranium nodosum, L. .

— striatum, L

Coronilla varia, L. ...
Melilotus par\'iflora, Lamk. .
Lathyrus latifolius, L. . . .
Rosa cinnamonea, L. . . .
Pyrus domestica, Sm. . . .

Archangelica Angelica, L.
Asperula ar\'ensis, L. .
Xanthium spinosum, L. .
Anthemis tinctoria, L.
Petasites fragrans, Presl. .
Crepis nicasensis, Balb.
Symphytum peregrinum, Ledeb.
Plantago arenaria, L. . . .
Amaranthus Blitum, L. .
Polygonum Fagopyrum, L. .
Castanea vulgaris, Lamk. .
Narcissus incomparabilis. Curt.

— poeticus, L

Lilium pyrenaicum, Gouan .
Setaria glauca, Beauv. .

BOTANY

APPENDIX B

Plants (including some Ruht), varieties and hybrids, given in the gth edition (1895) of
the London Catalogue, and not mentioned by Sir Joseph Hooker, which have been recorded for
Worcestershire : —

Ranunculus peltatus

Rosa tomentosa, Sm.

var. floribundus, Bab. . .

var. pseudo-mollis, E. G.

Papaver dubium, L.

Baker

var. Lamottei, Bor. . .

— sempervirens, L

Sisymbrium officinale, Scop.

Epilobium parviflorum, Screb.

var. leiocarpum, DC. . .

X hirsutum

Camelina sativa, Crantz

X roseum

var. fcetida, Fr. ...

X montanum ....

Sisymbrium pannonicum, Jacq. .•

X obscurum ....

Viola odorata, L.

X palustre

f. alba (Lange) ....

Epilobium montanum, L.

X hirta

X roseum

Viola Riviniana, Reich.

— Lamyi, F. Schultz . . .

f. villosa (Newm. W. &

Coriandrum sativum, L. . . .

M.)

, Sambucus nigra, L.

var. nemorosa (Newm.

var. laciniata, L. . . .

W. &M.). . . .

Anaphilis margaritacea, Benth. &

Sagina apetala, L.

Hook, fil

var. prostrata, Bab. . .

Artemisia vulgaris, L.

— Reuteri, Boiss

var. coarctata, Forcell .

Acer campestre, L.

Hieracium sciaphilum, Uechtritz

var. leiocarpon, Wallr. .

Sonchus arvensis, L.

Trifolium pratense, L.

var. glabrescens. Hall . .

var. sativum, Schreb. . .

var. angustifolia, Mey . .

Anthyllis vulneraria, L.

Calluna vulgaris, Salisb.

var. coccinea, L. . . .

var. glabrata. Seem. . .

Prunus communis, Huds.

var. incana, auct. . . .

var. macrocarpa, Wallr. .

Fraxinus excelsior, L.

Spiraea Ulmaria

var. diversifolia. Art. . .

var. denudata, Boenn. . .

Veronica scutellata, L.

Rubus carpinifolius, W. & N. .

var. hirsuta, Weber. . .

— erythrinus, Genev. . . .

Ballota nigra, L.

— nemoralis, P. J. Muell . .

var. ruderalis, Koch . .

— pulcherrimus, Neum. . . .

Chenopodium polyspermum, L.

— villicaulis

var. spicatum, Moq. . .

var. Selmeri, Lindeb. . .

var. cymosum, Moq. . .

— argentatus, P. S. Muell . .

— album, L.

— pyramidalis, Kalt

var. incanum, Moq. . .

— leucostachys, Schleich. . .

var. iridescens, St. Am. .

— anglosaxonicus, Gelert. . .

Polygonum Convolvulus, L.

— Radula

var. subulatum, V. Hall. .

var. anglicanus, Rogers .

— Persicaria, L.

— echinatus, Lindl

var. elatum,Gren. & Godr.

— fuscus, W. & N

— amphibium, L.

— rosaceus

var. terrestre. Leers. . .

var. infecundus, Rogers .

Euphorbia Esula, L.

— adornatus, P. J. Muell . .

var. Pseudo - cyparissias

— Koehleri

(Jord.)

var. pallidus, Bab. . . .

Salix fragilis, L.

— hirtus, W. & K

var. britannica, F. B.White

var. rotundifolius, Bab. .

— Caprea, L.

— dumetorum

X aurita(capreola,J.Kern)

var. ferox, Weihe . . .

X cinerea (Reichardti, A.

— caesius

Kern)

var. aquaticus, W. & N.

— cinerea, L.

var. arvensis, Wallr. . .

X aurita (lutescens, A.

Potentilla norvegica, L. . . .

Kern)

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Orchis latifolia, L.

X maculata ....
Luzula erecta, Desv.

var. congests
Sparganium ramosum, Huds.

var.microcarpum,Newman

— neglectum, Beeby
Carex muricata, L.

var. virens, Koch .

— leporina, L.

var. bracteata, Syme

— flava, L.

var. elatior, Schlec.

Aira caryophyllea, L.

var. multicaulis, Dunn
Avena fatua, L.

var. pilosissima, Gray .

var. intermedia (Lindgr.) .
Festuca rottboellioides, Kunth .
Bromus mollis, L.

var. glabratus, Doell .
Asplenium Filix-foemina, Bernh.

var. erectum, Syme
Aspidium lobatum, Sw.

var. genuinum, Syme .

APPENDIX C

Casuals, being plants not mentioned either in the London Catalogu
Hooker's Student's Flora, which have been recorded for Worcestershire :—

Sir Joseph

Aquilegia alpina

Anemone fulgens

— nemoralis

var. rubra, Pritzel .
Papaver rhoeas

var. Pryorii, Druce

Lunaria biennis

Lepidium perfoliatum
Impatiens Roylei

var. macrochila . . . .
Medicago lupulina

var. Wildenowiana
Rubus corylifolius

var. fasciculatus, P.J. Muell

— rusticanus

var. pubigerus, Bab. .
Rosa stylosa

var. systyla

X arvensis

Anagallis Indica . . . .
Mentha gentilis

X arvensis . . . .
Salvia verticillata . . . .
Rumex conglomeratus

X crispus . . . .

— obtusifolius

var. sylvestris .

X crispus . . . .

— sanguineus

var. viridis

X obtusifolius . . .

Cannabis sativa

Luzula albida

Carex vulpina

X divulsa . . . .

— flava

var. minor, Townsend
Valisneria spiralis . . . .

THE MOSSES {Musci)

The study of the geological and physical features of Worcestershire
would naturally lead a moss student to anticipate a more varied moss
flora than has at present been found to exist there. Probably this paucity
of species is largely due to artificial, and not to natural causes. The
absence of many species may be accounted for by the changes inci-
dental to the growth of centres of industry, and the reclamation of what
were in past times uncultivated waste places, such as the extensive bogs
and marshes in various portions of the county. As instances Moseley
Bog and Feckenham Bog may be named, both places having been the
home of the rare Hypnum scorpioides. Sphagnum squarrosum, and other bog-
loving species ; and Longdon Marsh and several other like places which
were at one time rich in mosses. Then, too, the reclamation of the peaty

BOTANY

heathlands of the northern portion of the county ; the high state of culti-
vation that exists throughout the larger portion of its area ; the influence
of the smoky surroundings of the northern and eastern portions, an influ-
ence most fatal to the healthy growth of both mosses and lichens, and
prevailing over a wider area than would probably be supposed ; all these
are influences that tend to make the existence of many of our mosses an
impossibility. Still, there are localities in the county in which there are
remains of a former rich moss flora ; such, for instance, as the peaty
heathlands near Hartlebury. Here are found Sphagnum tenellum, S.
subsecundum and species of Campylopus and Dicranum. Again by large
marshy pools such as Stanklin Pool, near Kidderminster, are to be found
Climacium dendroides, Hypnum cordtfolium, H. giganteuni and other moisture-
loving species. Other interesting localities exist in the primitive wood-
lands of Wyre Forest, where the rapid streams are liable to flooding,
and have marshy moss-clad surroundings. Here are found Sphagnum
acutifolium and several of its varities, Philonotis fontana, Heterocladium
heteropterum, the beautiful Pterogophyllum lucens, several of the Harpidioid
hypna, the rare Weissia mucronata and Aulacomnium palustre ; and somewhat
remote from this, the very rare weird-looking Buxbaumia aphylla^ a
singular sporadic plant growing on the rotting trunks of old trees,
resembling at first glance some of the more minute fungi. The stem is
bulb-like, and covered with very small thread-like processes which are
the leaves. This is surmounted by a short fruit stalk, terminating in
an apophysis, and above it is the oblique reddish brown, saddle-like
capsule. South of the forest are outlying wild thickety woods, watered
by rapid streams, splashing over rocks and boulders, often through deep
ravines, worn out of the solid rocks, creating a degree of humidity rare
in Worcestershire woods. Here are found Tortula mutica, Orthotrichum
rivulare, Amblestegium varium, Hypnum palustre and Mnium rostratum ; and
on the marly banks Mnium stellare, Thuidium tamariscinum, rich in fruit,
dark tree-like masses of Porotrichum alopecurum, Hypnum Patientice, Fissidens
exilis, F. Lylei and its more robust congener F. decipiens, whilst on the
overhanging branches are tufts of Ulota crispa, U. crispa var. intermedia^
Orthotrichum leiocarpum and 0. Lyellii.

Watering the western portion of the county is the Teme, which
near Stockton-on-Teme is a rapid stream, full of charm for the botanist,
overhung with willow and alder, upon whose river-washed roots is the
alluvial mud of years, forming a matrix most congenial to moss life.
Trailing from these roots are the long feathery stems of Hypnum riparium
var. longifolium, Brachythecium rivulare and Hypnum palustre var. hamu-
losum, whilst on the upper portions of the roots are Brachythecium
ccespitosum, Mnium punctatum, Orthotrichum affine var. rivale, and Cinclidotus
Brebissoni. Other gorge-like streams, such as that of North Wood, near
Bewdley, where is found the very rare Heterocladium heteropterum var.
fallax and Hypnum palustre var. sub sphcerocarpon, are worthy of record.
The bare surface of some of the isolated rocks of the county are worthy
of attention, such as Blackstone Rock near Bewdley, a precipitous rock,

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

constantly splashed by the waters of the Severn, where is found
Cynodontium Bruntoni. In the Teme valley there is a mass of travertine,
called Southstone Rock, and here are found Weissia vertkillata, Eurhynchium
putnilum, Leptobryum pyriforme and Campy lopus jiexuosus. But the richer
field for these lime-loving species is in some of the old limestone quarries,
where there is a good exposure of broken rock surface, as at Martley and
Raven's-hill Wood, near Alfrick. Here are found Hypnum molluscum,
H. chrysophyllum, Ditrichum Jiexicaule, Pottia lanceolata, Camptothecium
lutescens and the more rare Trichostomum crispulum. At intervals in the
Lias districts, small exposures of rock surface yield species special to
limestone, as at Wolverton near Worcester ; here are found the rare
Thuidium recognitum and the more common Anomodon viticulosum. At
Habberley Valley there is a large exposure of sandstone rock, where are
found Eucalypta vulgaris and Tortula marginata, and a rich growth of
Brachythecium albicans, richly in fruit, and on similar rocks in the
railway cutting near Bewdley are found a fine form of Ptychomitium
polyphyllum and Grimmia trichophylla, which is very rare in Worcester-
shire.

Brick walls are a noticeable feature in many Worcestershire
districts, but are rarely a home for any but the more common species
such as Bryum ccespiticium and Grimmia puhinata ; but occasionally a rare
or local species is found on these habitats, as at King's Norton, where are
found Bryum pendulum and B. inclinatum, and near Alfrick the rare Bryum
murale.

But in many places the walls and fences are of sandstone, capped
with mud or mortar. This forms a favourable matrix, and is usually
well covered with mosses, as about Frankley and Rubery, where are
found Tortula aloides, T. ambigua, and several of the Grimmiaceas usually
rare in the county, such as Grimmia apocarpa, G. puhinata var. obtusa,
Racomitrium fasciculare, R. lanuginosum and R. canescens ; but as these
walls are of recent origin, and the species enumerated above are rarely
seen on the exposed rock surfaces in Worcestershire, possibly these
plants are merely colonists.

The rarest moss (excluding Buxbaumia) found in the county occurs
on banks in a lane near Halesowen ; here is found Tortula cuneifolia.
This is usually a maritime species, and scarcely to be expected from a
smoky inland locality, but it was in abundance and in good fruiting
condition. It is also found abundantly near Malvern.

The ordinary grass-grown banks of our lanes offer but faint hope in
the struggle for existence for lowly plants like the mosses, the grasses and
other flowering plants crowding out all but the more robust Hypna and
Bryums. But in some of the deep cuttings of canals and railways are
marly, shaly banks, where there is a constant drip of water ; here many
species flourish, as at Hopwood. Here is found Amblyodon dealbatus,
usually a native of boggy alpine and sub-alpine districts, with Hypnum
commutatum, H. falcatum and Mnium undulatum in good fruit, one of
our most stately species ; and again at Rubery, where are found the

BOTANY

rare Bryum uliginosum, Mnium subglobosum, Philomtis calcarea and Weissia
tenuis, all richly fruiting, and Hypnum stellatum var. prote?isu>n, in abun-
dance.

The highlands of Worcestershire are not rich in either rupestral,
that is rock-inhabiting mosses, or in montane species ; none of the
Andresa have been found within its limits, and the Racomitriums,
Grimmias, and rupestral Dicranums are poorly represented. The
Abberley, Clent and Rowley hills have no characteristic mosses ; the
Bilberry Hill of the Lickey range is the home of some of the more rare
bog-loving species. Here are found Sphagnum cuspidatum, S. intermedmn,
Pogonatum urnigerum and Plagiothecium undulatum, all apparently rare in
the county. The Malvern range, which offers such varied rock surfaces,
yields, so far as present experience serves, but few of the mosses found on
such rocks. Here are found Hedivigia ciliata, Racomitriutn aciciilare,
Zygodon Mougeotii, Grimmia subsquarrosa, Dicranoweissia crispula, Webera
cruda and Eurhynchium crassinervium.

The fallow fields, which offer a home for the short-lived species
such as the Pottia and Phascoid groups, whose whole existence is
bounded by the interval between autumn and spring, can only be
partially recorded ; their haunts are often inaccessible to the botanist,
the plants minute and scattered, and hence they are frequently overlooked.
The more frequent species are Pottia truncata and Phascum cuspidatum ;
but in the more retentive soils some of the rarer species are found, as at
King's Norton and Moseley, where are found Acaulon muticum, Pottia
intermedia, the rare P. Wilsoni, Ephemerum serratum and Physcomitrella
patens.

The woodlands of Worcestershire are extensive, but add little to the
rarer moss flora of the county. Usually only such mosses as the larger
hypna, Mnium hornum and Catharinea undulata are found ; but in some of
the woods, watered by small streams, and where the surroundings are
more humid, as in the woods about Frankley and Pensax, the moss
growth is more varied. Here are found Pleuridium alternifolium,
Brachythecium illecebrum, Hypnum loreum, Brachythecium plumosum and B.
glareosum, and in Shrawley Wood the rare Dicranum montanum and Bryum
roseum.

The arboreal species, that is those mosses growing on tree trunks
above the roots, are rare. The more frequent are Tortula Icevipila and
Dicranoweissia cirrhata, which are plentiful over a wide area. The more
rare species are found in those districts where the soil is either rich marl
or lias and the surroundings more humid, as near Shipston-on-Stour and
Tidmington, where are found the very rare Orthotrichum obtusifolium,
Tortula papulosa and Cryphcea heteromalla.

The total moss flora of Worcestershire, so far as is yet known, num-
bers 238 species, but this is scarcely an exhaustive list. Only a limited
time has been given to the work, and probably a more thorough investi-
gation of the southern portion of the county will materially increase the
record.

I 65 F

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

The following are the more rare species not included in the pre-
ceding notes : —

Archidium alternifolium, Schp. Malvern^ Funaria fasciculare, Schp. Malvern, Lees

Lees Bryum lacustre, Brid. Harborne

Dicranella secunda, Ldb. Malvern, GrifBths Neckera pumila, Hedw. Malvern, Lees

Leucobryum glaucum, Schp. Lkkey Hill Brachythecium salebrosum, B. & S. Near

Fissidens crassipes, Wils. Near Hahiowen Alfrkk

Pottia Starlceana, C. M. 'J Eurhynchium tenellum, Milde. Malvern,

Tortula pusilla, Mitt. > Malvern, Lees Lees

Weissia crispa, Mitt. J Hypnum vernicosum, Ldb. Wyre Forest

Orthotrichum anomalum, var. saxatile, Milde. H. uncinatum, Hedw. Moseley

Malvern, Lees Hylocomium brevirostre, B. & S. Malvern,

O. cupulatum, HofFm. Newbould-on-Stour Lees

Comparing the moss flora of Worcestershire with that of the
bordering counties, we find that —

Herefordshire has 280 species. But Herefordshire has a larger
area, a more humid climate, extensive heathlands, marshes and bogs, and
a range of mountains prolific in montane species, and has been more
thoroughly examined.

Shropshire has 251 species. This county has nearly twice the
area, and a very much greater area of waste and woodland. It has not
been exhaustively investigated, and will probably be found to have as
large a moss flora as Herefordshire.

Staffordshire has 273 species. This county, nearly twice the size of
Worcestershire, has twice the area of wood and waste land, has extensive
moorlands and bogs, and numerous rapid streams abounding in mosses.

Warwickshire has 245 species. This county has about the same
area as Worcestershire, but has no high hills, is poor in limestone rocks,
but its northern woodlands are more boggy, and yield many species not
yet observed in Worcestershire. It has been more systematically worked,
and is probably more fully recorded.

LIVERWORTS {Hepaticce)

These plants are closely allied to the mosses, and would be included
with them by unbotanical observers. But they differ in having cap-
sules opening by valves, and with the exception of Riccia, in the
presence of spiral bodies (elaters) among their spores. Although
found in every sort of habitat, they are on the whole more dependent
on the presence of moisture than the mosses, and on the softer soils they
are crowded out by the more vigorous growth of the flowering plants ;
hence in a highly-cultivated district like Worcestershire, where bogs,
marshes and waste heath-lands are few and far between, the hepatic
flora is a very meagre one, only forty species being recorded for the county.
The richest localities are the marshy banks of streams like Dowles Brook
in Bewdley Forest. Here is found the singular but beautiful T'richocolea
tomentella and Cephalozia bicuspidata, C. multijiora, Pellia epiphylla and
Aneura sinuata. On the water-splashed rocks of some of the streams near

BOTANY

Pensax the dark green fronds of Marchantia polymorpha, Conocephalus conicus
and Chiloscyphus polyanthos are abundant ; and on the marly banks and in the
more humid recesses of the woods a rich growth of the pretty Lepidozia
reptans, Scapania nemorosa, Nardia scalaris, Plagiochila asplenioides and other
woodland species. Other woods, such as those near Redditch, where
the soil is retentive and the surroundings more favourable, yield such
hepatics as Diplophyllum albicans, Kantia trichomanes, Lophocolea cuspidata,
its congener L. bidentata, Jungermannia crenulata ; and on the tree roots
Lophocolea heterophylla is often to be found. The softer soils of the culti-
vated lands are little favoured by these plants, except when lying fallow ;
but in such fields near Churchill and Clent the stellate fronds of Riccia
glauca and the barren fronds of Lunularia cruciata are abundant.

But the richest hunting-grounds for these plants are the Malvern
Hills and the adjacent common lands. The rills, the bare rocks, the
heath lands, and fine holly woods afford a home for several of the more
local species, and here are found Scapania resupinata, S. irrigua, Saccogynia
viticulosa, Fossombronia pusilla, the tree-loving Frullania Tamarisci, F. dila-
tata, Lejeunea serpyllifolia, Radula complanata, Blepharozia ciliaris, the
horn-bearing Anthoceros punctatus, and the singular and rare Targionia
hypophylla.

LICHENS {Lichenes)

These are a large and well-known class of plants, usually abundant
where the air is pure and uncontaminated by the smoke and poisonous
gases of towns and other industrial centres. They are found in all
regions, tropic or arctic, and at all elevations, from sea-level to the
snow-line of the highest alps ; they can endure every degree of cold,
and revive after the drying heat of even tropical climates ; and their
length of existence as individuals is almost indefinite.

Formerly they were considered to be a distinct class of plants inter-
mediate between the algae and the fungi. But the researches of some
of our more learned botanists, as Schwendener and others, have proved
them to be in reality fungi, allied to the Ascomycetes, parasitical on
certain of the Algas — Protococcus, Chroococcus, Nostoc — and some of the
Confervaceas. Some are crustaceous as in Cladonia, others foliaceous as
in Parmelia, and others fruticose as in Usnea barbata. In the neigh-
bourhood of large towns, or where the atmosphere is charged with
smoke, they are rarely found, or only in an abnormal state, forming
dust-like or filamentous patches on walls or trees, etc., and known by
the older botanists by the pseudo-generic name Lepraria.

In the north-eastern portion of the county lichens are rarely found,
save in the abnormal state referred to above, but at Hartlebury Common
there are still in existence the remains of a lichen flora, such as C/adonia
rangiferina, C.f areata, C. uncialis and Urceolaria scruposa ; and at Bewd-
ley Lecidea dispansa has been found. The Clent Hills have not been
fully worked, and do not appear to have any special species. The
Lickey Hills, which lie a little south of this, have within recent times

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

been rich in some of the more common species. Here are found
Cetraria aculeata, the black-fruited Verrucaria epigcea, V. nigrescens and
V. rupestris. But as soon as we approach the more sylvan portions of
the Severn Valley near Worcester, lichens are not only more frequent
but more noticeable ; trees, walls, the stone coping of bridges, and
wild waysides each yield their quota of lichens, some of them rare,
such as Leptogium lacerum, var. pulvinata, L. subtile^ Sphinctrina turbinata,
Calicium phceocephalum, C. curium, C. trkhiale, Sticta puhnonaria, Lecidea
incompta, L. rosella, the singular parasitical L. Parmeliarum and Opegrapha
Turneri.

But the richest district in the county is that of the Malvern Hills
and the adjacent common lands, where the lichens are numerous and
often rare. Here are found the beautiful coral-like Sphc^rophoron com-
pressum and S. coralloides, Bceomyces rufus, B. roseus, Stereocaulon nanum,
Platysma glaucum, Parmelia saxatilis, var. omphalodes, JJmbilicaria pustulata,
Amphiloma lanuginosa, Lecanora ferruginea, L. hamatomma, Lecidea tenebrosa,
L. tricolor, L. muscorum, L. truncigena, Opegrapha vulgaris, O. lyncea ;
and on the hollies of Holly Bush Hill are several of that curious genus
Graphis, as G. elegans, G. scripta, G. horizontalis, G. serpentina, Verrucaria
gemmata, V. biformis ; on calcareous rocks, Verrucaria Salweii and Endo-
carpon hepaticum. On heathy places on or about the hills the singular
family Collema are numerous, such as C. jiaccidum, C. crispum, C. nigrescens,
and their allies, Leptogium lacerum, L. tenuissimum ; and on old oaks in
Cowleigh Park, Trachylia tigillaris.

As we travel farther south to the Avon Valley, the trees are more
richly clad in their grey clothing of Lichens ; and in the outlying por-
tion of the county — Broadway and the high land about Bredon, where
the rocks are capped with oolite, and the fences are of stone from the
neighbouring quarries — the lichens are abundant and some of them rare,
such as Lecanora calcarea, Verrucaria immersa, V. rupestris, and its variety
muralis. In some places the broken rock is curiously stained inky black
with the thallus of Pannaria nigra, and in others a yellow tinge prevails
from the abundant thallus of Placodium murorum, and now and again on
the higher rocks is Lecidea geographica and other more common species.
The total lichen flora of Worcestershire is 228 species and varieties,
and the following are some of the more rare, not recorded in the fore-
going notes : —

Leptogium sinuatum, Huds. Parmelia conspeisa, Ehrh. Lecanora epixantha, Ach.

— turgidum, Ach. — acetabulum, Neck. Lecidea lucida, Ach.

— Schraderi, Bernh. Psoronia hypnorum, Vahl. — canescens, Dicks.
Coniocybe furfuracea, Ach. Placodium citrinum, Ach. — Ehrhartiana, Ach.
Alectoria jubata, Linn. — candicans, Dicks. — rubella, Ehrh.
Peltigera rufescens, HofFm. Lecanora tartarea, Linn. — tantilla, Nyi.
Parmelia fuliginosa, Dub. — circinata, Pers. Graphis dendritica, Ach.

My principal authorities for the foregoing notes are Mr. E. Lees'
Botany of Worcestershire and Malvern ; and Dr. Holl's records in Leigh-
ton's Lichen Flora of Great Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands, 3rd
edition, 1879.

BOTANY

FRESHWATER ALGM

The plants belonging to this group have been very imperfectly
recorded. Mr. Lees, in his Botany of the Malvern Hills, has a list of only
about twenty — mostly common species. The following list is all he
records, and the nomenclature is that of Gray's Handbook, 1864 : —

Tetraspora lubrica, Callithamnion aureus, C. barbatus, Batrachospermum
atrum, Lemanea torulosa, L. fluviatilis, Cladophora fracta, Chcetophora rivu-
laris, C. capillaris, 'Enteromorpha intestinalis, Prasiola calophylla, Lyngbya
muralis, Ulva crispa, U. bullosa, Osa'llatoria limosa, Strigonema atrovirens,
Nostoc commune, N. muscorum, Botrydina vulgaris, Palme I la cruenta.

In the Transactions of the Worcestershire Naturalists' Club, 1897—99,
p. 3, the occurrence of Tetraspora explanata, Agardh., at Lower Wick,
is recorded for the first time in Britain.

The Desmidiacece and Diatomacece appear to have been totally neg-
lected.

FUNGI

The fungus flora of the county has been investigated very little owing
to few botanists taking up the study of mycology. Notwithstanding this
neglect, and the meagre dimensions of the county list, a few noteworthy
plants have been gathered in Worcestershire. Amongst these we may
enumerate Amanita aureola, Habberley Valley, Lepiota submarasmioides, near
the Valley of the White-leaved Oak, Lepiota leucothites, near the Holly
Bush Pass, Tricholoma glaucocanum, Wyre Forest, and Coprinus squamosus,
Hanbury Park. All of these were recorded as British for the first time,
whilst the following species were entirely new and unknown before,
Collybia veluticeps, Claines, Flammula rubicundula, Wyre Forest, and Coprinus
roseotinctus. Ash Plantation, Temple Laughern.

The authority for the following list is Cooke's Handbook of British
Fungi, with emendations from Fries, Lister, Massee, Plowright, Grevillea,
and the Transactions of the British Mycological Society.

BASIDIOMYCETES

Hymenomycetes

I. Agariclnece

Amanita phalloides, Fr.

var. verna, Bull.

— mappa, Fr.

— pantherina, D.C.

— muscaria, Fr.

— aureola, Kalch.

— rubescens, Fr.

— spissa, Fr.

— nitida, Fr.
Amanitopsis vaginata, Roze.

— strangulata, Fr.

— adnata, W. G. Smith

Lepiota procera, Scop.

— permixta, Barla.

— rachodes, Vitt.

var. puellaris, Fr.

— prominens, Viv.

— excoriata, SchasfF.

— acutesquamosa, Weinm.

— Friesii, Lasch.

— Badhami, Berk.

— clypeolaria, Bull.

— submarasmioides, Speg.

— felina, Pers.

— metulsspora, B. & Br.

— cristata, A. & S.

— erminea, Fr.

— holosericea, Fr.

Lepiota leucothites, Vitt.

— cepasstipes, Sow.

— carcharias, Pers.

— granulosa, Batsch.

— amianthina, Scop.

— illinita, Fr.
Armillaria mellea, Vahl.
Tricholoma sejunctum, Sow.

— spermaticum, Fr.

— resplendens, Fr.

— acerbum, Bull.

— flavo-brunneum, Fr.

— albo-brunneum, Pers.

— ustale, Fr.

— rutilans, SchaefF.

— columbetta, Fr.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Tricholoma scalpturatum, Fr.
var. chrysites, Jungh.

— murinaceum, Bull.

— terreum, Schasff.

var. atrosquamosutn.
Chev.

— saponaceum, Fr.

— cartilagineum, Bull.

— cuneifolium, Fr.

var. cinereo-rimosum,
Batsch.

— sulphureum, Fr.

— carneum, Bull.

— gambosum, Fr.

— album, SchaefF.

— leucocephalum, Fr.

— personatum, Fr.

— glaucocanum, Bres.

— nudum, Bull.

— panaeolum, Fr.

— melaleucum, Pers.

var. polioleucum, Fr.

— grammopodium. Bull.

— brevipes. Bull.

— sordidum, Fr.
Clitocybe nebularis, Batsch.

— clavipes, Pers.

— odora, Sow^.

— rivulosa, Pers.

— cerrusata, Fr.

— phyllophila, Fr.

— pithyophila, Fr.

— tornata, Fr.

— candicans, Pers.

var. minor, Cke.

— gallinacea, Scop.

— decastes, Fr.

— aggregata, SchaefF.

— fumosa, Pers.

— maxima, Gartn. & Mey.

— infundibuliformis,SchsefF.

— incilis, Fr.

— sinopica, Fr.

— geotropa. Bull.

— inversa. Scop.

— flaccida, Sow.

— cyathiformis. Bull.

— brumalis, Fr.

— metachroa. Ft.

— ditopa, Fr.

— diatreta, Fr.

— fragrans. Sow.
Laccaria laccata, Berk.

var. amethystina. Bolt,
var. tortilis, Bolt.
Collybia radicata, Relh.

— longipes, Bull.

— veluticeps, Rea.

— platyphylla, Fr.

var. repens, Fr.

Collybia semitalis, Fr.

— fusipes, Bull.

— maculata, A. & S.
■ — prolixa, Fl. Dan.

— butyracea. Bull.

— velutipes, Fr.

— vertiruga, Cke.

— stipitaria, Fr.

— confluens, Pers.

— conigena, Pers

— cirrhata, Fr.

— tuberosa, Bull.

— xanthopoda, Fr.

— esculenta, Wulf.

— tenacella, Pers.

var. stolonifer, Jungh.

— acervata, Fr.

— dryophila, Bull.

var. funicularis, Fr.

— extuberans, Fr.

— ocellata, Fr.

— rancida, Fr.

— ambusta, Fr.
Mycena strobilina, Fr.

var. coccinea. Sow.

— pura, Pers.

— zephira, Fr.

— lineata. Bull.

— flavo-alba, Fr.

— luteo-alba. Bolt.

— lac tea, Pers.

— parabolica, Fr.

— polygramma, Bull.

— galericulata. Scop.

var. calopoda, Fr.

— sudora, Fr.

— rugosa, Fr.

— tenuis, Bolt.

— ammoniaca, Fr.

— alcalina, Fr.

— plicosa, Fr.

— filopes, Bull.

— amicta, Fr.

— vitilis, Fr.

— acicula, SchasfF.

— sanguinolenta, A. & S.

— galopoda, Fr.

— leucogala, Cke.

— epipterygia. Scop.

— clavicularis, Fr.

— vulgaris, Pers.

— rorida, Fr.

— stylobates, Pers.

— tenerrima. Berk.

— discopoda, L6v.

— pterigena, Fr.

— hiemalis, Osbeck.

— capillaris, Schum.
Omphalia hydrogramma, Fr

— Postii, Fr.

Omphalia rustica, Fr.

— muralis. Sow.

— umbellifera, Linn.

— pseudo-androsacea, Bull.

— camptophylla, Berk.

— grisea, Fr.

— umbratilis, Fr.

— fibula. Bull.

var. Swartzii, Fr.

— integrella, Pers.
Pleurotus corticatus, Fr.

— dryinus, Pers.

— ulmarius. Bull.

— subpalmatus, Fr.

— ostreatus, Jacq.

var. columbinus, Quelet.
var. glandulosus. Bull.

— serotinus, Schrad.

— mitis, Pers.

— limpidus, Fr.

— tremulus, Fr.

— chioneus, Pers.
Volvaria Taylori, Berk.

— speciosa, Fr.

— parvula, Fr.

— media, Schum.
Pluteus cervinus, SchaefF.

var. Bullii, Berk.

— ephebius, Fr.

— chrysophaeus, SchaefF.
Entoloma sinuatum, Fr.

— prunuloides, Fr.

— jubatum, Fr.

— sericellum, Fr.

— clypeatum, Linn.

— costatum, Fr.

— sericeum, Fr.

— nidorosum, Fr.
Clitopilus prunulus. Scop.

— orcella, Bull.

— cancrinus, Fr.

— stilbocephalus, B. & Br.
Leptonia lampropoda, Fr.

— solstitialis, Fr.

— euchroa, Pers.

— lazulina, Fr.

— incana, Fr.
Nolanea pascua, Pers.

— pisciodora, Cesati.
■ — icterina, Fr.

— picea, Kalch.
Claudopus variabilis, Pers.
Pholiota togularis. Bull.

— dura, Bolt.

— praecox, Pers.

— radicosa. Bull.

- — leochroma, Cke.

— aegerita, Fr.

• — squarrosa, MuU.

— spectabilis, Fr.

BOTANY

Pholiota adiposa, Fr.

— Cookei, Fr.

— mutabilis, Schaeff.

— marginata, Batsch.
Inocybe hirsuta, Lasch.

— lanuginosa, Bull.

— pyriodora, Pers.

— incarnata, Bres.

— flocculosa, Berk.

— mutica, Fr.

— carpta, Fr.

— rimosa, Bull.

— asterospora, Qu61et.

— eutheles, B. & Br.

— geophylla, Fr.

— scabella, Fr.

— tricholoma, Fr.
Hebeloma musivum, Fr.

— fastibile, Fr.

— glutinosum, Lindgr.

— mesophaeum, Fr.

— sinapizans, Fr.

— crustuliniforme, Bull.

var. minor, Cke.

— datum, Fr.

— longicaudum, Pers.

— nauseosum, Cke.
Flammula gummosa, Lasch.

— carbonaria, Fr.

— fusa, Batsch.

— rubicundula, Rea.

— alnicola, Fr.

— flavida, SchaefF.

— inopoda, Fr.

— sapinea, Fr.

— picrea, Fr.

— ochrochlora, Fr.
Naucoria melinoides, Fr.
- — badipes, Fr.

— striaspes, Cke.

— pediades, Fr.

— semiorbicularis. Bull.

— tabacina, DC.

— myosotis, Fr.

— temulenta, Fr.

— escharoides, Fr.
Galera tenera, SchaefF.

— campanulata, Mass.

— spartea, Fr.

— hypnorum, Batsch.

var. sphagnorum, Fr.
Tubaria furfuracea, Pers.
var. trigonophylla, Fr.

— paludosa, Fr.

— stagnina, Fr.

— autochthona, B. & Br.

— crobula, Fr.

— inquilina, Fr.
Crepidotus mollis, SchaefF.

— calolepis, Fr.

Crepidotus epigaeus, Pers.
Agaricus augustus, Fr.

— campestris, Linn.

var. silvicola, Vitt.
var. pratensis, Vitt.
var. hortensis, Cke.
var. rufescens. Berk.

— arvensis, SchsefF.

— xanthoderma, Genev.

— silvaticus, SchaefF.

— haemorrhoidarius, Schulz.

— comptulus, Fr.
Stropharia seruginosa. Curt.

— albo-cyanea, Desm.

— inuncta, Fr.

— coronilla, Bull.

— melasperma. Bull.

— squamosa, Fr.

var. thrausta, Fr.

— stercoraria, Fr.

— semiglobata, Batsch.

— scobinacea, Fr.
Hypholoma sublateritium,

SchaefF

— capnoides, Fr.

— fasciculare, Huds.

— hypoxanthum, Phil. &

Plow^.

— lachrymabundum, Fr.
• — velutinum, Pers.

— pyrotrichum, Holmsk.

— cascum, Fr.

^ appendiculatum, Bull.
• — hydrophilum, Bull.
Psilocybe sarcocephala, Fr.

— bullacea, Bull.

— semilanceata, Fr.

var. caerulescens, Cke.

— spadicea, Fr.

var. hygrophila, Fr.

— foenisecii, Pers.
Psathyra corrugis, Pers.

— bifrons. Berk.

var. semitincta, Phil.

— semivestita, B. & Br.

— fibrillosa, Pers.
Anellaria separata, Karst.

— fimiputris, Karst.
Panaeolus phalsnarum, Fr.

— sphinctrinus, Fr.

• — papilionaceus, Fr.

— campanulatus, Linn.
Psathyrella gracilis, Fr.

— atomata, Fr.

— disseminata, Pers.
Coprinus comatus, Fr.
- — atramentarius, Fr.

— squamosus, Morg.

— picaceus, Fr.

— fimetarius, Fr.

Coprinus fimetarius

var. cinereus, SchaefF.

— niveus, Fr.

— roseotinctus, Rea.

— micaceus, Fr.

— papillatus, Fr.

- — deliquescens, Fr.

— Hendersonii, Berk.

— radiatus, Fr.

— stercorarius, Fr.

— ephemerus, Fr.

— plicatilis, Fr.

— filiformis, B. & Br.
Bolbitius flavidus, Bolt.

— fragilis, Fr.

— tener. Berk.
Cortinarius
(Phlegmacium) varius, Fr.

— largus, Fr.

— anfractus, Fr.

— talus, Fr.

— glaucopus, Fr.

— caerulescens, Fr.

— purpurascens, Fr.

var.subpurpurascens,Fr.

— scaurus, Fr.

— emollitus, Fr.

— cristallinus, Fr.

— porphyropus, Fr.
(Myxacium) collinitus, Fr.

— mucifluus, Fr.

— elatior, Fr.

— pluvius, Fr.
(Inoloma) argentatus,

Krombh.

— violaceus, Linn.

— albo-violaceus, Fr.
(Dermocybe) ochroleucus, Fr.

— tabularis, Fr.

— caninus, Fr.

— anomalus, Fr.

— lepidopus, Cke.

— miltinus, Fr.

— sanguineus, Fr.

— anthracinus, Fr.

— cinnamomeus, Fr.

var. semisanguineus, Fr.

— cotoneus, Fr.

— raphanoides, Fr.
(Telamonia) torvus, Fr.

— quadricolor, Fr.

— limonius, Fr.

— hinnuleus, Fr.

— injucundus, Weinm.

— flexipes, Fr.

- — psammocephalus, Fr.

— incisus, Fr.

— hemitrichus, Fr.

— rigidus, Fr.

— paleaceus, Fr.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

(Hygrocybe) castaneus, Bull.

— bicolor, Cke.

— pateriformis, Fr.

— dolabratus, Fr.

— leucopus, Bull.

— erythrinus, Fr.

— decipiens, Fr.

— acutus, Fr.
Gomphidius glutinosus,

Schsff.

— viscidus, Fr.

— roseus, Fr.

— gracilis, Berk.
Paxillus giganteus, Fr.

— lepista, Fr.

— lividus, Cke.

— involutus, Fr.

var. excentricus, Fr.
Hygrophorus
(Limacium) chrysodon, Fr.

— eburneus, Bull.

— cossus, Sow.

— penarius, Sow.

— glutinifer, Fr.

— arbustivus, Fr.

— discoideus, Fr.

— olivaceo-albus, Fr.

— hypothejus, Fr.
(Camarophyllus) nemoreus,

Fr.

— pratensis, Fr.

— virgineus, Wulf.

var. roseipes, Mass.

— niveus, Fr.

— russo-coriaceus, B. & Br.

— fornicatus, Fr.

— ovinus, Bull.
(Hygrocybe) laetus, Fr.

— vitellinus, Fr.

— ceraceus, Wulf.

— coccineus, SchasfF.

— miniatus, Fr.

— turundus, Fr.

— puniceus, Fr.

— obrusseus, Fr.

— conicus, Fr.

— calyptrjeformis, Berk.

var. niveus, Cke.

— chlorophanus, Fr.

— psittacinus, SchaefF.

— unguinosus, Fr.

— nitratus, Pers.
Lactarius (Piperites) interme-

dius, Krombh.

— torminosus, SchsefF.

— turpis, Fr.

— controversus, Pers.

— pubescens, Fr.

— insulsus, Fr.

— blennius, Fr.

Piperites trivialis, Fr.

— circellatus, Fr.

— uvidus, Fr.

— pyrogalus, Bull.

— chrysorrheus, Fr.
■ — pargamenus, Fr.
^ piperatus, Fr.

— vellereus, Fr.
(Dapetes) deliciosus, Fr.
(Russularia) pallidus, Fr.

— quietus, Fr.

— aurantiacus, Fr.

— theiogalus. Bull.

— vietus, Fr.

— rufus. Scop.

— helvus, Fr.

- — glyciosmus, Fr.

— fuliginosus, Fr.

— volemus, Fr.

— serifluus, Fr.

— mitissimus, Fr.
• — subdulcis, Fr.

— camphoratus, Fr.

— minimus, W. G. Smith
Russula nigricans, Fr.

— adusta, Fr.

— albo-nigra, Krombh.

— densifolia. Seer.

— delica, Fr.

— olivascens. Fr.

— furcata, Fr.

— rosacea, Fr.

— depallens, Fr.

— caerulea, Fr.

— drimeia,Cke. = expallens,

Gillet

— lactea, Fr.

var. incarnata, Quelet

— virescens, Fr.

— lepida, Fr.

— rubra, Fr.

— xerampelina, Fr.

— vesca, Fr.

— azurea, Bres.

— cyanoxantha, Fr.

— galochroa, Fr.

— consobrina, Fr.

var. intermedia, Cke.
var. sororia, Fr.

— foetens, Fr.

— fellea, Fr.

— emetica, Fr.

— ochroleuca, Fr.

— granulosa, Cke.

— citrina, Gillet

— fragilis, Fr.

var. nivea, Cke.
var. violacea, Qudlet.
var. fallax, Cke.

— integra, Fr.

Russula aurata, Fr.

— nitida, Fr.

var. pulchralis, Britz.
var. cuprea, Cke.

— puellaris, Fr.

— alutacea, Fr.

— armeniaca, Cke.

— lutea, Fr.

— chamasleontina, Fr.
Cantharellus cibarius, Fr.

— aurantiacus, Fr.

— carbonarius, Fr.

— tubxformis, Fr.

— infundibuliformis, Fr.

— cinereus, Fr.

— muscigenus, Fr.
Nyctalis parasitica, Fr.

— asterophora, Fr.
Marasmius peronatus, Fr.

— porreus, Fr.

— oreades, Fr.

— prasiosmus, Fr.

— erythropus, Fr.

— archyropus, Fr.

— calopus, Fr.

— Vaillantii, Fr.

— fcetidus, Fr.

— ramealis, Fr.

— Candidas, Bolt.

— alliaceus, Fr.

— rotula, Fr.

— graminum. Berk.

— ardrosaceus, Fr.

— epiphyllus, Fr.
Lentinus lepideus, Fr.

— cochleatus, Fr.
Panus torulosus, Fr.

— rudis, Fr.

— stypticus, Fr.
Lenzites betulina, Fr.

— flaccida, Fr.

— saepiaria, Fr.

II. Polyporece
Boletus luteus, Linn.

— elegans, Schum.

— granulatus, Linn.

— tenuipes, Cke.

— aurantiporus, Howse

— bovinus, Linn.

— badius, Fr.

— piperatus. Bull.

— variegatus, Sw.

• — chrysenteron, Fr.
var. nanus, Mass.

— subtomentosus, Linn.

— pachypus, Fr.

— edulis. Bull.

var. lasvipes, Mass.
var. crassus, Mass.

Boletus impolitus, Fr.

— satanas, Lenz.

— luridus, SchasfF.

var. erythropus, Pers.

— purpureas, Fr.

— laricinus, Berk.

— duriusculus, Schulz.

— versipellis, Fr.

— scaber, Fr.

var. aurantiacus, Bull.

— felIeus,Bull.

— alutarius, Fr.

— castaneus, Bull.
Strobilomyces strobilaceus,

Berk.
Fistulina hepatica, Fr.
Polyporus rufescens, Fr.

— squamosus, Fr.

— picipes, Fr.

— varius, Fr.

— elegans, Fr.

var. nummularius, Fr.

— intybaceus, Fr.

— giganteus, Fr.

— sulphureus, Fr.

— dryadeus, Fr.

— hispidus, Fr.

— quercinus, Fr.

— nidulans, Fr.

— mollis, Fr.

— destructor, Fr.

— betulinus, Fr.

— adustus, Fr.

— chioneus, Fr.

— caesius, Fr.

— spumeus, Fr.

— fragilis, Fr.
Femes lucidus, Fr.

— ulmarius, Fr.

— populinus, Fr.

— connatus, Fr.

— fomentarius, Fr.

— igniarius, Fr.

— annosus, Fr.

— applanatus, Wallr.
Polystictus perennis, Fr.

— versicolor, Fr.

— radiatus, Fr.

— hirsutus, Fr.

— abietinus, Fr.
Poria vaporaria, Fr.

— meduUa-panis, Fr.

— vitrea, Pers.

— Hibernica, B. & Br.

— blepharistoma, B. & Br.

— obducens, Pers.

— terrestris, Fr.

— sanguinolenta, A. & S.
Trametes suaveolens, Fr.

— serpens, Fr.

BOTANY

Daedalea quercina, Pers.

— cinerea, Fr.

— unicolor, Fr.
Merulius tremellosus, Schrad.

— corium, Fr.

— lachrymans, Fr.

III. Hydnea
Hydnum repandum, Linn,
var. rufescens, Pers.

— auriscalpium, Linn.

— ochraceum, Pers.

— viride, Fr.

— udum, Fr.

— niveum, Pers.

— farinaceum, Pers.
Caldesiella ferruginosa, Sacc.
Irpex obliquus, Fr.
Radulum orbiculare, Fr.

— quercinum, Fr.
Phlebia merismoides, Fr.

— radiata, Fr.
Grandinia granulosa, Fr.

— crustosa, Fr.

IV. Thelephorea
Craterellus cornucopioides,
Pers.

— clavatus, Fr.
Thelephora caryophyllea,

Pers.

— palmata, Fr.

— laciniata, Pers.
Soppittiella sebacea, Mass.

— caesia, Mass.

— fastidiosa, Mass.

— Crustacea, Mass.
Stereum Sowerbeii, Mass.

— hirsutum, Fr.

— ochroleucum, Fr.

— purpureum, Pers. .

— sanguinolentum, Fr.

— rugosum, Fr.

— spadiceum, Fr.
Coniophora arida, Karst.

— sulphurea, Fr.

— puteana, Fr.
Peniophora quercina, Cke.

— gigantea, Mass.

— rosea, Mass.

— incarnata, Mass.

— ochracea, Mass.

— cinerea, Cke.

— velutina, Cke.
Hymenochaete rubiginosa,

L^v.

— tabacina, L^v.
Corticium calceum, Fr.

— laeve, Pers.

— nudum, Fr.

Corticium sambuci, Fr.

— sanguineum, Fr.

— cseruleum, Fr.

— comedens, Fr.
Cyphella muscicola, Fr.
Exobasidium vaccinii, Wor-

onin
Solenia anomala, Fr.

V. Clavariees
Sparassis crispa, Fr.
Clavaria amethystina, Bull.

— fastigiata, Linn.

— muscoides, Linn.

— coralloides, Linn.

— cinerea. Bull.

— cristata, Holmsk.

— rugosa. Bull.

— pyxidata, Pers.

— formosa, Pers.

— abietina, Schum.

— flaccida, Fr.

— fusiformis, Sow.

— inasqualis, Fl. Dan.

— vermicularis. Scop.

— fragilis, Holmsk.

— dissipabilis, Britz.

— pistillaris, Linn.
Typhula erythropus, Fr.

— phacorrhiza, Fr.

— muscicola, Fr.
Pistillaria tenuipes, Mass.

— quisquiliaris, Fr.

— puberula. Berk.

VI. TremelUneis.
Tremella frondosa, Fr.

— lutescens, Pers.

- — mesenterica, Retz.

— tubercularia. Berk.

— sarcoides, Sm.
Exidia glandulosa, Fr.

— recisa, Fr.

— albida, Brefeld
Hirneola auricula- Judae,

Berk.
Auricularia mesenterica, Fr.

— lobata, Sommerf.
Dacryomyces deliquescens,

Duby.

— stillatus, Nees.
Calocera viscosa, Fr.

— cornea, Fr.
Tremellodon gelatinosum,

Pers.

Gastromycetes
II. Sclerodermece
Scleroderma vulgare, Fr.

— verrucosum, Pers.

— geaster, Fr.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

III. Nidulariea
Cyathus striatus, HofFm.

— vernicosus, DC.
Crucibulum vulgare, Tul.
Sphaerobolus stellatus, Tode.

IV. Lycoperdea
Lycoperdon Hoylei, Berk.

— excipuliforme, Scop.

— saccatum, Vahl.

— gemmatum, Batsch.

— pyriforme, SchaefF.

— perlatum, Pers.

— caelatum, Bull.

— bovista, Linn.

— plumbeum, Pers.

— nigrescens, Vitt.

— pusillum, Fr.
Geaster fornicatus, Fr.

— fimbriatus, Fr.

V. Phalloidea
Ithyphallus impudicus, Fisch.
Mutinus caninus, Fr.

MYXOMYCETES

I. Exosporece

Ceratiomyxa mucida, Schraet.

II. EndosporeiS
Badhamia macrocarpa, Rost.
Physarum nutans, Pers.
Fuligo septica, Gmelin
Leocarpus vernicosus, Link.
Chondriodermaspumarioides,

Rost.
Didymium farinaceum,

Schrad.

— effusum. Link.
Spumaria alba, DC.
Stemonitis fusca, Roth.

— ferruginea, Ehrenb.
Comatricha ? Sp.
Tubulina fragiformis, Pers.
Reticularia Lycoperdon, Bull.
Trichia scabra, Rost.

— varia, Pers.

— fallax, Pers.
Arcyria punicea, Pers.

— incarnata, Pers.
Lycogala miniatum, Pers.

HYPHOMYCETES
I. Mucedinea
Fusidium griseum. Link.
Monilia fructigena, Pers.
Cylindrium flavo-virens, Bon.
Polyscy talum fungorum,Sacc.

Oidium leucoconium, Desm.

— farinosum, Cke.

— aceris, Rabach.

— balsamii, Mont.

— monilioides, Link.
Trichodermalignorum,Harz.
Aspergillus glaucus. Link.

— candidus, Link.
Sterigmatocystis dubia. Link.
Penicillium glaucum. Link.
Acremonium verticillatum,

Link.
Rhinotrichum repens, Preuss.

— Thwaitesii, B. & Br.
Botrytis vulgaris, Fr.

— cinerea, Pers.
Sepedonium chrysospermum,

Fr.
Asterophora agaricicola,

Corda.
Verticillium agaricinum,

Corda.
Diplocadium penicillioides,

Sacc.
Trichothecium roseum, Link.
Dactylium dendroides, Fr.
Ramularia calcea, Ces.

II. Dematieee
Torula monilioides, Corda.
Acrospeira mirabilis, B. & Br.
Zygodesmus fuscus, Corda.
Bispora monilioides, Corda.
Fusicladium dendriticum,
Fckl.

— pyrinum. Lib.
Polythrincium trifolii, Kze.

& Schm.
Cladosporium fulvum, Cke.

— herbarum. Link.
Heterosporium epimyces, C.

& M.
Macrosporium commune,
Rabh.

— tomato, Cke.
Fumago vagans, Pers.

III. Stilhea
Stilbum erythrocephalum,
Ditm.

— fimetarium, B. & Br.
Isaria farinosa, Fr.

— arachnophila, Ditm.

— citrina, Pers.
Graphium subulatum, Sacc.
Stysanus stemonites, Corda.

IV. Tubercular'iea
Tubercularia vulgaris, Tode.

— brassica?, Lib.

iEgerita Candida, Pers.
Sphacelia segetum, L6v.

— typhina, Sacc.
Cylindrocolla urticae, Bon.
Epicoccum micropus, Corda

UREDINE^

Uromyces fabae, Pers.

— polygoni, Pers.

— geranii, DC.

— Valerianae, Schum.

— dactylidis, Otth.

— poae, Rabh.

— ficariae, Schum.
Puccinia asparagi, DC.

— calthae, Link.

— lapsanae, Schultz.

— variabilis, Grev.

— pulverulenta, Grev.

— violae, Schum.

— pimpinellae, Strauss

— menthae, Pers.

— primulae, DC.

— graminis, Pers.

— coronata, Corda.

— glumarum, Sch.

— coronifera, Kleb.

— poarum, Nielsen

— caricis, Schum.

— phragmitis, Schum.

— Trailii, Plow.

— persistens. Plow.
• — agrostidis. Plow.

— suaveolens, Pers.

— hieracii, Schum.

— lychnidearum. Link.

— chrysanthemi, Roze.

— tragopogi, Pers.

• — betonicze. Alb. & Schw.

— aegopodii, Schum.

— umbilici, Gudp.

— fusca, Relham.

— malvacearum, Mont.
Triphragmium ulmariae,

Schum.
Phragmidium fragariastri,
DC.

— sanguisorbae, DC.

— violaceum, Schultz.

— rubi, Pers.

— subcorticatum, Schrank.
Xenodochus carbonarius,

Schlecht.
Endophyllum euphorbias,
DC.

— leucospermum, Sopp.
Gymnosporangium sabinae,

Dicks.

— clavariaeforme, Jacq.

BOTANY

Melam psora helioscopias,Pers.

— lini, Pers.

— populina, Jacq.
Coleosporium senecionis,Pers.

— sonchi, Pers.

— campanula, Pers.
Uredo symphyti, DC.

— mulleri, Schrot.
Milesia scolopendri, B. White
Caeoma euonymi, Gmelin

— mercurialis, Pers.

USTILAGINE^
Ustilago hypodytes, Schlecht.

— segetum, Bull.

— scabiosae, Sow.

— flosculorum, DC.

— tragopogi, Pers.
Urocystis violae, Sow.
Entyloma ranunculi, Bon.

SPH^ROPSIDEiE

Phyllosticta primulaecola,

Desm.
Phoma samarorum, Desm.

— longissimum, Berk.
Sphaeronema subulatum,

Tode.
Diplodia vulgaris, Lev.

— herbarum, L6v.
Ascochyta scabiosae, Rabh.

— ribis, Lib.
Septoria ulmi, Kze.

— hippocastani, B. & Br.

— fraxini, Desm.

MELANCONIiE

Gloeosporium fructigenum.

Berk.
Nemaspora crocea, Pers.

PHYCOMYCETES

Pilobolus crystallinus, Tode.
Mucor mucedo, Linn.

var. caninus, Pers.
Spinellus fusiger. Van Tiegh.
Sporodinia aspergillus, Schrot.
Cystopus candidus, L^v.

— tragopogonis, Schrot.
Phytophthora infestans, De

Bary
Peronospora parasitica, De
Bary

— urticae, De Bary
Leptomitus lactens, Ag.
Saprolegnia ferox, Nees.
Empusa muscas, Cohn.
Protomyces macrosporus,

Unger.

ASCOMYCETES

L Perisporiaceie

Lasiobotrys loniceras, Kze.
Sphaerotheca pannosa, Wallr.

— castagnei, L^v.
Phyllactinia guttata, hbr.
Uncinula adunca, L6v.

— bicornis, L^v.
Erysiphe graminis, DC.

— Montagnei, L^v.

— communis, Schl.
Chaetomium elatum, Kze.
Eurotium herbariorum, Lk.
Capnodium Footii, Berk. &

Desm.

n. Gymnoascaceis

Ascomyces pruni, B. & Br.

— deformans. Berk.

in. Hysteriaceie

Hysterium pulicare, Pers.
Hysterographium fraxini, De
Not.

IV. Discomycetes

Coccomyces coronatus, Sacc.
Phacidium multivalve, Kze.

& Schmidt
Trochila ilicis, Crouan
Rhytisma acerinum, Fr.

— punctatum, Fr.
Propolis faginea, Karst.
Cenangium furfuraceum, De

Not.

— populneum, Rehm.
Tympanis conspersa, Fr.
Bulgaria polymorpha, Wett-

stein
Ombrophila brunnea, Phil.
Orbilia leucostigma, Fr.

— inflatula, Karst.
Calloria fusarioides, Fr.
Coryne sarcoides, Tul.

— atrovirens, Sacc.
Ascobolus vinosus. Berk.

— furfuraceus, Pers.
Pseudopeziza trifolii, Fckl.
Mollisia cinerea, Karst.

— lignicola, Phil.
Helotium claroflavum. Berk.

— citrinum, Fr.

— luteolum, Currey

— virgultorum, Karst.

var. fructigenum,
Rehm.

— calyculus, Berk.

— renisporum, Ellis

Ciboria echinophila, Sacc.

— ochroleuca, Mass.
Sclerotinia tuberosa, Fckl.

— sclerotiorum, Mass.
Chlorosplenium asruginosum,

De Not.
Sphaerospora trechispora,

Sacc.
Lachnea stercorea, Gill.

— scutellata, Gill.

— hemispherica. Gill.
Dasyscypha virginea, Fckl.

— nivea, Mass.

— leuconica, Mass.

— hyalina, Mass.

— calycina, Fckl.
Neottiella nivea, Sacc.
Geopyxis coccinea. Mass,

— cupularis, Sacc.
Sepultaria semiimmersa,

Mass.
Barlaea Crouani, Mass.
Humaria carbonigena, Sacc.
var. fusispora, Mass.

— omphalodes, Mass.

— granulata, Sacc.

— violacea, Sacc.
Peziza vesiculosa. Bull.

var. cerea, Rehm.

— sepiatra, Cke.

— venosa, Pers.

— ampliata, Pers.

var. tectoria, Mass.

— mellea, Cke. & Plow.

— badia, Pers.
Otidea leporina, Fckl.

— cochleata, Fckl.

— onotica, Fckl.

— aurantia, Mass.
Acetabula vulgaris, Fckl.
Helvella crispa, Fr.

— lacunosa, Afzel.

— atra, Konig.

— elastica. Bull.

— macropus, Karst.
Leotia lubrica, Pers.

— acicularis, Pers.
Morchella crassipes, Pers.

var. Smithiana, Cke.

— esculenta, Pers.
Mitrula viride, Karst.
Spathularia clavata, Sacc.

V. Pyrenomycetes
Cordyceps militaris, Fr.

— ophioglossoides, Tul.

— capitata, Fr.
Claviceps purpurea, Tul.
Epichlce typhina, Berk.
Hypocrea rufa, Fr.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Hypomyces chrysospermus,
Tul.

— asterophorus, Tul.

— rosellus, Tul.

— aurantius, Tul.
Nectria pulicaris, Tul.

— cinnabarina, Fr.

— aquifolia, Berk.

— ditissima, Tul.
Polystigma rubrum, Pers.
Sphaeria aquila, Fr.

— tristis, Tode.

— ovina, Pers.

— spermoides, Hoffm.

— pulvispyrius, Pers.

Sphasria arundinacea, Sow.

— millepunctata, Grev.

— herbarum, Pers.

— rubella, Pers.
Sphaerella punctiformis, Per
Cucurbitaria laburni, Pers.
Stigmatea robertiani, Fr.
Valsa nivea, Fr.

— salicina, Fr.
Phyllachora trifolii, Pers.
Dothidella betulina, Fr.

— ulmi, Duv.

— graminis, Fr.
Diatrype quercina, Tul.

— stigma, Fr.

Diatrype disciformis, Fr.
Xylaria polymorpha, Grev.

— digitata, Grev.

— hypoxylon, Grev.
Poronia punctata, Fr.
Ustulina vulgaris, Tul.
Daldinia concentrica, Sacc.
Hypoxylon coccineum. Bull.

— multiforme, Fr.

VI. TuberacciS

Elaphomyces variegatus,Vitt.

— granulatus, Fr.
Onygena equina, Pers.

CLIMATE

FROM its conformation and the fact that a large portion of the
county is included in the lower Severn basin, the main meteoro-
logical features of Worcestershire do not differ from those of the
rest of the West Midland district. On each side of the county
the hills rise to a considerable elevation, Malvern reaching to nearly
1,500 feet and Birmingham to 585 feet. The rest of the county does
not attain to much over 400 feet, except some of the hills on the Abberley
and Lickey ranges. In the river basin Stourport, near where the Severn
enters the county, is only about 100 feet above sea level. The result is
a moderate rainfall, varying from 26-00 at Malvern to about 2 roc in the
river basin. The mean for the county would be about 2 3 "00.

To show the meteorological features of the county the figures are
given on a line drawn across it from east to west at Malvern at a point
about 500 feet above sea level, at Worcester at an elevation of 180 feet,
and at Birmingham, or rather Edgbaston, at about 500 feet. Although
spots may be found that are both wetter and drier, yet on the whole the
line fairly represents the county meteorology.

The figures given are, except when otherwise stated, for the mean
of five years ending December 31, 1900, and they give the rainfall,
barometric pressure and temperature at the three stations.

{a) Rainfall

The mean annual rainfall is 23*18 inches. At Malvern it is 24-88
inches, at Worcester 20-47 inches, at Birmingham 24-21 inches.
Having regard to the series of dry years included in the last five, 1896-
1900, it is probable that if taken over a longer period the mean annual
rainfall would be higher.

The monthly rainfall figures are —

Malvern

Worcester

Birmingham

Malvern

Worcester

Birmingham

January .

2-35

1-84

1-66

July . .

i-6o

1-47

2-19

Febraary

1-44

1-22

I -20

August .

2-41

1-93

2-90

March .

1-87

1-49

I -65

September

2-23

1-54

1-90

April .

175

1-37

1-66

October .

2-75

2-14

2-55

May. .

1-65

1-45

2-00

November

2-35

1-84

2-32

June . .

1-68

1-94

1-97

December

2-8o

2-25

2-26

It will thus be seen that the autumn is wetter than the spring, the
wettest months being October, November and December, the last the
wettest of all. Probably however it is hardly fair to take the dry cycle
which the last five years cover as in any way showing what the real

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

rainfall is. In the case of Worcester the rainfall over a series of years
would be from 2i-oo to 24-00 inches, and that would probably be the
real rainfall of the lower Severn basin. In the five years under notice the
actual Worcester rainfall was —

1895,22-94 1896,18-33 1897,24-14 1898,18-21 1899,23-36
{/)) Barometric Pressure

The readings of the barometer give a mean for the county of 29-68
inches, Malvern showing 29-45 inches, Worcester 29-63 inches, and
Birmingham 29-98 inches.

The monthly means are as follows —

Malvern

Worcester

Birmingham

Malvern

Worcester

Birmingham

January .

29-44

28-86

30-04

July . .

29-55

30-06

29-98

February

29-50

28-82

30-07

August .

29-51

30-10

29-94

March .

29-30

29-02

29-88

September

29-57

29-85

30-03

April .

29-40

29-82

29-95

October .

29-29

29-85

29-89

May. .

29-55

30-94

29-94

November

29-44

29-83

29-93

June . .

29-55

29-58

30-03

December

29-30

2973

29-95

These figures are not really properly comparable, for the Birmingham
figures have been corrected to sea level, which neither the Malvern nor
Worcester have been. The Birmingham figures are for the twelve
years ending December 31, 1899, while the Malvern and Worcester are
only for the five years, hence probably the variation in the figures. The
Worcester figures are taken at an elevation of 180 feet above sea level,
the Malvern at about 500 feet, the Birmingham at 541 feet, so that the
figures at best are only indications of the real state of things.

The temperature is subject to considerable variations. In the low
grounds near the rivers there is in the spring great liability to hoar frosts
to such an extent that in planting fruit trees it becomes necessary to
ascertain the line of the hoar frost. This limit is in many places well
known and clearly defined ; above it fruit can be grown with compara-
tive safety, below it the risk of the crop being destroyed by spring frosts
is greatly increased. The mean of the annual temperature for the county
is 47-9, that is the mean of the maximum and minimum readings. For
Malvern it is 49-7, for Birmingham 46-1.

The monthly figures are —

Malvern

Worcester

Birmingham

Malvern

Worcester

Birmingham

at 9 a.m.

at noon

at 9 a.m.

at noon

at 9 a.m.

January .

37-9

42-5

36-6

July . .

637

78-0

59-0

February

38-0

44-0

37*9

August .

65-5

66-2

58-8

March .

42-2

51-0

40-6

September

58-5

68-4

55-6

April

47-3

56-2

45-1

October .

47-8

56-2

47*4

May. .

537

65-2

51-3

November

44-2

48-1

42-9

June. .

61-5

73-2

57*9

December

40-2

43-5

38-4

CLIMATE

It is unfortunate that the Worcester temperature was taken at a
different hour from those of Malvern and Birmingham, so as to make
any comparison quite impossible and useless, but it will be seen that
Malvern is warmer than Birmingham, It seems hardly worth giving
the other temperatures for all three places, but the figures for Malvern
and Birmingham will enable a good idea to be formed of the temperature
of the two sides of the county.

The mean monthly maximum temperature at Malvern and Birming-
ham is as follows —

Malvern

Birmingham

Malvern

Birmingham

January .

42-4

58-0

July . .

7I-I

84-6

February .

43-8

6i"9

August . .

69-9

85-6

March .

49-0

64-8

September .

65-8

82-8

April . .

54-0

79-0

October .

54-9

70-0

May . .

6i-3

77-6

November .

49-0

6i-6

June .

67-6

82-8

December .

44-3

56-0

The minimum temperature at Worcester and Birmingham is as
follows —

Worcester

Birmingham

Worcester

Birmingham

January .
February .
March .
April . .
May . .
June . .

II-O

8-03
i6-o

20-0
21-0
38-0

10-8

8-0

21-3

27-0
31-0
38-3

July . .
August . .
September .
October .
November .
December .

35-0
41-0

27-0

22-0

i6-o
7-0

39-5
41-2

33-0
27-9

23-5
14-5

So far as is known there are no observations as to the earth tem-
perature in Worcestershire, but some observations on the temperature
of the river Severn have been taken which give the monthly mean
temperature of that river near Worcester at 9 a.m. —

fanuary .

36-0

May . . .

50-0

September

58-0

February . .

37-0

June .

57-0

October . .

51-3

March . .

39-0

July . . .

6o-o

November

437

April . . .

45-0

August .

6o-o

December.

40-2

It will be observed that the temperature, as would be expected, is
slightly lower than that of the air. When the tideway is reached the
temperature falls considerably, and is subjected to much greater fluctua-
tion. But there is no doubt that the comparatively high temperature
the above figures show is due to two causes, both of which are to some
extent exceptional : (i) the dry weather reducing considerably the
volume of water, causes, especially in the summer months, the tempera-
ture to rise ; and (2) the absence of freshets also tends to keep up the
temperature, as the large mass of cold water caused the river to be at

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

a lower figure, although it is probable it made the temperature far less
uniform.

It is only at Birmingham that there are any recorded observations
as to solar radiation, sunshine and wind.

The solar radiation is ascertained by taking the maximum tempera-
ture given by a blackened bulb thermometer in vacuo exposed to the
direct rays of the sun. The figures given are for the twelve years
ending December 31, 1899 —

Solar radiation

Date of greatest

Solar radiation

Date of greatest

January .

937

21, 1898

July . . .

138-0

2, 1893

February

1007

23, 1897

August

133-0

12, 1898

March . .

117-3

26, 1897

September

130-0

7, 1898

April . . .

1257

21, 1893

October . .

113-9

5, 1896

May . . .

1326

31, 1892

November

97-9

2, 1894

June . . .

133-8

16, 1896

December

88-5

II, 1898

The amount of sunshine is measured by a Jordan's sunshine recorder,
which is placed on the top of the monument, about 100 feet above the
ground. It gives the following figures for the twelve years —

Hours and minutes

of sunshine for

the months

Hours and minutes

of sunshine for

the months

Hours and minutes

of sunshine for

the months

January .
February
March .
April . .

35-29
55-22

91-15

1 1 2-3

May .
June .
July .
August

143-19
146-23

130-53
127-51

September
October .
November
December

"3-39

69-30
36-36
32-57

As to the wind, the pressure is ascertained by Osier's anemometer.
The pressure plate presents a surface to the wind of 2 feet superficial.

Total velocity

Extreme pressure

Total velocity

Extreme pressure

in miles

in lb. per sq. ft.

in miles

in lb. per sq. ft.

January .

9,800

20-0

July . .

8,571

II-O

February .

9.334

27-5

August . .

8,762

I2-0

March .

10,426

37-0

September .

8,142

15-0

April . .

9,014

17-0

October .

8,961

ly-o

May . .

9,184

i8-o

November .

9,435

19-0

June .

7,908

1 0-0

December .

10,221

24-0

The prevailing winds when they blow heaviest are south-west to
west, in January, February, March and December. The easterly winds
are of longer duration when they come, but do not equal the west or
south-west either in velocity or pressure.

ZOOLOGY

MOLLUSCS

Ninety-eight species of non-marine moUusca have been recorded
from Worcestershire out of a total of 139 known to inhabit the British
Isles, and this, when the scanty number of published lists is taken into
account, is a very good number.

In this estimate no note is taken of four species {Helicella barbara.
Pupa anglica, Clausilia biplicata, Unio margaritifer) which find their place
in one list, but are apparently due to erroneous determinations.

The occurrence of Pupa secale in the Malvern district, if correct, is
of interest, since the species is not as a rule met with so far inland.

Testacella maugei is presumably an importation with garden or hot-
house plants : for the rest the assemblage is a typically British one.

Several of the localities mentioned in the list are probably no longer
habitats for mollusca, since owing to the rapid increase of buildings
some of them have become parts of towns : e.g. Acock's Green, Selly
Oak and Hall Green.

A. GASTROPODA

I. PULMONATA
a. Stylommatophora

Testacella maugei, Fdr. Worcester

— haiwtidea, Drap. Worcester ; Stourbridge

— scutulum, Sby.
Limax maximus, Linn.

— Jiavus, Linn.

— arborum, Bouch. -Chant. Worcester ; Mal-

vern.
Agriolimax agrestis (Linn.)

— /avis (Mull.). Stourport ; Lincomb
Amalia sowerbii (F^r.). Stourport

— i^go*^^ (Drap.)
Fitrina pellucida (Mali.)
Vitrea crystallina (Mull.)

— alliaria (Miller)

— glabra (Brit. Auct.). Lincomb

— cellaria (Mull.)

— nitidula (Drap.)

— pura (Aid.). Acock's Green

— radiatula (Aid.). Lincomb

I 81

Vitrea nitida (MqII.)

— fulva (Mull.)
Arion ater (Linn.)

— hortensis, 'Fir.

— circumscriptus, John. Lincomb

— mbfuKus (Drap.). Stourport

Punctum pygmaum (Drap.). Malvern district ;
Henwick Mill, near Worcester

Pyramidula rupestris (Drap.). Malvern dis-
trict ; Bredon Hill

— rotundata (Mull.)
Helicella virgata (Da C).

— itala (Linn.)

— caperata (Mont.)

— cantiana (Mont.)
Hygromia granulata (Aid.)

— hispida (Linn.)

— rufescem (Penn.)

Acanthinula aculeata (Mull.). Malvern dis-
trict, near Worcester

Fallonia pulchella (MulL). Base of the Wor-
cestershire Beacon

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Helicigona lapicida (Linn.)

— arbustorum (Linn.)
Helix aspersa, Mali.

— nemoralis, Linn.

— hortensis, MqII.
Buliminus obscurus (Mull.)
CochUcopa lubrica (Miill.)

Azeca tridens (Pult.). Near Worcester ; Mal-
vern district; Acock's Green; Dud-
ley

CacUianelk acicula (Mull.)

Pupa secale, Drap. Malvern

— cylindracea (Da C.)

— muscorum (Linn.)

Sphyradium edentulum (Drap.). Malvern ;

Acock's Green
Vertigo antivertigo (Drap.). Malvern district

— pygmaa (Drap.). Malvern district ; Selly

Oak
Balea perversa (Linn.). Malvern district
Clausilia laminata (Mont.)

— bidentata (Strom.)
Succinea putris (Linn.)

— ekgam, Risso. Stourport ; Acock's Green

b. Basommatophora
Carychium minimum, Mull. Malvern ; near

Worcester
Ancylus Jiuviatilis, Mull.
VeUetia lacustris (Linn.)
Limncea auricularia (Linn.)

— pereger (Mali.)

Limnaa palustris (MUll.)

— truncatula (MUll.)

— stagnalis ^Linn.)

— glabra (Mall.). Hartlebury Common
Planorhis corneus (Linn.)

— albm, Mull.

— glaher, Jeff. Malvern.

— nautileus (Linn.)

— carinatus, Mull.

— marginatus, Drap.

— vortex (Linn.)

— spirorbis, Mall.

— contortus (Linn.)

— fontanus (Lightf.)

— Uneatus (Walker). Stinton Pool, Cross-

way Green ; Malvern
Physa fontinalis (Linn.)

— hypnorum (Linn.)

IL PROSOBRANCHIATA

Bitbynia tentaculata (Linn.)

— leachii (Shepp.). Malvern
Vivipara vivipara (Linn.)

— contecta (Millett). River Severn ; Wor-

cester and Birmingham Canal
Valvata piscinalis (MulL). Malvern ; River
Severn

— cristata. Mull. Near Worcester
Pomatias elegam (Mull.). Malvern ; Bewdley
Neritina fuviatilis (Linn.). Malvern ; River

Severn

B. PELECYPODA

Dreissensia polymorpha (Pall.). River Severn ;
Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Vnio pictorum (Linn.). River Teme (very
abundant at Powick) ; near Worcester ;
River Avon ; Worcester and Birming-
ham Canal

— timidus, Retz.
Anodonta cygnaa (Linn.)
Spharium rivicola (Leach). Malvern

— corneum (Linn.)

Spharium ovale (F6r.)

— lacmtre (MuU.)
Pisidium amnicum (Mall.)

— pusillum (Gmel.). Malvern ; near Wor-

cester

— nitidum, Jenyns

— fontinale (Drap.). Near Worcester ; Mose-

ley. [The variety Hemlowianum has
been found at Hall Green and near
Worcester.]

INSECTS

The insects of Worcestershire have unfortunately been only partially
studied. In this, as in most counties, the Lepidoptera seem to have
engaged the attention of collectors to the exclusion of most of the other
orders, and consequently it is impossible to give here lists or notes of
the Orthoptera, Diptera or Hemiptera. The physical features and
climate of the county are favourable to a fairly representative insect
fauna, for with the exception of coast, fen, high altitude and extreme
northern or southern species the entomologist has every chance of obtain-
ing types of any of our English genera. Its surface is undulating and
diversified, but in taking a comprehensive view of the whole county its
lowest level is in the centre, across the vale of the Severn, and it rises
gradually towards the surrounding boundary until it reaches in most
directions to a considerable height, especially towards the west where
the Malvern Hills rise to a height of 1,394 feet. Throughout the
county the woods are well distributed, and the Randans in the neigh-
bourhood of Bromsgrove, and the primeval Wyre or Bewdley Forest in
the north-west, consisting chiefly of scrub oak, birch, hazel and alder,
with an occasional beech and some Scotch firs, are tracts of native wood-
land which offer a wide field for research to the collector. Wild heathy
or sandy wastes and commons are also plentifully dispersed ; such are
Hartlebury Common, Kempsey Common, Defford Common, Habberley
Valley, Blakedown, Dodderhill, Castle Morton and Malvern Link
amongst others. The bogs of Wyre Forest, Hartlebury Common and
West Malvern have also their particular interest for the collector ; and
in the neighbourhood of Longdon Marsh, which was of considerable
extent before it was drained and divided up many years ago, may be
found a few insects lingering in the old haunts, whither they used to
be drawn by their favourite plants. The county is well watered by its
rivers and natural pools, such for instance as are formed by the brooks
running down into the Stour ; and also to a great extent artificially by
its reservoirs and canals. Man has also added to the variety of the
county's flora and extended the entomologist's field by cultivation.
Besides the usual pasture and arable lands, the pear and apple orchards
and the hop-yards cover an extensive area in the south and west, and
in the neighbourhood of Pershore and Evesham large districts are
devoted to market gardening.

The diversified physical character of the county, affecting as it does
the insect fauna to so large an extent, should offer a strong inducement

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

to entomologists in the future to work up the different orders which are
inadequately treated here.

There is little variation to be noted in the insects generally captured,
but amongst the Lepidoptera melanistic examples have been secured of
the Coronet {Acronycta ligustri), the Treble Lines [Caradrina trigrammica
var. bilinea), the Marbled Rustic {Hadena strigilis var. aethiops), the
Brindled Crescent [Miselia oxyacanthce var. capucwa), the Peppered Moth
{Biston betularius var. doubledayarius), the Mottled Beauty {Selidosema
repandata var. destrigaria), the Dark Arches [Hadena polyodon).

From my own personal observation in the county it seems that a
considerable number of the females of the Oak Beauty {Biston stratarius)
are crippled in nature, and this forms some ground for supposing that
the female of this species is tending towards an imperfectly winged con-
dition. The season 1900 was marked by a considerable migration of the
Clouded Yellow {Colias edusd) and the great number of the larvs and
pups of the Death's Head {Acherontia atropos).

NEUROPTERA

The list of Fsoctdce contains some twenty-two examples and is of
average length. The Planipennia present a fairly strong list, but the
Odonata, or dragonflies, commonly called ' horse-stingers,' have not been
well worked up to the present and are poorly represented. From my own
personal observation in the county I have noticed that Calopteryx virgo
passes through a notable early stage. After emerging from the water,
and when its wings have become firm enough for flight, it rises and flies
slowly over the meadows to the top of some low tree, where it settles in
the sun. At this period it is of a reddish-brown colour, with sooty
wings. In this state it used to be considered a distinct species, and was
named C. vesta. When it becomes mature its colour is lighter, and
its wings to a very great extent have lost their sooty hue.

ODONATA

Sympetrum vulgatum, L. Woods and lanes

— scoticum, Don. Dodder hill Common

(Rea)
Libellula depressa, L. Woods and lanes

— quadrimaculata, L. Tibherton
Gomphus vulgatissimus, L. Woods and lanes
Cordulegaster annulatus, Latr. Broadwas,

TVyre Forest
jEschna cyanea, Mull. Woods and lanes

— grandis, L. Shrawley, Cotheridge
Calopteryx virgo, L. Himhletoriy the Teme

— splendens, Harr. Laughern Brook
Platycnemis pennipes, Fall. Meadows by the

Teme
Pyrrhosoma nymphula, Sulz. Lanes outside

woods
Ischnura elegans, Lind. Pool at Cotheridge
Agrion puella, L. Lanes and wood sidings

PSOCID^

Atropos divinatoria, Mull.
Clothilla pulsatoria, L.
Psocus nebulosus, Stph. |

— variegatus, F.

— fasciatus, F. V

— bifasciatus, Latr.

— 4-macuIatus, Latr. )
Stenopsocus immaculatus,

Stph.

— stigmaticus, McLach.

— cruciatus, L. )
Caecilius pedicularius, L. Often indoors

— flavidus, Stph. 1 „ • i

T "^ \ Beating oaks, etc.

— vittatus, Latr. J ^ '

Peripsocus alboguttatus, Dahn.

— subpupillatus, McLach.

— phaeopterus, Stph. From a hedge, Coihe-

Indoors

By beating trees
and hedges

By beating hedges

Indoors

INSECTS

Elipsocus unipunctatus, MuU. By beating

— westwoodi, McLach. On Pinus sylvestris

— hyalinus, Stph. On Abies excelsa, Old

Hills

— flaviceps, Stph. On A. excelsa

— cyanops, Rostock. By beating fir trees

EPHEMERIDiE

Ephemera vulgata, L. Severn

— danica, Miill. Avon
Caenis macrura, Stph. Teme

CloSon dipterum, L. To ' light,' Worcester
Heptagenia semicolorata, Curt. Teme

— venosa, F. Severn

— longicauda, Stph. Teme

PLANIPENNIA

Sialis lutaria, L. All rivers and brooks

— fuliginosa, Pict. The Teme

Raphidia xanthostigma, Schum. Trench Woods
Sisyra fuscata, F. By rivers and brooks

— terminalis, Curt. By the Teme
Micromus variegatus, F. Lanes and thickets

— aphidivorus, Schr. Leigh and Bransford

— paganus, L. Lanes and thickets

Hemerobius elegans, Stph. Grimley

— pellucidulus, Walk. Middleyards Copse

— nitidulus, F. On Pinus sylvestris, Old

Hills

— micans, Oliv. On Abies excelsa, Old Hills

— humuli, L. Lower Wick, Worcester

— limbatus, Wesm. Old Hills

— subnebulosus, Stph. Hallow

— nervosus, F. Bred from oak apples
Chrysopa flava. Scop. Crown East Wood

— vittata, Wesm. Hallow

— alba, L. Monkwood

— flavifrons, Brau. Pitmaston

— tenella, Schn. Bred from cone of Abies,

Witley

— vulgaris, Schn. In garden, Worcester

— septempunctata, Wesm. Gardens

— aspersa, Wesm. Bransford

— ventralis, Curt. Ockeridge Wood

— phyllochroma, Wesm. St. yohn''s, Worcester

— perla, L. Monkwood, Crown East Wood
Coniopteryx psociformis. Curt. Pitmaston

— tineiformis. Curt. \ if/- p

— aleurodiformis, Stph. J ■'
Panorpa communis, L. Among flow^ers

— germanica, L. Achen Hill Wood

TRICHOPTERA

Caddis-flies seem to be fairly represented in this county in a list of
seventy-eight species. The only example of terrestrial Caddis-fly
[Enoicyla pusilla) known in this county has probably not been detected
outside Worcestershire. Another species [Allotrichia pallicornis) seems
also not to have been found elsewhere.

Neuronia ruficrus. Scop. One or two ; sel-
dom seen

Phryganea grandis, L. Comes to ' light ' ;
not common

— varia, F. One or two

Colpotaulius incisus. Curt. In marshy places,

Grimley
Glyphotaelius pellucidus, Retz. In low fields

near brooks
Limnophilus rhombicus, L. Temple Laughern

— flavicornis, F. By Severn, Grimley

— marmoratus. Curt. Hallow

— stigma. Curt. Grimley, Camp

— lunatus. Curt. Bransford, Mudwall

— centralis. Curt. Middleyards

— vittatus, F. Broadheath

— affinis. Curt. Shrawley Wood

— auricula, Curt. Cotheridge

— extricatus, McLach. Laughern Brook

— sparsus. Curt. Monkwood

— fuscicornis, Ramb.

Anabolia nervosa. Curt. Laughern Brook

Stenophylax stellatus. Curt. Ronk's Wood

— concentricus, Zett. Bransford

— vibex. Curt. Pitmaston
Micropterna sequax, McLach. |

— lateralis, Stph. \ Dine's Green
Halesus radiatus (Leach), Curt, j

— digitatus, Schrk. Bransford
Chastopteryx villosa, F. By a brook, Cothe-
ridge

Enoicyla pusilla, Burm. By a rill, Little

Easthury
Sericostoma personata, Latr. The Teme,

Cotheridge
Notidobia ciliaris, L. Laughern Brook
Goifra pilosa, F. The Severn, Grimley
Silo pallipes, F. Thorngrove and Temple

Laughern
Brachycentrus subnubilus. Curt. By the

Teme
Lepidostoma hirta, F. \ The Teme,
Lasiocephala basalis, Kol. / Bransford
Molanna angustata. Curt. Laughern Brook

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Leptocerus alboguttatus, Hag. By a brook,
Cotheridge

— aterrimus, De G., Stph. A pool, Cothe-
■idge

I By the Severn

By Laughern Brook
The Severn
^ , L. The Tetne and the
Avon

— azurea, L. The Teme

Triaenodes bicolor, Curt. By a pool, Cotbe-

— cinereus, Curt.

— albifrons, L.

— bilineatus, L.

— dissimilis, Stph.
Mystacides nigra.

— consperta, Ramb. Bank of Teme
CEcetis lacustris, Pict. Comes to 'light' ; by

nearly stagnant water

— notata, Ramb. Two, by Severn^ Lench-

ford

— testacea, Curt, Banks of Teme, Cotheridge
Setodes tineiformis, Curt. By the Severn,

Camp

— interrupta, F. Severn and Teme

— punctata, F. One, by the Severn, Grimley
Beraea pullata. Curt. A brooklet, Cotheridge
Beraeodes minuta, L. Laughern Brook
Hydropsyche pellucidula. Curt. By the

Teme

— augustipennis, Curt. Teme, Cotheridge

— guttata, Pict. The Teme, Bramford

— instabilis. Curt. Broadwas

— lepida, Pict. Severn and Avon

Wormaldia subnigra, McLach. By a rill out
of bank of Teme

Plectrocnemia conspersa. Curt. Comer Gar-
dens

Polycentropus flavomaculatus, Pict. Teme

— multiguttatus. Curt. The Teme, Powick
Holocentropus dubius, Ramb. The Teme,

Bramford

— picicornis, Stph. Pond, Grimley

— stagnalis, Albarda. Marsh, Grimley
Cyrnus trimaculatus, Curt. By rivers gener-
ally

Tinodes waeneri, L. Laughern Brook
Lype phaeopa, Stph. Avon and Severn
Psychomyia pusilla, F. The Teme, Cothe-
ridge
Chimarrha marginata, L. Two or three, by

the Teme
Rhyacophila dorsalis, Curt. By the Teme
Agapetus fuscipes, Curt. By rills generally

— comatus, Pict. One or two, Teme
Agraylea multipunctata, Curt. To 'light,'

Worcester
Allotrichia pallicornis, Eaton. One at 'light,'

Pitmaston
Hydroptila sparsa, Curt. The Severn, near

TVorcester

— forcipata, Eaton. By the Teme, Brans-

ford
Oxyethira costalis. Curt. To ' light,' IVor-

HYMENOPTERA

It would seem that this order of insects has not been worked at in
this county until my time, so there is little to be said in a preliminary
way. The order contains creatures only second in interest to the human
species. Parthenogenesis is very common among the Sawflies, and a
similar case came under my notice in the Ants. A small ant {Leptothorax
tuberum), consisting of but a few individuals in any one community,
chooses for its nest some rather prominent piece of bark, more or less
hollowed on the inner side (if indeed the creature does not form the
cavity), on a tree in a retired thicket — poplar and maple are the only
trees I have found it on — in which to set up its home. In the begin-
ning of April, 1887, I came across such a piece of bark on a scrubby
maple, which with my trowel I chipped off, exposing to view a little
group of twenty or thirty of these creatures. As I had no males and
only one wingless female in my collection, it occurred to me to carry
these ants home and try what could be done with them in captivity.

I tried to get the ants into a tin box, but only succeeded with the
greater part ; the female, owing to the rough bark and projecting shoots
of the tree, escaped me and fell to the long grass at the roots and was
lost. On reaching home I took a short piece of green willow, the thick-
ness of a man's arm and some 10 inches long, and stood it up in a large

INSECTS

garden pot containing about 4 inches of prepared soil. On the soil
around the willow I laid some close-growing moss and a tuft of grass. I
took a suitable piece or two of bark, which I fastened to the willow with
three or four strong pins, to serve the ants for a nest. Over all I raised
a bag of close-woven white leno, resting on a contrivance of wire, and
fastened tightly below the rim of the pot by string. Having made this
improvised home ready, I placed on the moss two or three scraps of fresh
meat, some moist sugar and preserved fruit. The ants were turned into
it and after a day or two of unrest they took up their abode in the nest
and settled down. The meat and other edibles were often replaced by
fresh. The ants were often watched and seen to be using the food and
foraging. In July, seeing but little of them, I unpinned a part of the
nest and was surprised to see several larvs, upon and around which the
ants were gathered. Three weeks later I again looked into the nest and
was pleased to see several cocoons. During the last third of September,
twenty-one males were bred from these cocoons.

ACULEATA
HETEROGTNA

FoRMICIDi^

Formica rufa, Linn, (the Horse Ant).
Shrawley, Trench Woods, Wyre Forest,
etc.

— sanguinea, Ltr. Wyre Forest ; common

(Martineau)

— exsecta, Nyl. Bewdley (Blatch)

— fusca, Ltr. Temple Laughern, Worcester,

etc. ; common in most localities
Lasius fuliginosus, Ltr. Lathe Lane
(Fletcher) ; Trench Woods (Mar-
tineau)

— umbratus, Nyl. In bank of Severn,

Lenchford (Fletcher) ; Bewdley
(Blatch)

— flavus, De Geer. At foot of tree,

Cotheridge (Fletcher) ; common in
fields everywhere

— niger, Linn, (the Garden Ant) ; common

generally
Formicoxenus nitidulus, Nyl. Bewdley

(Blatch)
Stenamma westwoodii, Westw. Hallow
Leptothorax tuberum, Fab. Sides of Teme,

Powick, Bransford
Myrmica rubra, Linn., race laevinodis, Nyl.

Hallow, Stoulton

— ruginodis, Nyl. Stoulton,

Little Eastbury

— scabrinodis, Nyl. Old

Hills, Monkwood

FOSSORES

MuTILLIDi*

Myrmosa melanocephala, Fab. Crown East
Wood (Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

Sapygid^

Sapyga clavicornis, Latr. On a wooden
rail. Crown East

PoMPILIDiE

Pompilus cinctellus. Spin. Wyre Forest
(Martineau)

— plumbeus, Fab. Crown East

— niger, Fab. Moseley ; common (Bradley)

— viaticus, Linn. Wyre Forest (Bradley)

— spissus, Schiodte. Wyre Forest; common

(Martineau)

— gibbus, Fab. Wyre Forest, Droitwich,

Moseley, etc. (Bradley)

— unguicularis, Thorns. Moseley (Bradley)

— pectinipes, V. de Lind. Wyre Forest

(Martineau) ; Moseley (Bradley)
Salius (S. G. Priocnemis, Schiodte), fuscus,
Linn. Hallow (Fletcher) ; Wyre
Forest, Malvern, Droitwich (Mar-
tineau)

— affinis, V. de Lind. Oldbury Road

— exaltatus. Fab. Grimley

— notatulus, Saund. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— obtusiventris, Schiodte. Middleyards
Agenia variegata, Linn. Monkwood

Sphegid^

Trypoxylon figulus, Linn. In garden,
Worcester (Fletcher) ; Moseley (Brad-
ley)

— clavicerum, Lep. Hallow

— attenuatum, Sm. Crown East
Spilomena troglodytes, V. de Lind. In-
doors, Worcester

Stigmus solskyi, Moraw. Hallow

Pemphredon lugubris, Latr. Powick

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Moseley

(Bradley)

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Sphegid^ {continued)

Pemphredon shuckardi, Moraw. Moieley
(Bradley)

— lethifer, Shuck. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau)

— morio, V. de Lind. ^

Diodontus minutus, Fab. |- Moseley (Bradley)

— tristis, V. de Lind. J

Passaloecus insignis, V. de Lind. Thorn-
grove (Fletcher) ; Bewdley (Blatch) ;
Moseley (Bradley)

— gracilis, Curt. ITorceiter (Fletcher) ;

Bewdley (Blatch)

— monilicornis, Dahlb. Bewdley (Blatch)
Mimesa dahlbomi, Wesm. Wyre Forest

(Martineau) ; Moseley (Bradley)
Psen pallipes, Panz. Moseley (Bradley) ;

Worcester
Arpactus tumidus, Panz. Moseley (Brad-

ley)
Gorytes mystaceus, Linn. Bewdley (Blatch);

Crown East
Nysson spinosus, Fab. Wyre Forest (Brad-

ley)
Mellinus arvensis, Linn. Worcester

(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)
Oxybelus uniglumis, Linn. Hallow

(Fletcher)"; Moseley (Bradley)
Crabro clavipes, Linn. Worcester (Fletcher);

Moseley (Bradley)

— tibialis, Fab. Hallow

— - leucostomus, Linn. Bred, larva in old
willow, Cotheridge (Fletcher) ; Mose-
ley (Bradley)

— podagricus, V. de Lind. Middleyards

— gonager, Lep. In garden, Worcester

— palmipes, Linn. Moseley (Bradley)

— varius, Lep. Little Eastbury (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Bradley)

— anxius, Wesm. Crown East (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Bradley)

— wesmaeli, V. de Lind. Wyre Forest

— elongatulus, V. de Lind. Worcester

(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— quadrimaculatus, Dhlb. Wyre Forest

(Martineau)

— dimidiatus. Fab. Moseley (Bradley)

— vagabundus, Panz. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau)

— cephalotes. Panzer. Crown East

— cavifrons, Thorns. Moseley (Bradley)

— chrysostomus, Lep. Wyre Forest

(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— vagus, Linn. Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— cribrarius, Linn. Moseley (Bradley)

— interruptus, De Geer. Worcester

(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— albilabris. Fab. Bransford
Entomognathus brevis, V. de Lind. Wyre

Forest (Martineau)

DIPLOPTERA

Vespid^

Vespa crabro, Linn. Temple Laughern
(Fletcher) ; Cleeve Prior (Blatch)

— vulgaris, Linn. Generally common

— germanica. Fab. Cotheridge^ Worcester

(Fletcher) ; Droitwich, etc.

— rufa, Linn. Bransford (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Droitwich (Martineau)

— sylvestris, Scop. Crown East, Wyre

Forest

— non'egica. Fab. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau)

EuMENIDiT

Odynerus spinipes, Linn. Lane, Sinton
Green (Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Mose-
ley (Bradley)

— melanocephalus, Gmel. Middleyards

(Fletcher) ; Bewdley (Blatch)

— lasvipes. Shuck. Bred from bramble

stems, Crown East (Fletcher) ; Mal-
vern, Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— callosus, Thoms. Common in gardens,

Worcester, Pershore, Malvern, Wyre
Forest, Moseley

— parietum, Linn. Common in gardens,

Worcester, Moseley, etc.

— pictus. Curt. Worcester (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Moseley (Bradley)

— trimarginatus, Ztt. Moseley (Bradley)

— trifasciatus, Oliv. Bransford (Fletcher);

Moseley (Bradley)

— parietinus, Linn. Moseley (Bradley)

— antilope, Panz. About an old wall,

Grimley

— gracilis, Brulle. Crown East (Fletcher) ;

Ran Dan Woods (Wainwright)

— sinuatus. Fab. Cotheridge (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Moseley (Bradley)

ANTHOPHILA

CoLLETID^

Colletes succincta, Linn. Wyre (Mar-
tineau)

— fodiens, Kirby. Flowers of tansy,

Grimley

— Daviesana, Sm. Moseley, common

(Bradley)
Prosopis communis, Nyl. Peghouse Wood
(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— hyalinata, Sm. In garden, Worcester

(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— confusa, Nyl. Worcester (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— brevicornis, Nyl. Worcester ; in garden

AnDRENIDj€

Sphecodes gibbus, Linn. Sinton Green
(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— subquadratus, Sm. Moseley (Bradley)

— puncticeps, Thoms. Monkwood

INSECTS

ANDRENIDi^ {continued)

Sphecodes pilifrons, Thorns. JVyre Forest,
Malvern (Martineau) ; Moseley
(Bradley)

— semilis, Wesm. Moseley (Bradley)

— variegatus, V. Hag. Hallow (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— dimidiatus, V. Hag. Moseley (Brad-

ley)

— affinis, V. Hag. Wyre (Martineau) ;

Moseley (Bradley)
Halictus rubicundus, Christ. Bransford
(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Malvern,
Droitwich, etc.

— leucozonius,Schrank. //^jZ/ow (Fletcher);

Moseley (Bradley)

— zonulus, Sm. Monkwood

— lavigatus, Kirby. Tibberton

— cylindricus, Fab. Bransford {Fletcher);

Wyre Forest, Moseley (Bradley)

— albipes, Kirby. Crown East (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— subfasciatus, Nyl. Middleyards

— villosulus, Kirby. Hallow (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Moseley (Bradley)

— punctatissimus, Schrenck. Wyre Forest

(Martineau)

— nitidiusculus, Kirby. Grimley

— atricornis, Smith. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— tumulosum, Linn. Hallow, Grimley

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— smeathmanellus, Kirb. Worcester

— morio, Fab. Pole Elm (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Bradley)

— leucopus, Kirby. Hallow (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Bradley)
Andrena albicans, Kirby. Powick (Fletcher) ;
Wyre Forest, Droitwich, Malvern,
Moseley

— pilipes, Fab. Cotheridge

— rosae, Panz. Martley (Fletcher) ; Wyre

Forest, Malvern, Droitwich, Moseley,
etc. (Bradley)

— var. trimmerana, Kirb. Old Hills

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Malvern,
Droitwich, Moseley, etc. (Bradley)

— nitida, Fourc. Bransford (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Martineau) ; Trench
Woods (Bradley)

— cineraria, Linn. Old Hills, Oldbury

Farm (Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest (Mar-
tineau)

— fulva, Schr. Generally distributed

— clarkella, Kirby. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau)

— nigroaenea, Kirby. Wyre Forest

— gwynana, Kirby. Wyre Forest (Brad-

ley)

— augustior, Kirby. Moseley (Bradley)

Andrenid^ {continued)

Andrena praecox. Scop. Wyre Forest (Mar-
tineau)

— varians, Rossi. On pathway, Hallow

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— fucata, Sm. Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— cingulata, Fab. Crown East (Fletcher) ;

Bewdley (Martineau)

— albicrus, Kirb. Moseley (Bradley)

— chrysosceles, Kirby. Middleyards

(Fletcher) ; Droitwich (Martineau)

— analis, Panz. Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— humilis, ImhoiF. Wyre Forest (Wain-

wright)

— labialis, Kirb. Stanbrook (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Moseley (Bradley)

— minutula, Kirby 1 „^ r- n^ir

„.', ■' Wyre Forest (Mar-

— nana, Kirby r • \

. .,: n tmeau)

— similis, Sm. ] '

— wilkella, Kirby. Old Hills (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— afzeliella, Kirby. Old Hills
Nomada solidaginis, Panz. Wyre Forest

(Martineau)

— succincta, Panz. Sinton Green (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Droitwich, Malvern,
Moseley

— alternata, Kirby. Bransford (Fletcher) ;

Wyre Forest, Droitwich, Moseley,
Malvern

— lathburiana, Kirby. Moseley (Bradley)

— ruficornis, Linn. Sinton Green ^Xetchtr);

Wyre Forest, Malvern, Droitwich,
Moseley

— borealis, Ztt. Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— lateralis, Panz. Old Hills

— ochrostoma, Kirby. Achen Hill Wood

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Moseley
(Bradley)

— fabriciana, Linn. Wyre Forest {FXttzhcr);

Droitwich (Martineau)

— flavoguttata, Kirb. Middleyards

— furva, Panz. Sinton Green (Fletcher) ;

Droitwich (Martineau)

Epeolus rufipes, Thoms. Wyre Forest (Brad-

ley)
Chelostoma florisomne, Linn. Martley

(Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— campanularum, Kirby. Hallow
Coelioxys quadridentata, Linn. Wyre Forest

(Martineau)

— elongata, Lep. In garden, Worcester

— acuminata, Nyl. Wyre Forest (Mar-

tineau)
Megachile Willughbiella, Kirby. Moseley
(Bradley)

— circumcincta, Lep. Jf^yre Forest (Mar-

tineau) ; Trench Woods (Bradley)

— ligniseca, Kirby. Evesham (Bradley)

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Apid^ {continued)

Megachile centuncularis, Linn. IVorcester

(Fletcher) ; IVyre Forest, Moseley

(Bradley)
Osmia rufa, Linn. In gardens, Worcester,

Bewdley, Moseley, etc.

— xanthomelana, Kirby. Trench Woods

(Bradley) ; Middleyards (Fletcher)

— caerulescens, Linn. In gardens

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Droitwich,
etc.

— fulviventris, Panz. Moseley (Bradley)

— bicolor, Schk. Middleyards

— leucomelana, Kirb. fVyre Forest (Mar-

tineau)
Anthidium manicatum, Linn. At labiate

flowers, Worcester
Eucera longicornis, Linn. Middleyards,

Birchen Groves * (Fletcher) ; Bewdley

Martineau)
Melecta armata, Panz. Wyre Forest, Grimley
Anthophora retusa, Linn. Wyre Forest,

Shrawley

— pilipes. Fab. At flowers in town and

country

— furcata, Panz. One, Middleyards

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest (Martineau)
Psithyrus rupestris. Fab. At thistles, Monk-
wood (Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

— vestalis, Fourc. Crown East, Middle-

yards (Fletcher) ; Moseley (Bradley)

Apid^ [continued]

Psithyrus barbutellus, Kirby. Bransford

— campestris, Panz. Monkwood (Fletcher) ;

Moseley (Bradley)

— quadricolor, Lep. Moseley (Bradley)
Bombus venustus, Sm. Claphill Lane, Mart-
ley Road (Fletcher) ; Pershore, Wyre
Forest, Moseley

— agrorum. Fab. Crown East, Wyre

Forest, etc. ; common generally

— hortorum, Linn. Grimley, Oldbury Farm

(Fletcher) ; Wyre Forest, Moseley
(Bradley)

var. subterraneus. Moseley (Brad-

ley)

var. harrisellus. Wyre Forest, Mose-
ley (Bradley)

— latreillellus, Kirby. 5r<2«s/o?-^ (Fletcher);

Wyre Forest (Martineau)

— sylvarum, Linn. Thistle flowers, Teme-

side, Powick, Malvern, Droitwich,
Wyre Forest

— derhamellus, Kirb. Stanhrook (Fletcher);

Malvern (Martineau)

— lapidarius, Linn. Generally common.

— pratorum, Linn. Powick ; in garden,

Worcester

— terrestris, Linn. Stanhrook ; generally

common
Apis mellifica, Linn. Grimley ; generally
common

PHYTOPHAGA

This county is fairly well represented in the phytophagous Hymen-
optera. The sawflies number 172 species, some of which are recent
discoveries. The gall-raisers also are fairly represented.

In collections of sawflies many species are represented by females
only. The deficiency of males might in some instances be remedied were
careful breeding pursued by energetic young collectors ; or failing in that
aim, further evidence would be gained of the unisexuaHty of the creatures
experimented on.

Among the gall-raisers, notwithstanding Dr. Adler's discoveries,
many species remain very imperfectly known. Here a young and
intelligent man gifted with a spirit of inquiry might do much good
service.

Tenthredinid^ {continued)

Rhogogastera punctulata, Klug. Bransford

— viridis, L. Cotheridge

— lateralis, F. Whitehall, in Worcester

— picta, Klug. Callow End

— aucupariae, Klug. Powick
Tenthredopsis cordata, Fourc. In garden,

Worcester

— nigricollis, Lep. Crown East
serted therefor will have to

Tenthredinid^

Tenthredo livida, L. Wyre Forest, Monk-
wood

— colon, Klug. One, Bransford

— rufiventris, Pz. Tibberton

— dispar, Klug. Oldbury Farm

— atra, L. Meadows by the Teme,

Cotheridge

— mesomela, L. Crown East
1 This wood was stubbed up many years ago and so the records here

be again verified in the adjacent Crown East Woods.

INSECTS

TENTHREDiNiDiE {continued)

Tenthredopsis scutellaris, F. Mudwatl

— tristis, Steph. fVyre Forest

— raddatzi, Kow. Shoulton

— dorsalis, Sep. Crown East
Pachyprotasis rapae, L. In garden, Wor-
cester

Macrophya neglecta, Klug. Bredon

— albicincta, Schr. Sling Lane, Worcester
■ — punctum-album, L. Comer Lane
Allantus scrophularias, L. The Severn side,

near Bewdley

— arcuatus, Forst. Common in meadows

generally

— bicinctus, F. Oddingley
Sciopteryx costalis, F. One, by Laughern
Soderus vestigialis, Klug. Bransford
Dolerus madidus, Konow. Broadheath

— fulviventris. Scop. Thorngrove

— anticus, Klug. Middleyards

— palustris, Klug. Grimley

— gonagra, F. The Grove Farm

— haematodes, Schr. Powick

— fissus. Hart. Old Hills

— aeneus, Hart. Pole Elm

— elongatus. Cam. Crown East
Selandria serva, F. Hallow

— sixii, Voll. Cotheridge,New Bromsgrove

— stramineipes, Klug. In garden, Wor-

cester

— analis, Thoms. In garden, Worcester

— morio, F. Powick

— cinereipes,^ Klug. Grimley
Taxonus equiseti. Fall. By the Teme,

Bransford

— glabratus. Fall. Earl's Court Farm

— albipes, Thoms. One, Hallow
Poecilosoma luteola, Klug. Shrawley Woods

— pulverata, Retz. Grimley

— guttata, Fall. One, near Worcester

— carbonaria. Scop. Cotheridge

— excisa, Thoms. Old Hills
Eriocampa ovata, L. Laughern side, near

Worcester
Eriocampoides annulipes, Klug. Achen
Hill Wood

— varipes, Klug. Crown East

— limacina, Retz. Lathe Hill

— cinxia, Klug. One, near Worcester

— rosae, Harris. Middleyards
Blennocampa nigrita, F. One, near

Worcester

— geniculata, Hart. 1 „ , .

— albipes, Gmel. I ^'■''"^M'^

— lineolata, Klug. Middleyards

— fuscipennis. Fall. Crown East Wood

— ephippium, Pz. Stanbrook

— fuliginosa, Schr. Teme-side, Bransford
1 According to Cameron this is the same as

Blennocampa cinereipes, Klug.

Tenthredinid/e [continued)

Blennocampa cinereipes, Klug. Bransford

— subserrata, Thoms. Middleyards

— subcana, Zach. Wyre Forest

— betuleti, Klug. Crown East

— quercus, Cam. Monkwood

— assimilis. Fall. Middleyards
Hoplocampa testudinea, Klug. Garden

and orchards

— pectoralis, Thoms. Temple Laughern
Emphytus togatus, Pz. Crown East

— cinctus, L. Sloe-hedges, generally
— - cingulatus, Steph. Sinton Green

— ruficinctus, Ratz. Middleyards
— • calceatus, Klug. Grimley

— tibialis, Pz. Wyre Forest, Wichenford

— serotinus, Klug. Wyre Forest

— grossulariae, Klug. Hallow
■ — tener. Fall. Camp

— perla, Klug. Camp, Bransford
Phyllotoma nemorata, Fall. Crown East

— ochropoda, Klug. Wyre Forest, Monk-

wood

— vagans. Fall. Laughern sides

— microcephala, Klug. Grimley
Fenella nigrita, Westw. Cotheridge
Fenusa melanopoda, Thoms. Laughern

sides

— pumila, Klug. Among birches

— ulmi, Sundeval. Among elms

— hortulana, Klug. On black poplars

generally

— pygmxa, Klug. Among oaks

— pumilio, Hart. Among Rubus idaeus;

uncommon

— nigricans, Klug. Among birches
Athalia ancilla, Sep. Little Eastbury

— ros£. Fall. Among flowers everywhere

— lugens, Klug. Leigh

— annulata, F. One, Middleyards
Hemichroa alni, L. On alders, Thorngrove

— rufa, Pz. Among alders

Dineura virididorsata, Retz. Among
birches, Monkwood

— stilata, Klug. Monkwood, Wyre Forest

— verna, Klug. Middleyards

— despecta. Hart. One, Bransford
Camponiscus luridiventris. Fall. Among

alders
Cladius pectinicornis, Fourc. Among rose,
in gardens and hedges

— viminalis. Fall. On poplars ; not

common

— rufipes, Sep. On elms, generally

— eradiatus, Sep. Camp

— drewseni, Thoms. Cotheridge

— padi, L. Among hawthorns, and in

gardens

— brullasi, Dbm. Among Rubus idseus,

in gardens

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

TENTHREDiNiDi?: [continued)

Croesus septentrionalis, L. Wyre Forest

— latipes, Villaret. On birch trees,

Monkwood

— varus, Fall. On alders, Laughern sides
Nematus compressicornis, F. On black

poplars, near Worcester

— fletcheri, Cam. Oldbury Road

— crassus, Fall. Broadheath

— casruleocarpus, Hart. Broadwas

— lucidus, Pz. Crown East

— histrio, Lep. Monkwood

— humeralis, Zett. One, on palings, near

Worcester

— haemorrhoidalis. Fall. On sallows,

Middleyards

— capreae, Pz. Camp

— pallidiventris. Fall. Bransford

— obductus. Hart. Broadmoor Green

— conductus, Ruthe. Powick

— leucogaster, Hast. Cotheridge

— lacteus. Thorns. On willows generally

— maculiger. Cam. Laughern Brook, near

Worcester

— orbitalis, Cam. Bransford

— palliatus, Dbm. Boughton

— curtispina, Thorns. Bransford

— glutinosae, Cam, Among alders

— salicivorus. Cam. Wherever willows

grow

— consobrinus, Voll. Worcester; in gardens

— myosotidis, F. Claphill Lane

— zetterstedti, Dbm. Monkwood

— subbifidus, Thoms. One, Bransford

— croceus. Fall. Hallow

— flavescens, Steph. Thorngrove

— abdominalis, Pz. One, near Worcester

— bilineatus, Br. & Zad.\ -.

— ruficapillus, Gmel. ] tl"l'o^

— salicis, L. Grimley

— melanocephalus, De G. Grimley

— ribesii. Scop. Worcester ; in garden

— pavidus, Lep. Wyre Forest

— bipartitus, Lep. 1

— xanthogaster, Foer. \ Bransford

— rumicis, Fall. J

— leucostictus. Hart. Wyre Forest

— purpurseae. Cam. Grimley

— nigrolineatus. Cam. Thorngrove

— baccarum. Cam. Powick

— salicis-cinereae, Retz. Grimley

— gallicola, Steph. Wherever willows

grow
Euura flavipes. Cam. Cotheridge

— nigritarsis. Cam. Wichenford

— angusta. Hart. Middleyards

— saliceti, Fall. Hallow

ClMBICIDiE

Trichiosoma vitellinae, L. Larvae on wil-
low

ClMBIClD^ {continued)

Trichiosoma betuleti, Kl. Larvs on haw-
thorn
Abia sericea, L. Longdon

HvLOTOMIDi^

Hylotoma pagana, Pz. Achen Hill Wood,
Wyre Forest

— cyaneocrocea, Fourc. Thorngrove

— casruleipennis, Retz. Wyre Forest

— enodis, L. Cotheridge

LvDIDit

Pamphilius flaviventris, Retz. Larva on
hawthorn near Worcester

— sylvaticus, L. Hallow
Xyelid^

Xyela julii, Breb. One, at Old Hills

Cephus linearis, Schr. Middleyards

— arundinis, Gir. From rushes. Monk-

wood

— phthisicus, F. Crown East

— pygmaeus, L. Claphill Lane, Lovington

— pusillus, Steph. Wyre Forest
SlRICID.ffi

Sirex gigas, L. Two or three, near
Worcester

— juvencus, L. One specimen, near

Worcester
Xiphydria dromedarius, F. One, from
willow, near Worcester

CvNIPIDiE

Sarothrus canaliculatus. Hart. Pitmaston
Amblynotus opacus. Hart. Monkwood
Anacharus eucharoides, Dalm. Comer Lane

— immunis. Walk. Powick

Eucoela mandebularis, Zett. Crown East
Kleditoma picicrux, Gir. Perry Wood
Rhodites eglanteriae, Gir. Lanes and woods

— rosae, L. Borders of woods and thickets
Aulax glechomae. Hart. Pole Elm
Xestophanes potentillag, De Vill. Powick
Periclistus caninas. Hart. Bred from Rho-
dites eglanterias

Synergus incrassatus, Hart. Bred from
several galls

— pallicornis, Hart. Bred from several galls

— vulgaris, Hart. ,, „ „

— facialis, Hart. „ „ „
Diastrophus rubi. Hart. Powick
Andricus ostreus, Gir. Woods and thickets

— fecundatrix, Hart. Woods generally

— globuli. Hart. „ „

— radicis, F. „ „

— corticis. Hart. ,, „

— collaris, Hart. „ „

— ramuli, L. „ „

— quadrilineatus, Hart. „ „

— cirratus, Adler. „ „

— albopunctatus, Mayr. „ „

— glandulas, Schenck. „ „

INSECTS

CvNiPiDiE {continued)

Andricus solitarius, Fourc. Woods gener-
ally

Cynips kollari, Hart. Scrubby oaks gener-
ally

Trigonaspis megaptera, Pz. Middleyards
Copse

Biorhiza terminalis, F. Scattered oaks

Dryophanta folii, L. Woods and thickets

Cynipid^ {continued)

Dryophanta longiventris, Hart. Woods
and thickets

— divisa, Hart. Woods and thickets
Neuroterus lenticularis, Oliv.

— fumipennis, Hart. „

— laeviusculus, Schenck. „

— numismatis, Oliv. „

— aprilinus, Gir. „

ENTOMOPHAGA

Few species of insects are wholly free from attack by some of the
entomophagous Hymenoptera, and many are subject to attack by one,
two or more species. Some of these parasites are themselves subject to
attack by other parasites (hyper-parasitism). No stage that insects pass
through is free from parasitism, beginning with the e^g state. Here is
a wide field for investigation.

I am indebted to the Rev. T. A. Marshall, M.A., and to the late
Mr. J. B. Bridgman of Norwich, for the determination of many of the
following species. The Pinacographia of Snellen van VoUenhoven has
been very useful to me.

CHRYSIDIDiE

Cleptes semiaurata, Latr. A parasite of

sawfly larvae
Homalus auratus, Dahlb. Two, in garden
Chrysis ignita, L."l About walls and fences ;

— cyanea, L. J common

— neglecta, Dahlb. Parasite of Odynerus

spinipes
IchneumonidjS

Chasmodes motatorius, F. One, by the
Teme

— lugens, Gr. One, under bark of wil-

low. Hallow
Ichneumon fuscipes, Gmel. Lathe Hill

— pistorius, Gr. Under garden refuse,

Worceiter

— trilineatus, Gmel. Cotheridge

— multiannulatus, Gr. Ex p. Palimpsestis

octogesima

— vaginatorius, L. Crown East Wood

— xanthorius, Forst. Old Hills

— luctatorius, L. Hallow

— latrator, F. Nunnery Wood

— saturatorius, F. Worcester ; in garden

— fabricator, F. Side of Teme, Powick

— curvinervis, Hlmz. Lovington

— lanius, Gr. Crown East

— albolarvatus, Gr. Crown East Woods

— lepidus, Gr. Honeyhourne

— albicinctus, Gr. Monkwood

— albifrons, Seph. Achen Hill Wood
Amblyteles armatorius, Forst. Crown East

— oratorius, F. Bransford

— subsericans, Gr. Middleyards

ICHNEUMONID^ {continued)

Amblyteles castanopygus, Steph. Honey-
bourne

— castigator, F. Cotheridge
Probalus alticola, Gr. Bransford
Platylabus pedatorius, F. Crown East
Herpestomus brunnicornis, Gr. Ex Ypo-

nomeuta cognatellus
Dicoelotus pumilus, Gr. In moss, Hallow

— ruficoxatus, Gr. Worcester ; indoors

— parvulus, Gr. Hallow

— rufilimbatus, Gr. Bransford
.Sthecerus discolor, Wesm. In moss,

Crown East
Alomyia debellator, F. Grimley

CRYPTIDiE

Stilpnus gagates, Gr. In moss, Tiddesley

Wood
Phygadeuon fulgens, Bridg. Grimley

— probus, Tasch. Teme-side, Bransford

— flavimanus, Gr. Hallow

— variabilis, Gr. Near Bromsgrove

— fumator, Gr. Near Droitwich

— troglodytes, Gr. Grimley

— jejunator, Gr. Bransford

— vagans, Gr. Worcester ; indoors

— brevis, Gr. Oldhury Farm

— prophligator, F. In osier bed. Camp

— semipolitus, Tasch. Worcester ; in gar-

dens

— vagabundus, Gr. Bransford

— sodalis, Tasch. Hallow

— quadrispinus, Gr. Wadborough

— congruens, Gr. Middleyards

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Cryptid^ [continued)

Phygadeuon curvus, Schr. Middleyards

— abdominator, Gr. Shrawley Wood

— jucundus, Gr. Mudwall

— basizonius, Gr. Hallow

— oviventris, Gr. Grimley

— procerus, Gr. Comer Lane

— erythrinus, Gr. Oddingley
Cryptus erythropus, Bridg. Bow Wood

— cimbicis, Tschek. Near Worcester

— tarsoleucus, Schr. Bramford

— moschator, F. Temple Laughern

— minator, Gr. Middleyards

— obscurus, Gr. "i ^ r, ^

y ri \ Crown hast

— analis, Gr. J

— rufiventris, Gr. Near Worcester

— migrator, F. Pitmaston

— pygoleucus, Gr. Crown East
Nematopodius ater, Brischk6. Mixed

hedge. Lower Wick
Hemiteles brevicaudatus, Bridg. Worcester ;
indoors

— ruficinctus, Gr. Trench Woods

— furcatus, Tasch. Osier bed, Thorn-

grove

— micator, Gr. Shoulton

— oxyphimus, Gr. Oldhury Farm

— similis, Gr. Broadheath

— fulvipes, Gr. Ex. larva of Pieris rapas

— tristrator, Gr. Worcester ; in gardens

— ridibundus, Gr. ) j-rr , • ,

. ■ ■ A f Worcester : in gardens

— xstivahs, Gr. ) °

— areator, Pz. From Abies excelsa.

— castaneus, Tasch. Hallow

— cingulator, Gr. "I Worcester ; in-
Cecidonomus rufus, Bridg./ doors
Orthopelma luteolator, Gr. Ex Rhodites

rosEe
Aptesis nigrocincta, Gr. Roots of a tree.
Ketch

— microptera, Gr. Sides of Severn and

Teme
Pezomachus palpator, Gr. Trench Woods

— fasciatus, F. On eggs of spider

— rufiilus, Forst. Worcester ; indoors

— bellicosus, Forst. Side of Teme, Brans-

ford

— detritus, Forst. Worcester ; indoors

— insertus, Forst. Bransford

— corruptor, Forst. Cotheridge

— analis, Bridg. Middleyards

— transfuga, Forst. Worcester ; indoors

— viduus, Forst. Cotheridge
Ophionid.?:

Ophion obscurus, F. Comes to light in
autumn

— luteus, L. Old Hills
Anomalon xanthopus, Schr. Cotheridge

— cerinops, Gr. Hallow

Ophionid^ [continued)

Agrypon flaveolatum, Gr. Middleyards

— tenuicorne, Gr. Monk-wood

— canaliculatum, Ratz. Crown East
Paniscus testaceus, Gr. Eastbury
Campoplex mixtus, Gr. Near Worcester

— pugillator, L. Crown East

— cultrator, Gr. Crown East Wood
Limneria crassicornis, Gr. Camp

— erucator, Zett. Near Worcester

— femoralis, Gr. Ex Coleophora soli-

tariella

— ruficornis, Bridg. Ex Elachista ceru-

sella, Worcester

— mutabilis, Holmz. Ex Gracilaria stig-

matella, near Worcester

— nana, Gr. Peg-house TVood

— obscurella, Holmz. Crown East

— rufiventris, Gr. Camp

— unicincta, Gr. Ex Acronycta psi

— vienensis, Gr. Ex Gracilaria stigma-

tella

— interrupta, Holmz. Worcester ; indoors

— vestigialis, Ratz. Ex Nematicus galli-

cola

— cursitans, Holmz. Ex Camponiseus

luridi-ventris
■ — hyalinata, Holmz. Ex Croesus varus

— lugubrina, Holmz. Peg-house Wood
Cremastus albipennis, Zett. Wyre Forest
Atractodes vestalis, Hal. Eastbury

— arator, Hal. Cotheridge

— bicolor, Gr. In outhouse, Worcester

— gilvipes, Bridg. Worcester, at light
Exolytus laevigatus, Gr. Cotheridge
Mesochorus confusus, Holmz. Ex Nema-

tus salicivorus

— vittator, Zett. Wyre Forest

— sylvarum, Hal. Ex. shoot of larch

— fuscicornis, Brischk^. Ex Spanteles

glomeratus

— incidens, Thoms. Middleyards
Plectiscus albipalpis, Gr. Monkwood
Thersilochus truncorum, Gr. Grimley
Collyria calcitrator, Gr. JFyre Forest
Pristomerus vulnerator, Pz. From privet,

Worcester
Exetastes osculatorius, F. "l Worcester ; in

— femorator, Desv. J garden

— albitarsus, Gr. Wyre Forest
Tryphonid^

Mesoleptus truncatus, Bridg. Crown East

— testaceus, F. Worcester ; at light
cingulatus, Gr. Bransford

Monkwood

— sulphuratus, Gr. ■>

— femoralis, Bridg. /
Catoglyptus fortipes, Gr. Bransford

— pulchricornis, Holmz. Worcester ; in-

doors
Euryproctus defectivus, Gr. Monkwood

INSECTS

Tryphonid^ {continued)

Euryproctus geniculosus, Gr. Cotherldge

— chrysostomus, Gr. Temple Laughern

— annulator, Steph. Monk-wood

— sinister, Brischk^. Ex Eriocampa

varipes
Prionopoda stictica, F. Middleyards
Perilissus filicornis, Gr. By the Tetne,

Bramford

— subcinctus, Holmz. Leigh

— prserogator, Gr. Hallow

— bucculentus, Holmz. Cotheridge

— pictilis, Holmz. Ex Fenusa melanopoda

— gorskii, Ratz. Ex Melanopygla phyl-

lotoma
Mesoleius aulicus, Gr. Worcester ; indoors

— dubius, Holmz. Worcester ; in garden

— caligatus, Gr. Ex Nematus salicis

— opticus, Gr. Ex Nematus pavidus

— sanguinicollis, Gr. Crown East

— haematodes, Gr. Cotheridge

— pubescens, Bridg. By the Teme,

Bramford

— armillatorius, Gr. Cotheridge

— formosus, Gr. Ex Nematus sp.

— insolens, Gr. Monkwood

— brevispina, Thoms. Ex Nematus

purpureae

— filicornis, Holmz. Leigh

— lateralis, Gr. "1 >^ , ,

' „ ■ J t Monkwood

— napaeus, bndg. )

— buccatus, Bridg. Cotheridge

— calcaratus, Bridg. Martley Wood

— dives, Bridg. Crown East

— diflPormis, Bridg. Ex Cladius brullii

— fallax, Bridg. Monkwood
Trematopygus erythropalpus, Gmel. By

the Teme
Tryphon elongator, F. Cotheridge

— brachyacanthus, Gmel. Crown East

— vulgaris, Holmz. Cotheridge

— trochanteratus, Holmz. By the Teme^

Bransford

— incestus, Holmz. Bransford

— nigripes, Holmz. Cotheridge

— ^ signator, Gr. Eastbury

— albipes, Gr. Crown East

— bicornutus, Holmz. ■> „ ^
Monoblastus femoralis, Holmz./ ^''""W'^

— lasvigatus, Holmz. Ex Eriocampa

ovata
Polyblastus varitarsus, Gr. Hallow

— mutabilis, Holmz. Eastbury

— carinatus, Bridg. Ex Nematus ribesii

— pyramidatus, Bridg. By the Teme. Ex

Nematus salicivorus
Erromenus frenator, Gr. Ex Nematus
xanthogaster

— analis, Brischk^. Ex Nematus curti-

spina

Tryphonid^ {continued)

Atractomus xanthopus, Holmz. Camp

— lucidulus, Gr. Worcester ; in gardens
Cteniscus lituratorius, L. Ex Nematus

consobrinus

— dahlbomi, Holmz. Bransford
Triclistus congener, Holmz. Monkwood
Metacoelus mansuetor, Gr. Worcester; in-
doors

Exochus femoralis, Fourc. Monkwood

— gravipes, Gr. Camp

— curvator, F. Middleyards Copse

— pectoralis, Hal. Swinesherd

— decorator, Holmz. In marsh, Grimley

— tibialis, Holmz. Grimley

— pictus, Holmz. Worcester ; indoors
Chorinaeus cristator, Gr. Middleyards Copse
Orthocentrus discolor, Bridg. Monkwood
Bassus lastatorius, F. Wyre Forest

— albosignatus, Gr. Bransford

— nemoralis, Holmz. Osier bed, East-

bury

— lateralis, Gr. Broadmoor Green

— flavomaculatus, Gr. Tiddesley Wood

— cinctus, Gr. Camp

— pectoratorius, Gr. Boughton

— flavolineatus, Gr. Wadborough

— pictus, Gr. Tiddesley Wood

— strigator, F. By Bow Brook

— nigritarsus, Gr. Wyre Forest

— areolatus, Gr. Camp

— pulchellus, Holmz. Bransford

— cognatus, Holmz.) ^

— signatus, Gr. J °

— gracilentus, Holmz. Near Pershore

— similis, Bridg. Crown East

— rufonotatus, Bridg. Bransford

— bimaculatus, Bridg. By the Teme,

Powick

— exsultans, Bridg. Middleyards

— tibialis, Bridg. Eastbury

— holmgreni, Bridg. Near Evesham

— sundevalli, Holmz. Grimley

PlMPLID^

Rhyssa persuasoria, Gr. On Pinus, Comer

Lane
Ephialtes rex, Gr. Trench Woods
Pimpla stercorator, F. Crown East

— detrita, Holmz. Cotheridge

— instigator, F. Worcester; in garden

— examinator, F. Ex Orthosia citrago

— turionellae, L. Middleyards Copse

— rufata, Gmel. Cotheridge

— flavonotata, Holmz. Monkwood

— scanica, Vill. Bred from a geometerid

on oak

— oculatoria, F. Worcester ; indoors

— grammellx, Schr. Bransford

— brevicornis, Gr. Hallow

— opacellata, Desv. Worcester ; in garden

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

J- Bramford

PiMPLiD^ {continued)

Pimpla nucum, Ratz. Willows, in Worcester
Ischnoceras rusticus, Fourc. Whitehall
Polysphincta tuberosa, Gr. Monkwood
Clistopyga incitator, F. Eastbury
Glypta monoceros, Gr. Camp

— ceratites, Gr. Eastbury

— haesitator, Gr. Tibberton

— teres, Gr. Hallow

— scalaris, Gr. Among peas, Worcester

— bifoveolata, Gr. Bransford

— resinans, Hart. Middleyards

— parvicaudata, Bridg. Monkwood

— evanescens, Ratz. Tiddesley Wood

— parvicornuta, Bridg. Oddingley

— similis, Bridg. Monkwood

— mensurator, Gr. Cotheridge
Lycorina triangulifera, Holmz. Monkwood
Lampronota caligata, Gr
Lissonota femorata, Holmz.

— fletcheri, Bridg. Ex b. Gelechia

lentiginosella

— bellator, Gr. Crown East

— commixta, Gr. Hallow, Bransford

— cylindrator, Vill. Monkwood

— segmentator, F. From fungus on oak

— sulphurifera, Gr. The Ketch

— semirufa, Desv. Hallow

— distincta, Bridg. Near Worcester
Meniscus catenator, Pz. Leigh

— impressor, Gr. Temple Laughern
Phytodiaetus segmentator, Gr. Among

oaks

— obscurus, Desv. Kempsey

— scabriculus, Gr. Among oak
Odontomerus dentipes, Gmel. Temple

Laughern
Braconid.*

Bracon mediator, Nees. Grimley

— discoideus, Wesm. Middleyards

— atrator, Nees. Old Hills

Worcester
Ex Eucosma

Worcester

BraconiDj?: {continued)

Spathius clavatus, Schr. In garden, Wor-
cester
Rhogas reticulator. Spin. Ex larva of
Odonestis potatoria

— circumscriptus, Nees. Monkwood
Colastes braconius, Hal. Ex larva of

Tischeria dodonasa
Chelonus sulcatus, Juline.
Ascogaster varipes, Wesm

gentianana
Apanteles candidatus, Hal.

— lacteipennis. Curt. Trench Woods

— glomeratus, L. Ex cocoon of Abraxas

— ruficrus, Hal. Ex cocoon of Plusia

gamma
Microplitis spectabilis, Hal. Worcester

— ingrata, Hal. Middleyards

— annulipes, Curt. Tibberton
Orgilus obscurator, Nees. Wyre Forest
Earinus nitidulus, Nees. Little Eastbury
Therophilus cingulipes, Nees. Crown

East

Zemiotes albiditarsis, Curt. Among wild
carrot

Perilitus pendulator, Latr. At light, Wor-
cester

Zele testaceator. Curt. From oak, Trench
Woods

Macrocentrus marginator, Nees. Ex Tro-
chilium tipuliforme

Biosteres carbonarius, Nees.

Alysia manducator, Nees. Parasitic on
dipterous larvae

OXYURA

Proctotrypes gravidator, L. Temple Laugh-
ern

Lagynodes pallidus. Boh. Crown East, in
moss

Perisemus triareolatus. Walk. Middleyards

Belyta dorsalis. Thorns. Bransford

COLEOPTERA

So far as is ascertained no one has worked up the beetles of this
county. The late Mr. W. G. Blatch worked more or less in the northern
part, especially in the Severn valley. Accounts of his discoveries were
published from time to time in the Entomologist' s Motithly Magazine.
Others must have worked in different localities if we are to judge by
occasional references to Worcestershire in Fowler's Cokoptera of the
British Islands.

The species found here hitherto number about a thousand. The
following list includes the less common species only : —

Cychrus rostratus, L. Wyre Forest, Crown Notiophilus rufipes. Curt. Kempsey Grove

East Leistus rufescens, F. Leigh

Carabus arvensis, F. Broad Heath Elaphrus uliginosus, F. Hallow

Notiophilus substriatus, Wat. Hartlebury Clivina collaris, Herbst. Banks of Teme

INSECTS

j- Ivy House Farm

Dyschirius aeneus, Dej. Beivdley
Badister unipustulatus, Bon. Kempsey

— sodalis, Duft. Hallow

Chlaenius nigricornis, F. Margin of Teme
Harpalus azureus, F. Malvern Hills

— rubripes, Duft. Bransford

— ignavus, Duft. Oldhury Farm
Stomis pumicatus, Pz. Crown East
Platyderus ruficollis, Marsh. Malvern
Pterostichus anthracinus, 111. Digits

— picimanus, Duft. Banks of Teme
Amara consularis, Duft.

— bifrons, Gyll.
— - ovata, F. Wichenford

— lunicollis, Schiod. Laughern Hill

— communis, Pz. Ivy House Farm
Taphria nivalis, Marsh. Hallow
Anchomenus sexpunctatus, L. Monkwood

— scitulus, Dej. Temple Laughern

— gracilis, Gyll. Northwick

— puellus, Dej. Grimley

Bembidium quinquestriatum, Gyll. Near
Worcester

— mannerheimii, Sahl. Hallow

— gilvipes, Sturm. Kempsey

— ' fluviatile, Dej. Banks of Severn

— punctulatum, Drap. Banks of Teme

— prasinum, Duft. Among shingle by the

Teme

— adustum, Sturm. Banks of Teme
Trechus micros, Herbst. Hallow

— secalis, Payk. Banks of Teme
Dromius agilis, F. Northwick
Metabletus truncatellus, L. Little Eastbury

— obscuro-guttatus, Duft. Martley
Haliplus confinis, Steph. Pond, Temple Laugh-
ern

— cinereus, Aub^. Pond, Croome

— fluviatilis, Aub^. In the Severn
Pelobius tardus, Herbst. Pond, Temple Laugh-
ern

Noterus clavicornis, De G. Pond, Grimley

— sparsus. Marsh. Pond, Shoulton
Laccophilus interruptus, Pz. In the Teme
Hydroporus granularis, L. Pond, Moorcroft

— dorsalis, F. Pond, Hartlebury

Agabus paludosus, F. Streamlet, Severn Stoke
Ilybius fenestratus, F. Pond, Leigh
Rhantus exoletus, Forst. Pond, Grimley
Orectochilus villosus, Miiller. Among stones

by the Teme
Philhydrus nigricans, Zett. In ditch, Grim-

ley
Paracymus nigroaeneus, Sahl. Pond, Middle-
yards
Chaetarthria seminulum, Herbst. Powick
Helophorus rugosus, Ol. Near Worcester

— nubilus, F. Birchen Grove

— dorsalis, Marsh. In a ditch, Hallow

— arvernicus, Muls. Banks of Teme

Octhebius bicolon. Germ. Monkwood
Cercyon quisquilius, L. Witley, near Stour-
bridge

— nigriceps, Marsh. Near Evesham

— minutus, F, fVyre Forest

Aleochara bipunctata, Ol. In dung, Wad-

— moesta, Grav. In moss, Wyre Forest

— mcerens, Gyll. In fungi, Leigh Sinton
Microglossa pulla, Gyll. Crookherrow Hill
Oxypoda annularis. Sahib. Moss, Peg-house

Wood
Thiasophila inquilina, Maerk. Moss, Pirton
Ocyusa picina, Aub6. Moss, Cotheridge
Ilyobates nigricollis, Payk. Under a stone,

Crown East

— propinquus, Aub6. Crown East
Chilopora longitarsis, Er. Pitmaston
Callicerus rigidicornis, Er. Garden rubbish,

Worcester
Homalota insecta. Thorns. Bank of Teme,
Bransford

— pavens, Er. Vegetable refuse, Leigh

— hygrotopora, Kr. Bank of Severn,

Bewdley

— oblongiuscula, Sharp. Moss, Crown East

— sylvicola. Fuss. Moss, Peg-house Wood

— occulta, Er. In dung, Cotheridge

— boletobia, Thoms. Fungus, Powick

— testudinea, Er. Dung, Old Hills
Tachyusa constricta, Er. Banks of Teme

— umbratica, Er. Bank of Severn, Holt
Encephalus complicans, Westw. Moss, Peg-
house Wood

Bolitochara lucida, Grav. Fungi, Monkwood
Oligota atomaria, Er. Moss, Wyre Forest
Myllaena dubia, Grav. Moss, Cotheridge
Tachyporus solutus, Er. Moss, Leigh Sinton

— tersus, Er. Moss, Wyre Forest
Tachinus laticollis, Grav. Fungus, Shrawley

Wood
Megacronus inclinans, Grav. Moss, Birchen

Grove
Mycetoporus splendens. Marsh. Moss, Trench

Woods
Quedius cruentus, Ol. Dead leaves, Wyre

Forest

— fuliginosus, Grav. Vegetable refuse,

Shoulton

— umbrinus, Er. Moss, Malvern Wells

— suturalis, Kies. Moss, Whittington

— rufipes, Grav. Dead leaves, near Evesham

— attenuatus, Gyll. Moss, Wyre Forest

— semiaeneus, Steph. Moss, Severn Stoke
Leistotrophus nebulosus, F. On the wing,

Hallow

— murinus, L. Bromsgrove, Kempsey
Staphylinus caesareus, Ceder. Oldhury Farm
Ocypus fuscatus, Grav. On dry dung, Om-

bersley

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Ocypus compressus, Marsh. Under dead

leaves, Shoulton
Philonthus intermedius, Boisd. In dung,
Lathe Hill

— proximus, Kn. Vegetable refuse, Crowle

— atratus, Grav. Moss, Leigh

— decorus, Grav. Moss, Crown East

— albipes, Grav. Bransford

— agilis, Grav. Moss, etc., Moseley Heath

— vernalis, Grav. Vegetable refuse, Norton

— fumarius, Grav. Flood refuse, Lenchford

— fulvipes, F. Banks of Teme
Xantholinus tricolor, F. At roots of poplar,

Wadborough

— distans, Kr. Near Martley
Lathrobium longulum, Grav. Lenchford

— quadratum, Payk. Near Dudley
Achenium depressum, Grav. Cotheridge

— humile, Nic. Leigh

Medon fusculus, Mann. Malvern Wells

— obsoletus, Nord. Moss, Cotheridge
Sunius intermedius, Er. Haystack refuse,

Severn Stoke
Evassthetus scaber, Grav. Vegetable refuse,

Sapey Bridge
Stenus biguttatus, L. Margin of Severn, near

Bewdley

— bipunctatus, Er. \ By the Severn, near

— atratulus, Er. ) Bewdley

— fuse i pes, Grav. Moss, Leigh

— vafellus, Er. By the Teme, Cotheridge
Platystethus capito, Heer. Haystack refuse,

Kempsey

— nodifrons. Sahib. Upton-on-Severn
Oxytelus inustus, Grav. Among dead leaves,

Powick
Ancyrophorus homalinus, Er. Damp moss,

Stoulton
Trogophloeus arcuatus, Steph. Bank of

Teme, Cotheridge

— rivularis, Mots. Forest of IVyre

— fuliginosus, Grav. By the Teme, Brans-

ford

Syntomium seneum, Miill. Moss, Middle-
yards

Deliphrum tectum, Payk. Vegetable refuse,
Crown East

Coryphium angusticolle, Steph. On old
wall, Worcester

Omalium iopterum, Steph. On flowers
near Worcester

— deplanatum, Gyll. Haystack refuse,

Severn Stoke
Proteinus macropterus, Gyll. Fungus, Stoulton
Megarthrus denticollis, Beck. Fungus, Hal-
low
Bythinus validus, Aub6. Sparingly in moss

— curtisii. Leach. In moss, Peg-house JVood
Batrisus venustus, Aub^. One, in moss near

ants' nest

Bryaxis haematica, Reich. Moss, Crown

East
Clambus minutus, Sturm. Moss, Peg-house

Wood
Agathidium nigrinum, Sturm. Peg-house

Wood
Anisotoma dubia, Kug. One, moss, Hallow
Necrophorus vestigator. Hers. Carcase of

mouse. Hallow
Necrodes littoralis, L. At foot of tree,

Cotheridge
Silpha sinuata, F. Carcase, Thorngrove
Choleva angustata, F. Under a stone, Crown

East

— kirbyi, Spence. One, in agaric. Monk-

wood
Colon serripes, Sahl. Field refuse, Hallow,
Temple Laughern

— latum, Kr. Moss, Crown East Wood
Hister merdarius, HofF. In loose decayed

wood, one, Cotheridge
Meligethes lugubris, Sturm. Leigh

— obscurus, Er. Pole Elm
Cryptarcha strigata, F. Callow End
Tenebrioides mauritanica, L. In an old

house

Corticaria denticulata, Gyll. Moss, Perry
Wood

Antherophagus pallens, Ol. Grimley

Cryptophagus acutangulus, Gyll. Vegetable
refuse, Martley

Atomaria nigripennis, Payk. Haystack re-
fuse, Wichenford

— basalis, Er. Moss, Lenchford
Scaphidium quadrimaculatum, Ol. Monk-
wood

Triphyllus suturalis, F. Fungus, Bransford

— punctatus, F. Fungus, Leigh
Attagenus pellio, L. One in old house, Wor-
cester

Megatoma undata, L. Two in a grocery
store

Tiresias serra, F. One, Trench Woods

Anthrenus claviger, Er. On flowers. Monk-
wood

Georyssus pygmaeus, F. Banks of Severn,
Bewdley, banks of Teme

Elmis aeneus. Mull. In the Teme

— volkmari, Pz. Margin of Severn, Lench-

ford

— nitens, MuIl. In the Teme ; one speci-

men
Heterocerus laevigatus, Pz. Banks of Severn,

Bewdley
Lucanus cervus, L. Longdon
Onthophagus coenobita, Herbst. Cow dung,

Cotheridge

— fracticornis, Preys. Cow dung, Shoulton
Aphodius foetens, F. Dung, Oldbury Farm

— granarius, L. Vegetable refuse, Worcester

INSECTS

Aphodius sordidus, F. In dung, Powick

— rufescens, F. In dung, Bransford

— foetidus, F. In dung. Holt

— obliteratus, Pz. In dung, Grimley
Geotrupes spiniger, Marsh. In dung. Broad-
heath

Trox scaber, L. Flying at dusk, near Wor-
cester

Hoplia philanthus, FUss. On flowers, Wyre
Forest

Cetonia aurata, L. On flowers, sparingly

Cryptohypnus riparius, F. Banks of Teme, etc.

— quadripustulatus, F. By the Teme
Athous longicollis, OI. Cotheridge
Limonius minutus, L. Lord's Wood
Adrastus limbatus, F. Monkwood
Corymbites pectinicornis, L. Malvern Hills,

Wyre Forest

— cupreus, F. Malvern Hills

— tessellatus, F. Trench Woods

— asneus, L. Malvern Hills

— metallicus, Payk. Monkwood

— bipustulatus, L. One, Thorngrove
Helodes marginatus, F. Cotheridge
Cyphon coarctatus, Payk, Herbage, by the

Teme

— pallidulus, Boh. Monkwood

Scirtes hemisphaericus, L. Water herbage,

Camp
Lampyris noctiluca, L. Occasionally, in

woods
Telephorus haemorrhoidalis, F. Lathe Hill

— oralis, Germ. Marshy place, Camp

— thoracicus, Ol. Camp
Malthodes flavoguttatus, Kies. Grimley

— dispar. Germ. Lenchford

— fibulatus, Kies. Worcester, one

— misellus, Kies. Bransford
Malachius jeneus, L. Little Oldbury
Axinotarsus ruficollis, Ol. Grimley
Anthocomus fasciatus, L. In hedges
Haplocnemus impressus, Marsh. One, at

Trench Woods
Tillus elongatus, L. Trench Woods
Opilo mollis, L. On elms, occasionally, near

Worcester
Thanasimus formicarius, L. One, under

bark of ash, Powick
Necrobia violacea, L. On flowers. Trench

Woods, and among skins
Ptinus sexpunctatus, Pz. Occasionally in

houses, Worcester
Hedobia imperialis, L. On flowers, near

Worcester
Priobium castaneum, F. Hawthorn bloom
Anobium denticoUe, Pz. In old house, Wor-
cester

— fulvicorne, Sturm. Hawthorn hedge
Xestobium tessellatum, F. Old house, W

cester

Ochina hedera, Moll. Ivy, Powick
Dinoderus substriatus, Payk. In moss on old

stump. Perry Wood
Lyctus canaliculatus, F. Herbage, Powick
Cis micans, Herbst \ From polyporus on wil-

— hispidus, Payk. ) low, Powick

— bidentatus, Ol. Tree fungus. Crown

East
Rhopalodontus fronticornis, Pz. 1 ^^ ,
Ennearthron affine, Gyll. j " ■'

Callidium alni, L. Boughton, near Worcester
Clytus mysticus, L. On flowers of Hera-

cleum, Hallow
Rhagium bifasciatum, F. Dine's Green
Pachyta collaris, L. Thorngrove
Strangalia quadrifasciata, L. Monkwood
Pogonochaerus bidentatus, Thoms. Dine's

Green
Mesosa nubila, OI. Monkwood
Stenostola ferrea, Schr. Shrawley Wood
Bruchus rufimanus. Boh. Monkwood
Orsodacna cerasi, L. Hawthorn, near Trench

Woods
Lema erichsoni, SufFr. One, by Laughern

Brook
Crioceris asparagi, L. Worcester
Clythra quadripunctata, L. Birchen Grove,

Trench Woods
Cryptocephalus bipunctatus, L. Trench

Woods

— aureolus, SufFr. Monkwood

— fulvus, Goeze. Crown East

— frontalis. Marsh. Bransford
Lamprosoma concolor, Sturm. Moss, Middle-
yards

Chrysomela gcettingensis, L. Flood refuse, by
the Severn

didymata, Scriba. "1 jy

, . . T-, r rr yi t, toreSt

— hyperici, rorst. J ■'
Melasoma asneum, L. Monkwood

— longicolle, SufFr. Trench Woods
Phytodecta rufipes, De G. Monkwood

— olivacea, Forst. Wyre Forest

— pallida, L. Near Malvern
Phyllodecta cavifrons, Thoms. Cotheridge
Batophila rubi, Payk. Moss, Flyford Flavel
Blaps mucronata, Latr. Cellars, etc.
Bolitophagus reticulatus, L. One, fungus on

willow, Kempsey
Scaphidema metallicum, F. Under bark on

old stump near Worcester
Tenebrio obscurus, F. One, indoors
Cistela ceramboides, L. In decayed bark of

oak tree, near Worcester
Orchesia micans, Pz. Woody fungus on ash,

Bransford
Hypulus quercinus, Quens. Crown East
CEdemera nobilis, Scop. Cotheridge

— lurida, Marsh. Trench Woods
Metoecus paradoxus, L. In wasps' nest

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Brachytarsus varius, F. Trench Woods Grypidius equiseti, F. From horsetail,
Byctiscus populi, L. Monkwood^ etc. Teme Bank

Rhynchites aeneovirens, Marsh. IVyre Forest Dorytomus vorax, F. Base of poplar, Camp

Apion difForme, Ahr. Birchen Grove — tremulas, Payk. Broadmoor Green

— varipes, Germ. Croiun East Acalles roboris. Curt. Trench Woods

— ebeninum, Kirby. Monkwood Baris lepidii, Germ. Among herbage by the

— filirostre, Kirby. Peg-house Wood Teme

Otiorrhynchus ligneus, Ol. Crown East Magdalis barbicornis, Latr. Temple Laughern

Polydrusus teretricollis, De G. Shrawley Scolytus multistriatus. Marsh. Beaten from

IFood hedge, Bransford

Tanymecus palliatus, F. By beating hedge, Hylastes palliatus, Gyll. Pitmaston

Bransford Cissophagus hederee, Schmidt. Bransford

LEPIDOPTERA

In enumerating the following list of Worcestershire Lepidoptera
we have been compelled to adopt a broad boundary line in order that we
might incorporate therein the records of fellow entomologists whose
reports merely state Malvern, West Malvern, Wyre Forest, Broadway or
Bredon, without definitively setting out the county wherein the captures
were made. This omission we think cannot much affect the value of
the list as a county record, seeing that insects are not likely to be
restricted to the boundary line of the map, but would in all probability
occur on both sides of it.

In 1834 Charles Hastings, M.D., published Illustrations of the
Natural History of Worcestershire, which, in appendix C. entitled ' A
Catalogue of some of the rarer Lepidopterous Insects found in Worcester-
shire,' by Edwin Lees, enumerated some 230 species, and the specimens
were represented in the cabinet of A. Edmunds. This list is referred to
hereafter as I.N.H.W.

In 1870 the Rev. E. Horton recorded 328 species in a paper
entitled ' List of Malvern Lepidoptera,' which is printed in T'he
T'ransactions of the Malvern Naturalists' Field Club, part iii. pp. 175—184.
This is more of a county list than a local one, seeing that it includes
Bredon, Bow Wood, Trench Woods, Monk Wood, Martley, Shrawley,
etc. It is cited herein as T.M.N. F.C.

In 1899 appeared by far the most reliable list that has hitherto been
published for a portion of the county. It is entitled The Butterflies and
Moths of Malvern, by the veteran and esteemed entomologists, W.
Edwards and R. F. Towndrow. It enumerates 590 species. This list
embraces a circle, as the crow flies, round Malvern of six miles, and thus
renders, where the locality is not definitely stated in another county, the
task of the present writers harder. This list is referred to as E. & T.

Worcestershire is referred to in the systematic works of the follow-
ing, and will be quoted as follows : —

H. T. Stainton, A Manual of British Butterflies and Moths, 1857-
1859: St.

E. Newman, The Natural History of British Moths ana Butterflies,
1869: N.

E. Meyrick, A Handbook of British Lepidoptera, 1895 : M.

INSECTS

T'he 'Transactions of the Worcestershire Naturalists'' Club, i 847-1 899 :
T.W.N.C.

It is by the kind assistance of Messrs. W. Edwards, W. H.
Edwards, Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox, Messrs G. D. Hancock, J. Peed and
R. F. Towndrow that we are enabled to place the following list before
the reader.

Amongst the Rhopalocera (Butterflies) the following are very rare
and almost extinct : Apatura Iris, Nemeobius luxina, Lycana corydon and
cegon, Pieris daplidice and Aporia crateegi ; whilst amongst the Heterocera
(Moths) CEonistis quadra, Lithosia deplana, Miltochrista senex, Coscinia
cribrum, Diacrisia urticce, Arctia villica, Leucania turca, L. vitellina, Agrotis
lunigera, A. subrosea, Caradrina 00, Hadena jiammea, H. pabulatricula
[connexa), Boletobia fuliginaria, Plusia orichalcea and bractea, Eustrotia
uncula, Ocneria dispar, Leptomeris marginepunctata, Pseudopanthera pictaria,
and P. hippocastanaria and Leucophthalmia orbicularia have either entirely
disappeared or are of very rare occurrence.

The subjoined list includes 57 Rhopalocera, 254 Caradrinina, 233
Notodontina, 14 Lasiocampina, 76 Pyralidina, 8 Psy china, 124 Tortricina,
141 Tineina, and 9 Micropterygina, making a grand total of 916. This
exceeds by 326 the number of species enumerated by Edwards and
Towndrow in the latest list that has appeared for Worcestershire or a
part thereof.

Under the headings of various well-favoured haunts the more local
insects have been formed into groups which have been appended to the
following list.

RHOPALOCERA

IV. PAPILIONINA Melitaea aurinia, Rott. Worcester (St. p.

I. NYMPH ALID^E ^^'>'' ^''^bleton (Fletcher); Oddingley,

Great Malvern, but disappeared (N.

Argynnis paphia, L. Wyre Forest, July 18, p. 42) ; rare (W. Edwards, T.M.N. F.C.

1895, July 30, 1896 ; Shrawley, p. 175) ; Cowleigh Park and other

July, common (T.M.N. F.C. p. 175, marshy places, formerly on Malvern

Fletcher); M««/f /iTW (G.D.Hancock) Link Common (E. & T. p. 4); not

— adippe, L. Monk Wood and Shrawley common, Trench Woods ; a specimen

Wood (N. p. 33) ; Wyre Forest, July taken on the wing in Friar Street,

18, 1895 ; Malvern Woods, Ockeridge Worcester, April, 1834 (I.N.H.W.

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 175); Bredon Hill p. 137); Wyre Forest (W. H.

(W. H. Edwards, Fletcher) Edwards) ; formerly common at Crad-

— aglaia, L. Monk Wood (N. p. 29 ; ley, specially in a field in Leigh Sinton

T.M.N.F.C. p. 175); Wyre Forest i?«W (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

(W. H. Edwards) ; one specimen, Vanessa c-album, L. Worcester (St. p. 40,

Monk Wood (Fletcher) and N. p. 51); Worcester, June 29,

— lathonia, L. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 175) 1896 ; Wyre Forest, July 30, 1896;

— euphrosyne, L. Worcester (St. p. 43); Craycombe, Monk Wood; generally dis-

Trench Woods, May 1 8, 1895; Tid- tributed (W. H. Edwards); fields,

desley Wood, May 22, 1 894; Wyre lanes and hopyards (Fletcher)

i^flr«?,Afa«<f^^05(^; generally distributed — urtics, L. Common (Fletcher)

(W. H. Edwards, Fletcher) — polychloros, L. Worcester (St. p. 39)

— selene, SchifF. Worcester (St. p. 43) ; and Malvern (N. p. 58) ; chiefly

Monk Wood (N. p. 39, Fletcher) ; about Mathon and Cradley, but oc-

Malvern Woods, Crown East, June casionally elsewhere (E. & T. p. 3) ;

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 175) ; Wyre Forest Nunnery Wood, Northwick, etc., scarce

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

' (I.N.H.W. p. 137) ; Worcester, 1874 ;
St. John's, Worcester (W. H. Edwards) ;
Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; among elm trees (Fletcher)
Vanessa io, L. IVyre Forest, July 30, 1896,
common (Fletcher)

— antiopa, L. Worfield House, Malvern,

thirty years ago (R.F.T.) ; two Mal-
vern (W.E.), near College grounds
(C. F. Grindrod) ; Upton (Sewell, E.
& T. p. 3) ; very uncommon, but
has been captured at Barhourne, close to
//^«rf«?^r (I.N.H.W. p. 137)

— atalanta, L. Hanbury Churchyard, Sept.

22, 1895 ; common (Fletcher)

— X cardui. West Malvern (W.E. 1876,

E.&T. p. 3)

— cardui, L. Occasionally common (Fletcher)
Limenitis sibilla, L. Worcester (St. p. 34) ;

not confirmed (N. p. 70, M. p. 335) ;
Cradley, 186 1 (R.F.T.) ; Croft Banks
(W.E., E. & T. p. 2) ; one taken
near Worcester (I.N.H.W. p. 138)
Apatura iris, L. One near Park Wood,
West Malvern, 1 864 (W. Edwards,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 1 76) ; observed at
Perdiswell, but is very rarely taken
(I.N.H.W. p. 138)

2. SATYRID^

Melanargia galathea, L. Worcester (St. p.
26) ; Himbleton (Fletcher) ; Monk
Wood, Malvern (N. p. 80) ; The Slads,
July 25, 1899; Malvern Woods,
Eldersfield, Bow Wood, Bredon, Trench
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 176); once or twice
Croft Banks (W.E., Goodyear) ; Cow-
leigh Park (E. & T. p. 2) ; Bredon,
July 14, 1895

— m?gJfa7L. ^' } ^°'""'°" (Fletcher)
Satyrus semele, L. Worcester (St. p. 28) ;

Malvern Hills (W. Edwards, July,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 176); rocks near
Winds Point and elsewhere about the
hills (E. & T. p. 2) ; Bewdley Forest
(I.N.H.W. p. 138)
Epinephele tithonus, L. "|

— janira, L. J- Common (Fletcher)

— hyperanthus, L. J
Ccenonympha tiphon, Rott. Not common

(I.N.H.W. p. 138)

— pamphilus, L. Common (Fletcher)

3. ERYCINID^

Nemeobius lucina, L. Worcester (St. p. 49) ;
sparingly 2 miles from Great Malvern
(N. p. 105) ; at foot of Berrow Hill,
Martley{TM.l<i.¥.C. p. 176) ; Trench

Woods and Craycombe (I.N.H.W. p.
137)

4. LYCiENID^

Thecla rubi, L. Worcester (St. p. 54) ; Wyre
Common, June 12, 1899 ; Croft Wood,
Oddingley (Fletcher)

— pruni, L. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 176); rare

(I.N.H.W. p. 138)

— w.-album, Kn. Worcester and formerly

Great Malvern (N. p. 110); Cowleigh
Park, rare (T.M.N.F.C. p. 176);
Malvern Link (R.F.T.) ; Cowleigh Park
(W.E., E. & T. p. 4) ; Trench and
Warndon Woods (A. Edmunds,
I.N.H.W. p. 138) ; St. John's, Worcester
and Bransford (W. H. Edwards) ;
among elms, Cotheridge (Fletcher)

— betuls, L. Worcester (St. p. 52) ; Trench

Woods (N. p. 114, and Fletcher) ;
August, scarce (T.M.N.F.C. p. 176) ;
Cowleigh (E. & T. p. 4) ; Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards)

— quercus, L. Worcester (St. p. 54) ; Monk

Wood, Crown East, Middleyards and
Trench, July (T.M.N.F.C. p. 176);
Cowleigh Park and Malvern Link
(R.F.T., E. & T. p. 4) ; larvae, Wyre
Forest, 1899 (W. H. Edwards, Fletcher)
Chrysophanus minimus, Fuesl. The Slads,
June 16, 1898, May 31 and July 25,
1899; Broadway, June 23, 1898;
lime pits, Croft Farm, common
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 176); The Wyche,
1898 (W.E., E. & T. p. 4) ; Od-
dingley (Fletcher)

— semiargus, Rott. One seen, July, 1855,

near Croft Farm (T.M.N.F.C. p. 176) ;
extinct (E. & T. p. 4) ; Hawford, near
Worcester dinA Trench Woods (I.N.H.W.
p. 139) ; Hilly Fields (Fletcher)

— astrarche, Bgstr. Not uncommon

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 176); Broadway,
June 23, 1898 ; West Malvern, June
8, 1899; Bredon, Oddingley {YXetchzr)

— phlasas, L. Common (Fletcher)

— var. Schmidtii. (R.F.T., E. & T.

P- 4)

— dispar, Hw. Very rare in this county ;

a solitary individual has been taken
(I.N.H.W. p. 138)
Lycaena argiolus, L. Midsummer Hill, 1895,
and May 14, 1899; Bilberry Hill,
June 10, 1899; Worcester; generally
distributed

— corydon. Pod. Helhury Hill, Worcester

(E. Lees, T.M.N.F.C. p. 176)

— agon, Schiff. Trench Woods (I.N.H.W.

P- 139)

— Icarus, Rott. Common (Fletcher)

INSECTS

5. PIERID^
Colias hyale, L. One near Bransford, 1878
(W.E., E. & T. p. i) ; several at
Craycombe, 1874 (W. H. Edwards)

— edusa, F. Norton, near Evesham, August,

1874; IVorcester (N. p. 146); Croft
lime quarries(W. Edwards,T.M.N.F.C.
p. 175) ; very uncertain in appearance.
In 1878 fairly distributed, one at New-
land and one on the hills 1894, rare,
(E. & T. p. i) ; Crayconibe, plentiful,
1874, and Trench Woods, 1887 (W. H.
Edwrards) ; near Knightsford Bridge,
August 13, 1900, and several at Wor-
cester ; clover fields, pea fields, etc.
(Fletcher)

— var. Helice. One (Goodyear) ; very

rare (E. &. T. p. i)
Gonepteryx rhamni,L.| ^^^^^^ (Fletcher)
Euchloe cardamines, L.J '^ '

Leucophas a sinapis, L. Locally abundant.

Monk Wood, Middleyards, Ockeridge,

Worcester (N. p. 156, St. p. 2o) ; in

woods sparingly (Fletcher)
Pieris daplidice, L. Worcester (St. p. 19) ;

' once at Malvern ' {Malvern Field

Handbook)

— napi, L.

— rapas, L.

Pieris brassicae, L. Common (Fletcher)
Aporia crataegi, L. Great Malvern, scarce
(W. Edwards, N. p. i68) ; Worcester-
shire (St. p. 18); Wyre Forest, August
24, 1852 (T.W.N.C. p. 10, June 20,
1851); Craycombe {T.W.-H.C. p. 11);
Malvern and Cradley, in woods, scarce
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 175; one, Malvern
Link, about 1858 (R.F.T.) ; in June,
1876, larvae near Cradley, and in 1877
two on the wing near there (W.E.,
E. & T. p. i) ; woods near Worcester
(LN.H.W. p. 137)

6. PAPILIONID^

Papilio machaon, L. Near Worcester, but
very rare (LN.H.W. p. 136); near
Martley (Dr. Grindrod, 1 900)

7. HESPERIAD^

Hesperia malvae, L.

Common (Fletcher)

tages, L.

Cyclopsdes palasmon, Pall. Berrow Hill,
Martley (W.E., E. & T. p. 5) ; Cray-
combe, June 20, 1854 (T.W.N.C. p.

Pamphila thaumas, Hufn. \ Common

— sylvanus, Esp. J (Fletcher)

HETEROCERA

L CARADRININA
I. ARCTIAD^

CEonistis quadra, L. St. Jolni's, near Wor-
cester {TM.^.Y.C. p. 178, E. & T.
p. II)

Lithosia complana, L. Common, July
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 178, E. & T. p. 10) ;
Bredon (W. H. Edwards) ; scarce
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— lurideola, Zk. Bransford, July 28, 1899,

34, Foregate Street, August I, 1899 ;
Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)

— deplana, Esp. About Malvern (W.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 178)

— griseola, Hb. Middleyards (T.M.N.F.C.

p. 178) ; Castle Morton, common
some years (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox)

— sororcula, Hufn. Middleyards, scarce, M-Hy

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 178); Monk Wood,
June, 1899 and 1900 ; sparingly in
woods (Fletcher) ; Ockeridge (G. D.
Hancock)
Gnophria rubiicollis, L. Malvern Woods
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 178) ; Crumpend Hill,
June 17, 1882 (Mr. F. Powell);

Birchwood (W.E.) ; rather rare (E. &
T. p. II) ; Nunnery Wood (LN.H.W.
p. 142) ; one specimen at Cradley
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

Cybosia mesomella, L. Monk Wood, May
30, 1896 and June 28, 1898; Wyre
Forest ; singly in woods (Fletcher)

Miltochrista miniata, Forst. Monk Wood,
June 13 and 16, 1898 ; Tiddesley,
July 6, 1899 ; Middleyards and
near Bromsgrove, etc. (T.M.N.F.C. p.
178); Nunnery Wood {LN.H.W. p.
142), and July 17, 1900 ; one speci-
men, Longdon village (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox)

— sen ex, Hb. Rather rare (W. Edwards,
E. &T. p. II)

Nudaria mundana, L. Malvern, Worcester,
etc., July, not uncommon (T.M.N.F.C.
p. 178) ; Bredon, July, 1897 ; Broad-
way, larvas, June 23, 1898

Roeselia (Nola) confusalis, H.S. Wyre Forest
June 17, 1899, July 8, 1900 ; Mal-
vern Woods, Shrawley Wood, etc., scarce
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 178); rather rare
(E. & T. p. 35) ; Middleyards, one
specimen (Fletcher)

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Nola cucullatella, L. Fairly common, Water-
works, Worcester, June 29, 1896 ;
Foregate Street, Worcester, July 1 8,
1898, July 13, 1899 ; rare (E. & T.
P-35)

Uraba (Nola) strigula, Schiff. Rare (E. & T.
P- 35)

Sarrothripus undulana, Hb. Ribhesford, Sept.
21, i860 (T.W.N.C. p. 62); Monk
Wood, July 25, 1900 ; singly in woods
(Fletcher)

Hylophila bicolorana, Fuesl. Rather common
(E. & T. p. 36) ; Crown East Wood
(W. H . Edwards) ; Monk Wood, July 1 1 ,
1895 ; Bransford, larvx, June 2, 1899,
on oaks (Fletcher) ; Elm Hill and
Temple Laughern

Halias prasinana, L. Monk Wood, Trench
Woods, St or ridge Woods, Perry and
Nunnery Woods (A. Edmunds,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 1 84) ; rather common
(E. & T. p. 36) ; Wyre Forest

Tyria (Euchelia) jacobaese, L. Common

Utetheisa (Deiopeia) pulchella, L. One,
Madresfield (W. Edwards, 1886 ; E.
&T. p. II)

Coscinia (Eulepia) cribrum, L. Very local
(A. Edmunds, T.M.N.F.C. p. 178);
a very local insect, Bewdley Forest
(I.N.H.W. p. 142)

Phragmatobia fuliginosa, L. Bredon, June 3,
1897 ; Wyre Forest, June 10, 1899 ;
Old Storridge, not common. May
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 178) ; Malvern Link
and Newland Common, etc. (E. & T. p.
1 1) ; Trench Woods (I.N.H.W. p. 142) ;
Tibberton (W. H. Edwards) ; Odclinglcy,
larva (Fletcher) ; Holly-bush Hill (G.
D. Hancock)

Diacrisia (Spilosoma) mendica, CI. Monk
Wood, Trench Woods, Wyre Forest,
Ockeridge

— urtica;, Esp. Rare (I.N.H.W. p. 142)

— menthastri, Esp. "1 ^

1 u • ■ J T f Common

— lubncipeda, L. J

— russula, L. Wyre Forest, June, 1896,

1899, 1900 (W. Edwards,T.M.N.F.C.
p. 178); near the obelisk, Eastnor
(W. E., E. & T. p. II); Craycombe
(I.N.H.W. p. 141)
Arctia plantaginis, L. Bredon, June 3, 1897 ;
Malvern Hills, Randan Woods, Bil-
berry Hills, etc., June, not common
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 178); Nunnery Wood
(I.N.H.W. p. 141) ; one specimen
(Fletcher)

— villica, L. Uncommon (T.M.N.F.C. p.

178); Perry Wood (I.N.H.W. p.
141)?

— caja, L. Common

2. CARADRINID^

Sub-Fam. i. Poliades

Cucullia chamomillas, SchifF. (W. Edwards,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 182); at rest; more
plentiful than usual 1897 (W.E., E. &
T. p. 22) ; Castle Morton, scarce (Rev.
E. C. Dobr^e Fox)

— umbratica, L. Common

— asteris, SchifF. Of rare occurrence (W.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182)

— scrophularias. Cap. Larva, Hanley Castle,

1897 (W.E.) ; rare (E. & T. p. 22,
I.N.H.W. p. 144)

— verbasci, L. Common

Polia exoleta, L. Worcester (St. p. 282) ;
larva, Temeside, Powick, June 21, 1896 ;
Bredon (W. H. Edwards) ; in gardens
(Fletcher) ; Monk Wood (G. D. Han-
cock)

— vetusta, Hb. (W. Edwards, T.M.N.F.C.

p. 182)

— semibrunnea, Hw. /^orcw/^-r (St. p. 283) ;

Boughton Park, October, 1899 (J. Peed,
W. H.Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182);
Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; one at sallow and one at ivy
bloom (Fletcher)

— socia, Rett. Worcester (St. p. 283) ;

Henwick, Worcester, October 17, 1899 ;
Boughton (W. H. Edwards, W. Ed-
wards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182); one on
railings (Fletcher) ; Grimley, 1896 (G.
D. Hancock) ; Wyre Forest (J. Peed)

— ornithopus, Rott. Worcester (St. p. 283,

I.N.H.W. ,p. 144) ; Monk Wood (J.
Peed and W, H. Edwards) ; larvae.
Monk Wood

— areola, Esp. Worcester (St. p. 280) ;

Wyre Forest, April 3, 1897, April 21,
1898; Crown East and Bransford
(W. H. Edwards) ; Trench Woods (J.
Peed) ; Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— viminalis, F. Worcester (St. p. 266) ;

Monk Wood, July 11, 1895; Perry
Wood (W. H. Edwards) ; Middleyards,
larvae. May 28, 1900 ; generally dis-
tributed

— lichenea, Hb. Rather common (E. & T.

p. 21)

— protea, Bkh. Bransford, Madresfield and

Grimley (W. H. Edwards) ; common

— aprilina, L. Common, Nunnery Wood,

Monk Wood, Grimley, Ketch

— chi, L. Malvern, July 12, 1895 ; at

rest on rocks and walls, rather common
(E. & T. p. 21)

— flavicincta, F. Worcester (St. p. 264, W.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 181); at
rest on walls, rather common (E. & T.

INSECTS

p. 2i); Castle Morton (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox)

Miselia oxyacanthae, L. Henwick, October
14, 1899 ; Boughton and The Siads,
larvae (W. H. Edwards) ; Grimley and
Holt (J. Peed and G. D. Hancock)

Diloba caeruleocephala, L. Common

Asteroscopus sphinx, Hufn. TVorcester,
November 9, 1895 ; Spetchley Avenue,
November 3, 1895 ; by pupse digging
(Fletcher) ; Grimley (G. D. Hancock) ;
Boughton (J. Peed)

Aporophyla lutulenta, Bkh. Worcester (St.
p. 266) ; JVyre Forest, September,

1898 (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox, E. &
T. p. 21) ; Boughton and Wyre Forest,

1899 (W. H. Edwards); Grimley (G.
D. Hancock and J. Peed)

— lunosa, Hw. Worcester (St. p. 248) ;

Worcester, common
Orthosia xerampelina, Hb. Worcester (St.
p. 254) ; Henwick, pupa, August,
1895 ; Boughton and St. Johns (eleven
in 1887), Henwick (W. H. Edwards) ;
Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; on ash trees (Fletcher) ; Temple
Laughern, 1898 (J. Peed)

— croceago, F. Worcester (St. p. 251);

Wyre Forest (W. H. Edwards)

— citrago, L. Worcester (St. p. 252) ; larvae,

Ockeridge, May 27, 1899, June, 1900 ;
Shrawley and Boughton (W. H.
Edwards) ; on lime trees (Fletcher) ;
Grimley, 1 897 (G. D. Hancock and
J. Peed)

— aurago, F. Worcester (St. p. 253) ; Boughton

Park, October 12, 1895, and 1899;
Wyre Forest (W, H. Edwards) ; Castle
Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— flavago, F. 1 ^
-fulvago,L.}C°'"'^°"

— gilvago, Esp. Worcester (N. p. 376) ;

Foregate Street, September 12, 1896 ;
Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; two at ' light ' (Fletcher) ;
Grimley (G. D. Hancock and J. Peed)

— circellaris, Hufn. Riddells Farm, Sep-

tember 18, 1895 ; Boughton Park,
October 12, 1895 ; Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards)

— helvola, L. Worcester (St. p. 247, W.

Edwards) ; ivy bloom (T.M.N.F.C.
p. 181); Wyre Forest and Boughton
(W. H. Edwards) ; Castle Morton, rare
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ; Grimley
(G. D. Hancock)

— litura, L. Boughton Park, October 22,

1895 ; Foregate Street, September 12,
19, 1895 ; Wyre Forest and Crown
East (W. H. Edwards)

Orthosia pistacina, F. -i

— macilenta, Hb. \ Common

— lota, CI. }

— ypsilon, Bkh. Worcester (J. Peed,

I.N.H.W. p. 143) ; Castle Morton
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— satellitia, L. Common

Conistra (Dasycampa) rubiginea, F. Wor-
cester (St. p. 251, N. p. 372); ivy
bloom (W.E., E. & T. p. 20) ; very
rare, a single specimen. Nunnery Wood
(A.Edmunds, I.N.H.W. p. 143) ; one
specimen at sallow. Castle Morton (Rev.
E. C. Dobree Fox)

-(GMligula,Esp.|

— vaccmn, L. J •'

Sub-Fam. 2. Melanchrides

Leucania turca,L. (A. Edmunds, T.M.N.F.C.
p. 180) ; rare (I.N.H.W. p. 143)

— lithargyria, Esp. Common

— conigera, F. Worcester (St. p. 187) ;

Perry Wood, July 4, 8, 1895 ; Brans-
ford, July 9, 1895 ; Monk Wood
(W. H. Edwards) ; occasionally to
' light ' (Fletcher)

— vitellina, Hb. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 180)

— comma, L. Common

— impudens, Hb. Rather rare (E. & T.

p. 14)

— impura, Hb. Common (E. & T. p. 14) ;

Castle Morton, common (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox)

— pallens, L. Common

Monima (Taeniocampa) incerta, Hufn. Com-
mon at sallows

— opima, Hb. Wyre Forest (P. W. Abbott) ;

Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ;
Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— gracilis, F. Worcester (St. p. 244) ;

Trench Woods, April 3, 1896 ; Nunnery
Wood, April 4, 1896, March 31, 1897 ;
Perry Wood and Wyre Forest

— stabilis. View. Common

— populeti, Tr. Worcester (N. p. 360) ;

Ockeridge (W. H. Edwards) ; coppice,
Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock, T.M.N.F.C.
p. 181) ; rather rare (E. & T. p. 19) ;
at sallow bloom (Fletcher)

— miniosa, F. Crown East, March 23,

1896 ; Perry Wood, March 27, 1896 ;
Trench Woods, April 3, 1896 ; Nunnery
Wood, April 4, 1896 ; Wyre Forest and
Malvern (W. H. Edwards) ; Ockeridge
(G. D. Hancock)

— pulverulenta, Esp. Common

— munda, Esp. Middleyards, hpx\\ \, \%c)'i,

March 19, 1896 ; Crown East, March
23, 31, 1895 ; Nunnery, April 3, 1895,
March 31, 1899 ; Trench JVoods, hp\A

105

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

5, 1 895 ; Monk Wood, Ockeridge and

Wyre Forest
Monima gothica, L. Common
Charasas graminis, L. Worcester (St. p. 204) ;

Foregate Street, Worcester, at ' light,'

August 20, 1895, August 3, 1897
Neuronia popularis, F. Common at ' light '
Harmodia (Dianthoecia) nana, Rott. At rest

on walls (E. & T. p. 20)

— carpophaga, Bkh. Cast/e Morton, scarce

(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ; Bredon
(W. H. Edwards, 1898) ; larva abund-
ant, Hartlebury Common, July, 1899,
1900

— capsincola, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 262) ;

Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)

— cucubali, Fuesl. Worcester (St. p. 262) ;

Bransford and Boughton (W. H. Ed-
wards) ; one specimen, Castle Morton
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ; at lychnis
bloom (Fletcher)
Melanchra cespitis, F. Foregate Street, Wor-
cester, May 16, 1896 ; lanes near
Worcester (I.N.H.W. p. 142); Castle
Morton, rare (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ;
Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)

— reticulata, Vill. Two, Foregate Street,

Worcester, June 2, 4, 1896 ; two at
' light ' (Fletcher)

— Serena, F. Wyre Forest, June 10, 1899 5

Bredon, June 15, 1899 (Goodyear and
W.E.) ; rather rare (E. & T. p. 21) ;
Blackstone Rock, June, 1 900 ; Worcester
(G. D. Hancock)

— chrysozona, Bkh. Worcester (St. p. 263,

M. p. 82)

— trifolii, Rott. Worcester (St. p. 276) ;

Perry Wood, July 22, 1895 ; The
Denes, May 14, 1896 ; Foregate Street,
May 31, 1899; Waterworks Road
and Boughton (W. H. Edwards)

— dentina, Esp. Monk Wood, May 30,
[896 ; Foregate Street, June 14, 1896

Woods, June 15, 1895 ; Knightvjick
and Monk Wood ; on palings (Fletcher) ;
Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)
Melanchra thalassina, Rott. Common

— dissimilis, Kn. Foregate Street, Worcester,

May 1 6, June 2, 1896 ; I have met
with this once and believe others have
occurred (R.F.T., E. & T. p. 22, Rev.
E. C. Dobree Fox) ; Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards) ; Elm Hill (G. D.
Hancock)

— oleracea, L. Common

— pisi, L. Worcester (St. p. 277) ; on the

hills (T.M.N.F.C. p. 181); larvae
common on the Malvern Hills, Sep-
tember, 1900 ; and Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards) ; two at ' sugar '
(Fletcher)

— tincta, Brh. Worcester (St. p. 272, N.

p. 409) ; Wyre Forest, June 26, 27,
July 10, 1898, June 17, 24, 1899

— advena, F. Foregate Street, JVorcester,

June II, 1896, June 8, 1897 (Rev.
E. C. Dobree Fox, E. & T. p. 21) ;
Wyre Forest and Monk Wood (W. H.
Edwards) ; Laughern Bank (G. D.
Hancock)

— nebulosa, Hufn

— brassicae, L.

— persicariae, L.

Common

Worcester (St. p. 209,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 181, R.F.T., E. &T.
p. 16); once bred from pupae dug at
St. "Johns (W. H. Edwards) ; one speci-
men, Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; Wyre Forest, 1899 (J. Peed)

albicolon, Hb. (Goodyear and W.E.,
E. & T. p. 16)

myrtilli, L. Wyre Forest, June 11,
1898, June 12, 17, July 9, 1899 ;
woods, rare (W. Edwards, T.M.N.F.C.
p. 182)

Sub-Fam. 3. Caradrinides

Wyre Forest, June 6, 1897, June 27, Agrotis corticea, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 225) ;

1898, June 17-19, i«99

— glauca, Hb. Worcester (N. p. 415, W.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182)

— conspicillaris, L. Worcester (St. p. 202) ;

Monk Wood, May 25, 1899 ; St. Johns
(W. H. Edwards) ; one specimen, plum
blossom, Castle Morton (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox) ; on tree trunks (Fletcher)
var. melaleuca (W.E., E. & T. p. 15)

— contigua, Vill. Foregate Street, Worcester,

June 4, 1896 ; Wyre Forest, June
18-24, 1899

— genistas, Bkh. Worcester (N. p. 423) ;

Foregate Street, Worcester, May 16, I g,
26, 30, 1896, June 2, 3, 4, 1896 ;
Wyre Forest, June 21, 1898 ; Trench

Wyre Forest, June 17-19, 1899 ;
Bransford (W. H. Edwards) ; two or
three at ' light ' (Fletcher) ; Laughern
Bank (G. D. Hancock)

— segetum, SchifF. Wyre Forest, June

17-19, 1899 ; generally common

— ypsilon, Rott. Worcester (J. Peed,

I.N.H.W. p. 143); Castle Morton
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox); Grimley
(G. D. Hancock)

— lunigera, Stph. (T.M.N.F.C. p. i8i) ;

rare (E. & T. p. 17); Lowesmoor
(I.N.H.W. p. 142)

— exclamationis, L. Common

— nigricans, L. Rather rare (E. & T. p.

17, I.N.H.W. p. 143); Castle Morton,

106

INSECTS

two or three specimens (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox) ; IVyre Forest (J. Peed) ;
Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)
Agrotis saucia, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 224) ;
common (E. & T. p. 17) ; Castle
Morton, erratic in appearance (Rev.
E. C. Dobree Fox) ; one among dande-
lion (Fletcher) ; IVyre Forest (W. H.
Edwards) ; Holt Castle and Elm Hill
(J. Peed and G. D. Hancock)

— tritici, L. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 181); com-

mon (E. & T. p. 17); Lowesmoor
(I.N.H.W. p. 142)
— ■ augur, F. Cowleigh, June 22, 1 895 ;
Trench Woods, June 11, 1895 ; Monk
Wood, July 31, 1899 ; Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards)

— subrosea, Stph. Very rare (I.N.H.W.

P- 143)

— simulans, Hufn. Worcester (St. p. 228,

N. p. 336)

— obscura, Brh. Worcester (St. p. 228) ;

occurred freely in Castle Morton
Vicarage and farmhouse adjoining for
two years, and also came freely to
' sugar ' ; it is apparently very erratic
in its appearance (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— putris, L. Worcester (St. p. 198); Fore-

gate Street, Worcester, June 14, 1896 ;
Bransford, Monk Wood, Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards)

— c-nigrum, L. Foregate Street, Worcester,

August 22, 27, September 8, 12, 14,
1895, September 8, 1898 ; Trench
Woods, June 15, 1895 ; Bransford znA
Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)

— triangulum, Hufn. -v

— pronuba, L. !■ Common

— comes, Hb. -'

— orbona, Hufn. Malvern (W. Edwards,

1899, E. & T. p. 42)

— brunnea, F. ) „

, 1 T-i f Common

— xanthographa, F. J

— umbrosa, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 237) ;

Nunnery Wood (I.N.H.W. p. 142);
Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)

— rubi. View. Common (E. & T. p. 18)

Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox) ; Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)

— dahlii, Hb. Rather rare (E. & T. p. 18) ;

Wyre Forest (Peed and Hancock)

— festiva, Hb. Common

— stigmatica, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 235,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 181)

— glareosa, Esp. Monk Wood, September

9, 1898 ; at rest on rocks (W.E.) ;
rather rare (E. & T. p. 1 8)

— depuncta, L. Worcester (N. p. 344)

Agrotis typica, L. Common

Triphaena fimbria, L. Worcester (St. p.

230) ; Wyre Forest, July 8, 14, 1899 ;

Trench Woods (I.N.H.W. p. 142);

Bransford and Monk Woods (W. H.

Edwards) ; Worcester, July, 1900 ;

Cotheridge (Fletcher)

— janthina, Esp. Foregate Street, Worcester,

August 2, 1897, August 18, 1898;
Bransford

— interjecta, Hub. Worcester (St. p. 230,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 181); rather rare
(E. & T. p. 18) ; Castle Morton, rare
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ; four or five
by mothing (Fletcher)

— baja, F. Perry Wood, July 22, 1895 ;

Bransford, ]\x\y 29, 1895 ; Wyre Forest,
Trench Woods, Monk Wood (W. H.
Edwards) ; rather rare (E. & T. p. 1 8)

— rubricosa, F. Common.

— leucographa, Hb. Bright's Wood, West

Malvern, April 12, 20, 189S, April
20, 1900 ; Nunnery Wood (I.N.H.W.
p. 142); Ockeridge (W. H. Edwards)

— prasina, F. Worcester (St. p. 271); Monk

Wood, June 24, 1895 ; Foregate Street,
June 14, 1896 ; Wyre Forest, June
17, 24, 1899 ; Crown East (W. H.
Edwards) ; two or three at ' sugar '
(Fletcher)
Heliothis armigera, Hb. One at rest (W.E.,
E. & T. p. 23)

— peltigera, SchifF. Three at rest (W.E.,

E. & T. p. 23)

— dipsacea, L. Worcester (St. p. 292)
Ochria (Gortyna) ochracea, Hb. Worcester

(St. p. 197) ; Henwick and Worcester,

September 5, 7, 1898
Nonagria arundinis, F. Worcester (St. p.

194) ; common
Luperina testacea, Hb. Worcester (St. p.

206) ; common at ' light '
Rusina tenebrosa, Hb. Common
Amphipyra pyramidea, L. Worcester (St.

p. 311) ; Bransford, July 29, August

30, 1895 ; Wyre Forest, Trench Woods,

Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)

— tragopogonis, L. Common
Caradrina pyralina. View. Worcester (St.

p. 258, N. p. 383) ; sparingly (W.
Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 181); one
at ' light,' Dine's Green (Fletcher)

— diffinis, L. Worcester (St. p. 258, N.

p. 383) ; sparingly (W. Edwards,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 181); rather rare (E.
& T. p. 20) ; Boughton and Bransford
(W. H. Edwards) ; Castle Morton
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ; Elm Hill
(G. D. Hancock)

— affinis, L. Worcester (St. p. 259, N.

107

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

p. 384); Middleyards, July 18, 25,
1899 ; Elm Hill (G. D. Hancock)
Caradrina trapezina, L. Common

— subtusa, F. Worcester (St. p. 256); larvae

near Monk and Ockeridge Woods (J.
Peed) ; mothing (Fletcher) ; Laughern
Brook (G. D. Hancock)

— retusa, L. Worcester (St. p. 256) ; gener-

ally distributed ; Grimley, Claines and
Bransford ; mothing (Fletcher)

— 00, L. Worcester (St. p. 257, M. p. 118)

— paleacea, Esp. Rather rare (E. & T.

p. 20); Shrawley Wood, once at 'sugar'
(Fletcher)

— umbra, Hufn. Worcester (St.) ; local (W.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182); Brans-
ford (W. H. Edwards); Castle Morton,
scarce (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— micacea, Esp. Worcester (St. p. 198) ;

Foregate Street, August 20, 1895 ; St.
John's (W. H. Edwards)

— petasitis, Dbld. Rare (E. & T. p. 15)

— lutosa, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 194) ;

Foregate Street, August 1895

— fulva, Hb. New Pool (W. Edwards) ;

damp meadows, Castle Morton, Sep-
tember (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— arcuosa, Hw. Worcester (St. p. 213) ;

Monk Wood, July 3, 1895, June 28,
1898

— quadripunctata, F. In woods at * sugar,'

common (E. & T. p. 17) ; St. John's
and Bransford {W. H. Edwards); Castle
Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— morpheus, Hufn. Worcester (St. p. 217);

Worcestershire (W. H. Edwards) ; Castle
Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— alsines, Brh. Wyre Forest, June 26,

July 8, 1899 (Rev. E. C. Dobree
Fox, E. & T. p. 17)

— taraxaci, Hb. Common (E. & T. p. 17) ;

Castle Morton (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— var. redacta. (I.N.H.W. p. 143)

— trigrammica, Hufn. Worcester (St. p.

215) ; common

— var. bilinea. Cowleigh Park (E. & T.
p. 17) ; Wyre Forest, Monk Wood

— matura, Hufn. Worcester (St. p. 205) ;

Perry Wood, July 22, 1895 ; Brans-
ford, July 29, 1895 ; Monk Wood and
Crown East (W. H. Edwards); two at
' light ' (Fletcher)

Hadena meticulosa, L. 1 ^

, • T )• Common

— lucipara, L. j

— flammea, Esp. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 182)

— maura, L. Common

— scabriuscula, L. JVorcester (St. p. 201) ;

IVyre Forest (J. Peed); June, 1 899;
Farley Wood, June 21, 1900

— adusta, Esp. Foregate Street, May 1 1 ,

1895 (W. Edwards, T.M.N.F.C.
p. 182)
Hadena gemina, Hb. Wyre Forest (J. Peed) ;
June, 1899 (T.M.N.F.C. p. 181)

— polyodon, L. "| ^

f. / 1 r- f Common

— lithoxylea, 1'. J

— sublustris, Esp. Wyre Forest (J. Peed) ;

June, 1899 (T.M.N.F.C. p. 180);
one at ' light ' Bow Wood (Fletcher)

— rurea, F. Common

— scolopacina, Esp. Generally distri-

buted, but in small numbers ; rather
rare (E. & T. p. 15, I.N.H.W. p. 144)

— hepatica, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 200) ;

Monk Wood, June 24, 1895 ; Crown
East, Wyre Forest, etc.

— furva, Hb. Worcester (N. p. 300 ; Mal-

vern Wells (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ;
Wyre Forest (W. H. Edwards)

— abjecta, Hb. Castle Morton, rare, pro-

bably more common in former years
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— sordida, Bkh. Worcester (St. p. 2o8) ;

Wyre Forest, }\im 18,24, 1899; Castle
Morton, not noticed for some years
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— basilinea, F. Trench Woods, June 15,

1895, June 4, 1896; Wyre Forest,
Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)

— pabulatricula, Brh. Taken at 'sugar,' but

now disappeared or very rare (E. & T.
p. 16)

— didyma, Esp. Common

— nictitans, Bkh. Worcester (St. p. 197);

Trench Woods (W. H. Edwards), 1899 ;
Severnside, 1900

— literosa, Hu. Common (E. & T. p. 16) ;

Castle Morton, two or three specimens
(Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox) ; occasionally
to ' light ' (Fletcher)

— bicoloria, Vill. Powick, July 25, 1895;

Bransford (W. H. Edwards)

— strigilis, CI. Common

— fasciuncula, Hu. Worcester (St. p. 212) ;

Cowleigh Park, June 22, 1895 ; Crown
East, Bransford, Wyre Forest, etc.
Metachrostis (Bryophila) perla, F. Worcester
(St. p. 177); Malvern, June 22, 1895 ;
Henwick (W. H. Edwards)

— muralis, Forst. Worcester (St. p. 177 ;

T.M.N.F.C. p. 1 80), near Clatters Cave,
1897 (W.E.), rare(E. & T. p. 13)
Acronycta leporina, L. Pupae Laughern Brook,
Wyre Forest, June 10, 1899; West
Malvern (W. H. Edwards) ; Temeside
(J. Peed)

— alni, L. Worcester (St. p. 182); The

Ty thing, Worcester (W. H. Edwards,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 180); Spetchley, Grim-
ley and Cotheridge (Fletcher)
108

INSECTS

Acronycta strigosa, F. At rest on apple trees
(W.E.); rare (E. & T. p. 14); three
specimens taken at Castle Morton ; it
has not occurred lately ; probably more
common before Longdon Marsh was
drained (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— tridens, SchifF. Worcester (St. p. 1 80,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 1 80); rather rare (E.
& T. p. 13) ; larvae not rare on haw-
thorn (Fletcher)

— psi, L. Common

— megacephala, F. Generally distributed

— ligustri, F. Worcester (St. p. 182) ;

Middleyards, June 16, 1896 ; Wyre
Forest, Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)

— rumicis, L. Common

— menyanthidis, View. (W. Edwards,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 180)

3. PLUSIADiE
Sub-Fam. i. Hypenides

Boletobia fuliginaria, L, Worcester (N. p. 69,

M. p. 147)
^thia tarsipennalis, Tr. (Rev. E. C. Dobree

Fox, E. & T. p. 34) ; Wyre Forest

(W. H. Edwards)

— nemoralis, F. Nunnery Wood, May 31,

189s ; Monk Wood, May 26, 1895 ;
Crown East, Bransford and Wyre Forest
(W. H. Edwards)

— derivalis, Hb. Rather common (E. & T.

p. 34). Wants confirmation (J. Peed

aiid G. D. Hancock)
Herminia barbalis, CI. Worcester (St. vol. ii.

p. 131) ; common
Hypenodes costistrigalis, Stph. Monk Wood

(Fletcher)

— albistrigalis, Hw. Bransford, JwXy 1%,1^()<)
Hypena rostralis, L. Worcester (St. vol. ii.

p. 128, W. Edwards, T.M.N.F.C.
p. 182) ; Crown East, Bransford and
Wyre Forest (W. H. Edwards)

— proboscidalis, L. Common
Colobochyla (Madopa) salicalis, Schiff. (W.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182, E.
& T. p. 33)
Aventia flexula, Schiff. (Rev. E. C. Dobrde
Fox ; E. & T. p. 28) ; Tiddesley Wood,
Tibberton, by mothing (Fletcher)

Sub-Fam. 2. Plusiades
Ophiusa pastinum, Tr. (W. Edwards,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 182) ; taken by Rev.
Day (R. F. Towndrow), July 12, 1900
Scoliopteryx libatrix, L. Generally distri-
buted, but not common
Plusia chrysitis, L. Common

— orichalcea, F. Rare (W. Edwards,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 182)

Plusia bractea, F. Worcester (N. p. 453,
W. Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 182);
Dudley Castle Hill and near Bromsgrove
(I.N.H.W. p. 145)

— festucae, L. Worcester (St. p. 307) •

Foregate Street, June 2, 1896 ; about
the pool in Nunnery Wood, also in
Bewdley Forest (I.N.H.W. p. 145)

— iota, L. Common

— pulchrina, Hw. Worcester (St. p. 308) ;

Wyre Forest, 1 899 (J. Peed) ; at
flowers of lychnis (Fletcher)

— gamma, L. Common

— tripartita, Hufn. Worcester (St. p. 305) ;

Foregate Street, July 22, August 21,
1895 ; Boughton and Bransford (W.
H. Edwards)

— triplasia, L. Worcester (St. p. 305) ;

Bransford, June 3, 1895 ; Foregate
Street, July 25, 1898
Catocala nupta, L. Worcester (St. p. 313) ;
Perry Wood, August 20, 1898 ; Brans-
ford, Powick, Ombersley, etc.

Euclidia mi, CI.

Common

— glyphica, L.J
Erastria fasciana, L. Worcester (St. p. 299) ;

Middleyards, May 29, 1895 ; Nunnery
Wood, May 27, 1896 ; Monk Wood,
June 4, 1899; Wyre Forest, Monk
Wood (Fletcher) ; Ockeridge Wood (J.
Peed)
Eustrotia uncula, CI. Rather rare (E. & T.
P- 23)

— luctuosa, Esp. Sheriff's Lench, July 5,

1900 ; Bredon (W. H. Edwards), July
22, 1900
Rivula sericealis, So. Nunnery Wood, August
4, 1898 ; Monk Wood, July 12, 1899 ;
Shrawley (Fletcher)

4. OCNERIADiE

Orgyia gonostigma, L. Wyre Forest, larva,
July 23, 1897 ; common, August
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 179)

— antiqua, L. Common

Dasychira fascelina, L. Woody places rare
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 179, A, Edmunds
p. 184); Trench Woods but rare
(I.N.H.W. p. 141)

— pudibunda, L. Common

Colocasia (Demas) coryli, L. Wyre Forest,
June 17, 1900 ; Malvern Woods among
hazel (T.M.N.F.C. p. 180); Beivdley
Forest (I.N.H.W. p. 141); Trench
Woods, Ockeridge Wood

Porthesia similis, Fuesl. Common

Euproctis chrysorrhoea, L. Not uncommon
(A. Edmunds, T.M.N.F.C. p. 179)

Stilpnotia salicis, L. Common
09

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Ocneria monacha, L. Monk Wood (W. H.
Edwards) ; Shrawley Wood (Fletcher) ;
Ockeridge Wood (J. Peed)

— dispar, L. Powick (T.M.N.F.C. p. 179)

II. NOTODONTINA

1. HYDRIOMENIDiE

Trichopteryx (Lobophora) viretata, Hb. Castle
Morton, one specimen (Rev. E. C. Dobrde
Fox) ; JVyre Forest, June, 1 900

— carpinata, Bkh. Wyre Forest, April 3,

1897, April 21, 1898; Wyre Forest
(Fletcher)

— polycommata, Hb. Rather rare (E. & T.

p. 31) ; Comer Lane, one specimen

(Fletcher)
Lobophora halterata, Hufn. The Denes, May

14, 1896 ; Monk Wood, May 30,

1896 ; Wyre Forest, June 7, 1 896
Chloroclystis (Eupithecia) coronata, Hb. Monk

Wood, May, 1900

— rectangulata, L. Wyre Forest, July 9,

1900 ; Ribbesford, The Lickey and St.
John's (W. H. Edwards)

Gymnoscelis pumilata, Hb. Malvern Hills,
scarce (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

Tephroclystis venosata, F. Wyre Forest Station,
June 7, 1897 ; larvse Hartlebury Com-
mon, July 13, 1899

— pimpinellata, Hb. Larvse, in flowers of

harebell, rather common (E. & T.

P- 30)

— vulgata, Hw. Common (E. & T. p. 30) ;

common at gas lamps, Worcester (W. H.
Edwards) ; Castle Morton (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox)

— oblongata, Thnb. Bransford, May 26,

July 29, 1895 ; Dodderhill Common,
July 14, 1896

— subfulvata, Hw. Castle Morton (Rev.

E. C. Dobree Fox); Dinis Green
(Fletcher)

— satyrata, Hb. Common (E. & T. p. 30) ;

Wyre Forest (Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox)

— pulchellata, Stph. Malvern Hills (Rev.

E. C. Dobree Fox)

— linariata, F. Wyre Forest, larvae, 1899

(W. H. Edwards) ; at ' light,' Oldbury
(Fletcher) ; Severnside (J. Peed)

— castigata, Hb. Rare (E. & T. p. 30) ;

West Malvern (Rev. E. C. Dobrde
Fox)

— lariciata, Frr. Abherley, May 23, 1895 ;

Broadway, June 23, 1898 ; Bredon,
June 15, 1899 ; Ockeridge (J. Peed)

— plumbeolata, Hw. Eymore Wood, M.a.y l ^,

1863 (T.W.N.C. p. 79) ; West Mal-
vern (Rev. E. C. Dobrde Fox)

Tephroclystis tenuiata, Hb. Larvae from the
catkins of sallow (E. & T. p. 30)

— abbreviata, Stph. Wyre Forest, April 4,

1897, April 21, 1898; Monk Wood,
April 16, 1898

— exiguata, Hb. Sallow heads gathered

Trench Woods, April 22, 1 899

— insigniata, Hb. Castle Morton (Rev. E. C.

Dobree Fox)

— fraxinata, Crewe. At ' light,' St. "John's

(Fletcher) ; pupas near Worcester (J.
Peed)

— sobrinata, Hb. Larvas beaten from juni-

per, The Slads, May 31, 1899

— nanata, Hb. Hartlebury Comtnon, July 1 5,

1897, July 20, 1898, July 13, 1899
Eucymatoge (Phibalapteryx) vitalbata, Hb.
Bredon, June 18, 1896, June 15, 1899;
West Malvern (W. H. Edwards)

— tersata, Hb. Perry Wood, June 7, 1895;

Bredon,]unQ 15, 1899 ; West Malvern,
(W. H. Edwards)
Eucestia (Chesias) spartiata, Fuesl. Foregate
Street, October 27, 1898 ; Ribbesford,
September 21, i860 (T.W.N.C. p.
62)

— rufata, F. Malvern Hills (Rev. E. C.

Dobree Fox)

— (Anaitis) plagiata, L. Common
Calocalpe (Scotosia) certata, Hb. (W. Edwards,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 183); Tything, Wor-
cester, at ' light,' and larva near
Bewdley, 1900 (W. H. Edwards)

— undulata, L. Croft Wood, June 22,

1895 ; Ribbesford, June 22, 1896 ;
Storridge, June 22, 1 899 ; Cowleigh Park
and Wyre Forest (W. H. Edwards);
Monk Wood (G. D. Hancock)
Philereme (Scotosia) vetulata, Schiff. Larva
near Ockeridge, May, 1899 ; Bransford,
1900

— rhamnata, SchifF. Rather common (E.

& T. p. 32) ; once at ' light,' St. Johns
and The Tything (W. H. Edwards)
Eustroma (Cidaria) prunata, L. Common
(E. & T. p. 33) ; Boughton (W. H.
Edwards)

— associata, Bkh. Common

— populata, L. Worcester, 1898 ; rather

common (E. & T. p. 33)

— testata, L. Nunnery Wood, Ju\y 2S, 1895 ;

Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)
Plemyria (Melanippe) bicolorata, Hufn. Hen-
wick Road, July 13, 1896 ; Bransford

— hastata, L. Wyre Forest, June II, 12,

1898, June II, 13, 17, 19, 25, 26,
1899 ; Eymore Wood {T .W .'N .C. p. 79);
Himbleton (Fletcher)

— tristata, L. Rather common (E. & T.

P-30

INSECTS

Plemyriarivata, Hb. The Slads (W.H.Edwards)

— sociata, Bkh. Common

— galiata, Hb. Common (E. & T. p. 31)
Hydriomena (Melanthia) ocellata, L. Middle-
yards, May 14, 29, 1895 ; Foregate
Street, July 10, 1895 ; Trench Woods,
June II, 1896 ; Wyre Forest, June 6, 7,
1896 ; Moni Wood

— (Thera)variata, SchifF. Westivood, May 14.,

1896; common (E. & T. p. 31);
Ockeridge and Trench Woods (W. H.
Edwards)

— (Cidaria) fulvata, Forst. Common

— dotata, L. Middleyards, July 9, 1895 ;

Boughton, Monk Wood {W. H. Edwards)

— miata, L. Lench, May 7, 1895 ; Boughton,

and at ' light,' St. John's{W. H. Edwards)

— (Cidaria) siterata, Hufn. Very common

(E. & T. p. 32) ; Boughton (W. H.
Edwards)
— ■ (Hypsipetes) sordidata, F. Common

— trifasciata, Bkh. Pupae, Laughern Brook,

1898 ; Wyre Forest, June 18, 1899

— (Cidaria) truncata, Hufn. Common

— silaceata. Bredon,]\xne iS,i^<)C); Middle-

yards (Fletcher) ; Ockeridge (J. Peed)

— corylata, Thnb. Generally distributed

— suffumata, Hb. Monk Wood, June 20,

1895 ; generally distributed ; Laughern
Brook (J. Peed)

— dubitata, L. (Rev. E. C. Dobr^e

Fox) ; Boughton and Bramford (W. H.
Edwards) ; Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— (Anticlea) badiata, Hb. Bransford, April 4,

1895, March 19, 1896 ; Ferry Wood,
April 19, 1895 ; Trench Woods, April 3,
1896; Crown East and Monk Wood
(W. H. Edwards) ; Ockeridge (J. Peed)

— nigrofasciaria, Gz. Middleyards, May 14,

1895, May 9, 13, 1896 ; Crown East,
May 12, 1898 ; Abberley Hill, May 18,
1898 ; Wyre Forest (W. H. Edwards)

— rubidata, F. Rather rare (E. & T. p. 31);

Castle Morton, scarce (Rev. E. C.
Dobr^e Fox) ; Laughern Bank and
Wyre Forest (G. D. Hancock)

— berberata, Schiff. Worcester (M. p. 2 1 6)

— (Melanthia) albicillata, L. Ockeridge,

May 30, 1896 ; Wyre Forest, June 26,
1897, June 13, 1898, June 19, 1899 ;
Cro^vn East (W. H. Edwards)

— unangulata, Hw. Common (E.&T. p. 31)

— adaequata, Bkh. Worcester (M. p. 2l8) ;

Wyre Forest, June, 1900

— (Emmelesia) alchemillata, L. Monk Wood,

July II, 1895, July 16, 1898 ; Bredon,
June 15, 1899; Wyre Forest, June 20,
25, 1899

— affinitata, Stph. The Denes, May 14,

1896 ; Wyre Forest, 1900

Hydriomena decolorata, Hb. The Denes,
May 14, 1896 ; Knightwick, June 22,
1899 ; ff^yre Forest

— albulata, SchifF. Powick Ham, June 4,

1895 ; fields, Malvern Link, June 8,
1899; ^f^yre Forest, Trench Woods,
Boughton (W. H. Edwards)

— (Melanthia) procellata, F. Bredon, July Ij^,

1895, July 29, 1898

— (Camptogramma) bilineata, L. Common

— fluviata, Hb. Very rare (E. & T. p. 32);

at ' light,' Oldhury (Fletcher)
Operophtera (Cheimatobia) brumata, L.
Common

— boreata, Hb. Very common (E. & T.

p. 29)
Euchoeca (Asthena) luteata, SchifF. Croft
Wood, June lO, 1895 ; Tiddesley, July 6,
1899 ; Bransford, Lord's Wood, Monk
Wood, Wyre Forest

— obliterata, Hufn. Monk Wood, May 30,

1896 ; Wyre Forest, June 17, 19, 1899 ;
Stanklyn, June 23, 1899; Alfrick,
June 22, 1899 ; Broadway, June 23,
1898

— sylvata, Hb. Tiddesley Wood, July 6,

1 899 ; Wyre Forest (Rev. E. C. Dobr^e
Fox and W. H. Edwards) ; Shrawley
Wood (Fletcher)

— blomeri,Curt. Wood behind Cam p,'5r^(/»»,

June 15, 1899 ; Purlieu Lane (W. H.

Edwards)
Asthena candidata, SchifF. Common
■ — murinata, Sc. Monk Wood, May 23, 26,

1895 ; Ockeridge, Wyre Forest, Trench
Woods, etc.

— (Oporabia) dilutata, Bkh. Trench Woods,

October 26, 1894 ; Nunnery Wood,
Grimley, Bransford
Xanthorhoe (Phibalapteryx) vittata, Bkh.
Taken twice (W.E., E. & T. p.
32)

— (Eubolia) cervinata, Schiflf. Larva on

hollyhock (W.E., E. & T. p. 33) ;
Trench Woods (W. H. Edwards)

— (Eubolia) limitata, Sc. Common

— plumbaria, F. Common

— bipunctaria, SchifF. Bredon, June 15

1899

— (Larentia) multistrigaria, Hw. Malvern

April 12, 1895, March 24, 1896
April I, 8, 1899

— didymata, L. Common

— spadicearia, Bkh. Bransford, May 13

1896 ; Westwood, May 14, 1896
Monk Wood, etc.

— ferrugata, L. Bransford, May 14, 29

1895, May 13, 1896 ; The Denes,
May 14, 1896 ; Monk Wood, June 8.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Xanthorhoe designata, Rott. Wyre Forest,
June 6, 7, 1896; Lickey, June i,
1899 ; Ockeridge, etc.

— munitata, Hb. Rather common (E. & T.

P- 32)

— quadrifasciaria, CI. Hart/ebury, July 15,

1897

— montanata, Bkh.'

— fluctuata, L.

— salicata, Hb. Middleyards (Fletcher)

— viridaria, F. Common

Common

2. STERRHID^
Eois (Acidalia) virgularia, Hb. (Rev. E. C.
Dobr^e Fox, E. & T. p. 27)

— straminata, Tr. Hartlebury Common,

July 15, 1897, July 20, 1898, July 13,
1899 ; JVyre Forest

— holosericata, Dup. Worcester (N. p. 78)

— dilutaria, Hb. Rare (E. & T. p. 27)

— subsericeata, Hw. Cowleigh Park, May

21, 1896 ; Wyre Forest, June 5, 1896,
June 3, 1897

— inornata, Hw. Monk Wood, July 16,

1898, 1900 (also G. D. Hancock)

— aversata, L. Common

— emarginata, L. Middleyards, July 25,

1898

— dimidiata, Hufn. Bredon, July 14, 1895;

Wyre Forest, etc.

— trigeminata, Hw. Knightwich, May 22,

1897 ; Monk Wood, etc.

— bisetata, Hufm. Perry Wood, July 22,

1895 ; Croft Wood, August 11, 1899;
Monk Wood, etc.
Leptomeris (Acidalia) remutaria, Hb. Common

— marginepunctata, Gz. Rare (E. & T.

p. 27)

— ornata, Sc. Bredon, June 18, 1896 ;

Trench Woods (I.N.H.W. p. 146)

— imitaria, Hb. One Worcestershire speci-

men, but locality uncertain, and Claines
(W. H. Edwards)

— strigilaria, Hb. Rather common (E. &

t. p. 27)
Leucophthalmia (Ephyra) orbicularia, Hb.
(M. p. 245) ; Monk Wood (Fletcher)

— pendularia, CI. Monk Wood, May 26,

1895 ; Trench Woods, Junt II, 1896 ;
Wyre Forest, May 25, 1 899

— porata, F. Middleyards, May 28, June 4 ;

Trench Woods, June II, 1898 ; Wyre
Forest, Monk Wood

— punctaria, L. Perry Wood, May 13, 21,

1895; Middleyards, May 13, 1896;
Trench Woods, June 11, 1896; Wyre
Forest, June 5, 7, 1897 ; ^oni^ Wood,
August, 1900

— trilinearia, Bkh. Common (E. & T.

p. 26)

Leucophthalmia annulata, Schulze. Croft

Wood, June lo, 1895, June 8, 1899
Calothysanis (Timandra) amata, L. Common

3. GEOMETRIDiE

Nemoria strigata, MqII. Common

— viridata, L. Worcester (N. p. 71);

rather rare (E. & T. p. 26) ; Broad-
heath (Fletcher)
Euchloris (Phorodesma) pustulata, Hufn.
Monk Wood, June 20, 24, 1895 ;
Wyre Forest, May 25, 1896; Croome
Perry, July I, 1897 ; Perry Wood,
June 19, 1895 ; Tiddesley, June 18,
1896 ; Wyre Forest, Middleyards
(Fletcher)

— (lodis) vernaria, Hb. Bredon, June 18,

1896 ; Martley, June 22, 1897

— lactearia, L. Common

Geometra papilionaria, L. Perry Wood,
July 8, 1895 ; Wyre Forest, July 18,
1895 ; Monk Wood and Dineh Green
(Fletcher)

Pseudoterpna pruinata, Hufn. Hartlebury
Common, July 15, 1897 ; Monk Wood,
July 6, 1898

4. MONOCTENIAD^
Baptria (Tanagra) atrata, Linn. Elmley

Castle, June 18, 1896 ; formerly in

Cowleigh Park (E. & T. p. 33)
Erannis (Anisopteryx) aescularia, Schiff. Monk

Wood, Crown East, Bransford, St. John's

(W. H. Edwards)
Brephos parthenias, L. Worcester (St. p. 30) ;

Trench Woods, April 19, 1 899, and

Wyre Forest (Fletcher) ; Monk Wood

Q. Peed)

— notha, Hb. Monk Wood, March 30,

1897, April 8, 16, 1898; Trench
Woods, April 17, 19, 1899

5. SELIDOSEMID^
Opisthograptis (Macaria) liturata, CI. Trench
Woods, May 18, 1896 ; Wyre Forest,
June 6, 7, 1897 ; Farley Wood,
1 900 ; Whitehall (Fletcher) ; Ockeridge
(W. H. Edwards)

— clathrata, L. Bredon, July 14, 1895,

June 15, 1899; The Slads (W. H.
Edwards) ; Crowle (Fletcher) ; Wyre
Forest (J. Peed)

— (Rumia) luteolata, L. Common
Diastictis (Halia) wauaria, L. Foregate Street,

July 19, 1895 ; Boughton, Bransford,
etc. (W. H. Edwards)

— (Boarmia) roboraria, SchifF. Wyre Forest,

July 9, 14, 1899 ; scarce. Trench
Woods (LN.H.W. p. 146); a rare in-

INSECTS

sect (A. Edmunds, T.M.N.F.C. p.

184); Shrawley fTood (Fletchtr)
Diastictis consortaria, F. At rest (W.E.) ;

rare (E. & T. p. 26)
Ectropis (Tephrosia) luridata, Bkh. Monk

Wood, June 8, 1898, June 3, 1899 ;

Wyre Forest, June 12, 1898, June 10,

1899; Ockeridge{]. Peed)

— punctularia, Hb. Trench Woods, May 19,

1895 ; Monk Wood, June i, 1899 ;
Wyre Forest, June 12, 1898; Ockeridge
(J. Peed)

— biundularia, Bkh. Wyre Forest, April 21,

1898 ; Abherley Hill, May 18, 1898 ;

Ockeridge, May 27, 1899 ; Lickey,

June I, 1899; Malvern Hills (Rev.

E. C. Dobr^e Fox)
Cleora lichenaria, Hufn. Monk Wood, May

26, 1895 ; rare (E. & T. p. 25)
Selidosema (Boarmia) repandata, L. Common

— gemmaria, Brk. Common

Bupalus piniarius, L. Trench Woods, ]nne 15,
1895 ; Wyre Forest, June 6, 1896,
June 27, 1898; Crown East (W. H.
Edwards)

— atomarius, L. Wyre Forest, common

— limbarius, F. Fine^s End Bank ; very

rare (E. & T. p. 28)
Synopsia (Hemerophila) abruptaria, Thnb.

At ' light,' Worcester ; fairly common.
Abraxas grossulariata, L. Common

— sylvata, Sc. Croft Wood, June 10, 1895 ;

Bredon, June i8, 1896 ; Lincombe
(W. H. Edwards) ; Crown East
(Fletcher)

— adustata, SchiiF. Middleyards, May 29,

1895, May II, 1896; Crown East,
Trench Woods, Monk Wood (W. H.
Edwards)

— marginata, L. Common
Pseudopanthera (Corycia) punctata, F. Croft

Wood, June 10,1 900 ; Trench Woods
(W. H. Edwards)

— pictaria, Curt. Rare (E. & T. p. 27)

— (Venilia) macularia, L. Common

— (Gnophos) obscuraria, Hb. Rare (E. &

T. p. 26) ; Malvern Wells (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox) ; Wyre Forest (G. D.
Hancock)

— (Pachycnemia) hippocastanaria, Hb. Rare

(E. & T. p. 28)

— (Panagra) petraria, Hb. Perry Wood,

May 13, 1895 ; Wyre Forest, May 25,
1896; Hollybush Hill (W. H. Edwards) ;
Monk Wood and Ockeridge (G. D. Han-
cock)
Crocota (Selidosema) belgiaria, Hb. Rather
rare (E. & T. p. 28)

— (Aspilates) strigillaria, Hb. Wyre Forest,

June 7, 1895, June 17, 19, 1899

Crocota gilvaria, F. Rather rare(E.&T.p.28)
Theria (Hybernia) rupicapraria, Hb. Kempsey

Road, February 12, 1899 ; Hallow

(G. D. Hancock)
Hybernia leucophaearia, Schiff. Westwood

Park, March 7, 1895 ; Monk Wood,

Trench Woods and Bransford (W. H.

Edwards)

— marginaria, Bkh. Bransford, April 4,

1895; Crown East, April 9, 1895;
Spetchley (W. H. Edwards)

— aurantiaria, Esp. Foregate Street, Novem-

ber 25, 1899 ; Cotheridge (Fletcher)

— defoliaria, CI. Common

Apocheima (Nyssia) hispidaria, F. (W.
Edwards); 5A?<:iwffr« Pari (T.M.N.F.C.
p. 183) ; pupae at elms (E. & T. p. 25)

— pedaria, F. From pupae dug January 20,

February 8, 1896 ; Grimley, Spetchley,
Bransford (W. H. Edwards)
Biston hirtarius, CI. Woods, rare (A. Edmunds,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 184) ; larvae, Ribbes-
ford, September 21, i860 (T.W.N.C.
p. 62) ; Spetchley, 1 898 (W. H. Edwards);
Crown East (J. Peed)

— stratarius, Hufn. Pupae dug at Spetchley,

February 19, 1897 ; Boughton, Grimley
and at ' light ' (W. H. Edwards)

— betularius, L. Foregate Street, June 15,

1898 ; Spetchley, Boughton, etc. (W. H.
Edwards)

var. doubledayaria. Foregate Street,

May 16, June 9, 1896, June 16, 1898,
May 31, 1899

Deilinia (Cabera) pusaria, L. "j

— exanthemata, Sc. V Common
Ourapteryx sambucaria, L. )
Metrocampa (Ellopia) prosapiaria, L. Sapey

Brook, Henwick, at 'light' (W. H.
Edwards)

— margaritaria, L. Common

— (Numeria) pulveraria, L. Monk Wood,

May 26, 1895, May 17, 1896, June,

1899 ; Crown East, Wyre Forest and
Trench Woods (W. H. Edwards)

— (Eurymene) dolobraria, L. Wyre Forest,

June 6, 1897, June 18, 1896, June
25, 1899 ; Monk Wood, June 4, 1899 ;
Tiddesley, June 18, 1896; St. John's
(W. H. Edwards) ; Bine's Green
(Fletcher)
Euchlaena (Angerona) prunaria, L. Monk
Wood, June 20, 24, 1895 ; Tiddesley,
June 1 8, 1896, and TFyre Forest

— (Epione) apiciaria, Schiff. Henwick, July

13, 1896; Monk Wood, July 28, 1897;
Foregate Street, July 31, 1897 ; Laug-
hern Brook, August 23, 1898

ilunaria, Esp,

var. juliaria.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Selenia lunaria, SchifF. Bransford, July 29,
1895 ; Foregate Street, June 1 1, 1 896 ;
JVyre Forest and St. John's (W. H.
Edwards); Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— tetralunaria, Hufn. Monk Wood, July 24,

1900 ; around Af«/i;cr« (T.M.N. F.C.

p. 183); Wyre Forest (J. Peed);

Laughern Bank (G. D. Hancock)
Hygrochroa (Pericallia) syringaria, L. Monk

Wood, June 20, 1895, July 15, 1898 ;

Wyre Forest, July 11, 1898 ; Boughton

and Bransford (W. H. Edwards) ; a

few by mothing (Fletcher)
Cepphis (Epione) advenaria, Hb. Croft Wood,

June 8, 22, 1899, June 3, 15, 1900 ;

Wyre Forest once only (W. H. Edwards)
Colotois (Himera) pennaria, L. Foregate Street,

November 10, 1895 ; i/^-^zw/V/f at 'light'

and larvae Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)
Ennomos erosaria, Bkh. Bransford, July 29,

1900 ; Monk Wood (G. D. Hancock)

— fuscantaria, Hw. Perry Wood, August 16,

1895 ; Foregate Street, July 30, 1897,
August 6, 1899, September 5, 1899;
Oldhury Road (Fletcher)

— alniaria, L. Rare (E. & T. p. 25) ;

St. John's, Henwick (W. H. Edwards) ;
Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— quercinaria, Hufn. Rather common

(E. & T. p. 25) ; St. John's (W. H.
Edwards)
Gonodontis (Odontopera) bidentata, CI.
Bransford, Crown East, Monk Wood
(W. H. Edwards) ; Ockeridge (J.
Peed)

— (Crocallis) elinguaria, L. Perry Wood,

July 22, 1895; Bransford, July 29,
1895 ; Foregate Street, July 25, 30,
1897

6. POLYPLOCID^

Habrosyne (Thyatira) derasa, L. Worcester
(St. p. 173); Foregate Street, July 25,

1898 ; JVyre Forest, June 19, 21,
July 8, 1899; Middleyards, July 18,

1899 ; Sheriff's Lench, July 24, 1 899 ;
Crown East and Monk Wood (W. H.
Edwards) ; two by mothing (Fletcher)

Thyatira batis, L. Worcester (St. p. 174);
Wyre Forest, June 17, 19, 1899;
Crown East, Monk Wood and Middle-
yards (W. H. Edwards) ; by 'sugaring'
in woods (Fletcher)

Palimpsestis (Cymatophora) fluctuosa, Hb.
Worcester (St. p. 175); Wyre Forest,
June 6, 1 897, June 26, 1898, June 11,

13, 17, 19, July 8, 1899

— duplaris, L. JForcester (St. p. 174) ;

Wyre Forest, June 7, 1897, June 25,
1898

Palimpsestis or, F. Worcester (St. p. 175);
Wyre Forest, June 6, 1897, J""^ ll>
25, 1898

— octogesima, Hb. Worcester (St. p. 175) ;

Wyre Forest, June 18, 1 899 ; Perry
Wood, June 7, 1895 ; Cotheridge
(Fletcher)
Polyploca (Asphalia) diluta, F. Worcester
(St. p. 175); Bransford, August 30,
1895, etc.; Ockeridge (G. D. Hancock)

— flavicornis, L. Larvae, Monk Wood,

May 25, June 5, 1899 ; Wyre Forest,
June 16, 1900 ; Malvern Hills (Rev.
E. C. Dobr^e Fox) ; Trench Woods
(W. H. Edwards)

— ridens, F. JForcester (St. p. 176,

T.M.N.F.C. p. 180) ; from pupas dug
recently (W.H.Edwards) ; ElmHilland
Ockeridge (J. Peed and G. D. Hancock)

7. SPHINGID^
Hemaris (Macroglossa) bombyliformis, Esp.
JVyre Forest, June 6, 1897, June 11,
1898; field near Trench JVoods ; one
Cowleigh Park (W. Edwards, 1869,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 177); Broadheath
(Fletcher)

— fuciformis, L. Dry banks and woods

(W. E.) ; rare (E. & T. p. 7).
Macroglossa stellatarum, L. 34, Foregate
Street, August 3, 1899 ; common in

1899 and 1900

Deilephila porcellus, L. Foregate Street,
June 16, July 21, 1898 ; Bredon and
St. John's (W. H. Edwards)

— elpenor, L. JVyre Forest, May 24, 1896 ;

larva, Rushwick, August 13, 1900 ; in
gardens, larvae on vines (Fletcher)

— celerio, L. Very rare (T.M.N.F.C. p.

177) ; Link End House, 1 867 or 1 868
(R.F.T., E. & T. p. 7) ; very rare
(I.N.H.W. p. 140)

— lineata, F. Near JVorcester, rare

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 177); Malvern Link
Common, 1874 (W.E., E. & T. p. 7) ;
near JVorcester but rare (I.N.H.W. p.
140) ; at rest on a garden wall at
Offenham near Evesham, April 29,

1900 (L. S. Smith ^Science Gossip,'
September, 1900)

— galii, Rott. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 177); one

JV or field House, Malvern, 1 8 70
(R.F.T.) ; larva, Old Hills (Dr. C. F.
Grindrod in ' Malvern^ E. & T. p. 6)
Sphinx ligustri, L. Foregate Street, June 6,
1895, June 3, 1896, June 5, 1899;
common

— convolvuli, L. St. John's, fourteen speci-

mens, 1887 (W. H. Edwards) ; JVorces-
/('r(Bibbs), 1899 ; Malvern Pound, JVor-

INSECTS

cester, September ; scarce (T.M.N.F.C.
p. 177); Worcester, 1900 (G. D. Han-
cock) ; by mothing in gardens (Fletcher)

Acherontia atropos, L. Worcestershire, fairly
common, 1899 and 1900 ; larvse in
potato fields (Fletcher)

Smerinthus populi, L. '\

— ocellatus, L. > Common
Dilina tiliae, L. )

8. NOTODONTIDiE
Pygasra pigra, Hufn. Seddon from pupa and
one at Malvern (W.E., E. & T. p. 9) ;
Trench Woods (Fletcher)

— curtula, L. Monk Wood (G. D. Hancock) ;

St. "John's (W, H. Edwards) ; among
poplars in lanes, etc. (I.N.H.W. p. 141) ;
Seddon from pupae (E. & T. p. 9)
Notodonta ziczac, L. Foregate Street, August
18, 1895 ; Monk Wood, July 31, 1899 ;
St. John's (W. H. Edwards)

— dromedarius, L. Foregate Street, June i o,

1896; Monk Wood, 1900 ; Wyre
Forest (Fletcher)
Drymonia dictaeoides, Esp. Foregate Street,
May 18, June 10, 1896 ; one at
Might' (Fletcher); Wyre Forest (J.
Peed)

— tremula, CI. Perry Wood, August 16,

1895 ; Foregate Street, June 2, 8,
1896; Grimley, near Old Hills, not
common (W. H, Edwards)

— trepida,Esp. Scarce (T.M.N.F.C. p. 180);

Cowleigh{W.'E.,^. &T. p. 9, I.N.H.W.
p. 141)

— trimacula, Esp. Wyre Forest, two (W. H.

Edwards, T.M.N.F.C. p. 180) ; of
rare occurrence (E. & T. p. 9) ; pupa
dug, Grimley (G. D. Hancock)

— chaonia, Hb. One pupa by digging

(Fletcher)

Stauropus fagi, L. Wyre Forest, June, 1899,

June, 1900 ; Monk Wood, uncommon

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 179) ; Nunnery Wood,

very rare (I.N.H.W. p. 141)

Pterostoma palpina, L. Generally distributed

Odontosia camelina, L. Wyre Forest, June 26,

1898 ; Monk Wood, larva, October 8,

1900 ; Leigh Sinton (W. H. Edwards)

— cuculla, Esp. Blackmore Park (W.E.,

E. & T. p. 9)
Cerura vinula, L. Common

— bifida, Hb. Foregate Street, May 30,

1897; Henwick, lamps, May 30, 1896
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 179); \arv3£, St. John's
(W. H. Edwards) ; one larva, Wyre
Forest (Fletcher)

— furcula, L. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 179) ; very

rare (E. & T. p. 8) ; Bewdley Forest
(I.N.H.W. p. 141) ; larvs, St. John's

(W. H. Edwards) ; two larvas, Peg-
House Wood (Fletcher)

Cerura bicuspis, Bkh. Pupae cases on alder
near Malvern (T.M.N.F.C. p. 179)

Phalera bucephala, L. Common

9. SATURNIADiE
Saturnia pavonia, L. Larvas, Wyre Forest,
June 5, 1897 ; Worcester, W. Wood's
garden. May, 1900 ; Bilberry Hills,
Broadheath ; abundant in the larva
state near Malvern, 1869 (W. Edwards,
T.M.N.F.C. p. 179); Perry Woods and
other woods near Worcester (A. Ed-
munds, T.M.N.F.C. p. 184) ; Cowleigh
Park and Quest Hills (E. & T. p. 12)

III. LASIOCAMPINA

I. DREPANIDiE

Cilix glaucata, Sc. Common

Falcaria lacertinaria, L . Wyre Forest, June 1 3,

1898, June 10, 12, 17, 19, 26, 1899;

Monk Wood (T.M.N.F.C. p. 179)

— falcataria, L. Common

Drepana binaria, Hufn. Bransford, May 11,
14, 1895 ; Perry Wood, May 21,
1895; Monk Wood, May 17, 1896,
and Trench Woods

— cultraria, F. Malvern, not uncommon

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 179, Rev. E. C.
Dobr^e Fox, E. & T. p. 12)

2. ENDROMIDIDiE
Endromis versicolor, L. Wyre Forest, April 3,

1897, April 21, 1898, April 16, 23,
1900

3. LASIOCAMPIDiE
Lasiocampa quercus, L. Common
Eriogaster populi, L. Generally distributed,

larvae and pupae secured, images at
' light '

— lanestris, L. Larvae in webs often ob-

served, imago occasionally ; Bransford,
Grimley, Trench Woods and Wyre Forest

— rubi, L. Hartlebury Common, June 9,

1898 ; Wyre Forest, 1897 ; Craycombe
Banks, 1898 ; Bransford Bridge, 1 900 ;
Lathe Hill, Broadheath

— cratagi, L. Middleyards (T.M.N.F.C.

p. 179, I.N.H.W. p. 141) ; Wyre
Forest, 1898 (W. H. Edwards); larva
on hawthorn (Fletcher)

Clisiocampa neustria L. | Common

Odonestis potatoria, L. J

Gastropacha quercifolia, L. Larvae, Worces-
ter, 1895 ; Hartlebury Common, ]\x\y 13,
1900 ; Tiddesley Wood, fairly common ;
Sinton Green (Fletcher)

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

V. PTRALIDINA
I. PHYCITIDiE
Salebria (Pempelia) fiisca, Hw. JVyre Forest,
1897

— betulae, Gz. Ockeridge (Fletcher)
Hypochalcia ahenella, Hb. BramfordAxAv 14,

1896
Phycita spissicella, F. Tiddedey Wood

(Fletcher) ; Middleyards, July 14, 1896
Nephopteryx hostilis, Stph. Worcester (M.

P- 371)
Ephestia kuehniella, Z. Kidderminster, Dec,

1900
Myelois cribrella, Hb. Bransford, June 3,

1896 ; Bredon, June 29, 1898 ; Temple

Laughern (Fletcher)
Cryptoblabes bistriga, Hw. Oldbury Road
Acrobasis consociella, Hb. Ribbesford, June 22,

1896; Hartlehury Common, July 14,

1899

— tumidana, Schiff. Trench Woods (Fletcher)

2. GALLERIAD^

Meliphora grisella, F. One at ' light,' Temple
Laughern (Fletcher)

Melissoblaptes bipunctanus, Z. Rare (E. &
T. p. 35)

Aphomia sociella, L. Foregate Street, June I,
5, 1896, June 10, 1897 ; rather com-
mon (E. & T. p. 35)

Galleria mellonella, L. Rather common
(E. & T. p. 35)

3. CRAMBID^

Crambus pascuellus, L. Common, Monk
Wood, etc. ; rather rare (E. & T. p. 36)

— pratellus, L. Common, Middleyards, etc. ;

common (E. & T. p. 36)

— culmellus, L. 1 ^

— hortuellus, Hb. f ^°'"'"''"

— chrysonuchellus, Sc. (Rev. E. C. Dobr^e

Fox, E. & T. p. 36)

— falsellus, Schiff. Common (E. & T.

p. 36) ; Dine's Green (Fletcher)

— pinellus, L. Middleyards, July 28, 1899 ;

Hartlehury Common (W. H. Ed-
wards) ; one at ' light,' Oldbury Road
(Fletcher)

— perlellus, Sc. Cri?/? /FW, June 22, 1895 ;

Powick, June 27, 1896 (T.W.N.C.
p. 432) ; Wyre Forest (W. H. Edwards) ;
rather common (E. & T. p. 36)

— inquinatellus, Schiff. Hartlebury Common,

July 13, 1899

— tristellus, F. Common

Platytes cerussella, Schiff. Near Colwall ;

rare (E. & T. p. 36)
Chilo phragmitellus, Hb. The Rough Wood,

Bransford, July 9, 1895

4. PYRAUSTID^
Schoenobius forficellus, Thnb. Hartlebury

Common, July 20, 1898, July 13, 1899
Cataclysta lemnata, L.
Nymphula (Hydrocampa) stagnata,

Don.

— stratiotata, L. }■ Common
Hydrocampa nymphasata, L.
Notarcha (Botys) ruralis, Sc.
Eurrhypara urticata, L.
Perinephela lancealis, Schiff. Common (E.

& T. p. 35)
Phlyctsnia (Ebulea) crocealis, Hb. Wyre
Forest

— lutealis, Hb. Bredon, July 14, 1895

(T.M.N.F.C. p. 183); common (E.
& T. p. 35)

— ferrugahs, Hb. Oldbury Lane (Fletcher)

— prunalis, Schiff. Common

— fuscalis, Schiff. Common ; rather rare

(E. & T. p. 35) ; Monk Wood
(Fletcher)

— sambucalis, Schiff. Common
Nomophila noctuella, Schiff. Perry Wood,

September 25, 1899; common (E. &

T. p. 35)
Psammotis (Botys) hyalinalis, Hb. Bredon,

June 15, 1899; common (E. & T.

P- 35)
Pyrausta octomaculata, F. Wyre Forest, May

23, 25, 1896, June 6, 7, 1896, June

10, 12, 1899

— nigrata, Sc. Bredon, June 15, 1899 ;

Holly Bush Hill (W. H. Edwards)

— purpuralis, L. Common

— aurata, Sc. Rather rare (E. & T. p. 34)

— cespitalis, Schiff. Wyre Forest, July 14,

1895; common (E. & T. p. 34);
Oddingley (Fletcher)

— olivalis, Schiff. Common

— fiavalis, Schiff. Oddingley (Fletcher)

— stachydalis, Zk. 34, Foregate Street, July

15, 1898 ; common (E. & T. p. 35)
Microstega (Botys) pandalis, Hb. Common
Cyna2da(Odontia)dentalis,Hb. (T.M.N.F.C.

p. 183)
Scoparia cembrse, Hw. One to ' light,' Old-
bury Road (Fletcher)

— dubitalis, Hb.

— ambigualis, Tr
Evergestis (Spilodes) straminalis, Hb. Shraw-

ley Wood (St. vol. ii. p. 153 and
Fletcher)

— extimalis, Sc. (T.M.N.F.C. p. 183)
Mesographe forficalis, L. Common

5. PYRALIDID^
Endotricha flammealis, Schiff. Common (E.

h T. p. 34)

Common

116

INSECTS

Pyralis glaucinalis, L. Foregate Street, June
21, 1896, August 14, 1898

— costalis, F. Common (E. & T. p. 34)

— farinalis, L. Tything, Worcester, July 14,

1896 ; Boughton (W. H. Edwards)
Aglossa pinguinalis, L. Common

6. PTEROPHORIDiE
Oxyptilus teucrii, Greening. Withy, Hartle-

bury Common, July 15, 1897
Platyptilia acanthodactyla, Hb. Perry Wood,

June 6, 1898 ; Comer Gardens (Fletcher)

— gonodactyla, SchifF. Bransford, June 27,

5, 1899 ; rather

L. Brockeridge
\ ; Defford Com-

[896 ; Bredon, June
rare (E. & T. p. 39)
Pterophorus tetradactylus,
Common, July 14, 189
mon,]xx\y I, 1897

— pentadactylus, L. \ n

— galactodactylus, Hb. /

— spilodactylus, Curt. (M. p. 437)
Marasmarcha (Pterophorus) phaeodactyla, Hb.

Middleyards, June 27, 1896; Bredon
(W. H. Edwards)

— tephradactyla, Hb. Rare (E. & T. p. 39)

— monodactyla, L. Common

— lithodactyla, Tr. Perry Wood, July 11,

1895 ; Middleyards, July 9, 1895 ;

Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards)
Stenoptilia pterodactyla, L. Trench Woods,

October 26, 1894 ; generally distributed

(W. H. Edwards)
Orneodes (Alucita) hexadactyla, L. Common

VI. PSrCHINA
I. PSYCHIDiE

2. ZEUZERID.^

Zeuzera pyrina, L. Foregate Street, June 14,
15, 1896, July 16, 1900 ; Barbourne
and Smith's Nurseries (W. H. Edwards) ;
Monk Wood (G. D. Hancock)

3. ZYG^NIDiE

Zygaena filipendulae, L. ") ^
■'^i . '^ T- f Common

— loniceras, Esp. )

— trifolii, Esp. Moist places near Malvern

Hills (Rev. E. C. Dobr^e Fox) ; one
Monk Wood (Fletcher) ; open places,
woods, Malvern (W.E., E. & T. p. 6)
Procris geryon, Hb. West Malvern, June 10,
1895 ; Bredon, June 15, 1899 ; West
Malvern, etc. ; Storridge (E. & T. p. 6) ;
Malvern Hills (Fletcher)

— statices, L. Powick Ham, June 4, 1895 ;

Wyre Forest, June, 1896 ; meadow
near Powick, Monk Wood, etc., June
(T.M.N.F.C. p. 177) ; Gasworks,
Malvern Link, many years ago
(W.E., E. & T. p. 5) ; Trench Woods
(I.N.H.W. p. 139)

4. HETEROGENEID^

Heterogenea asella, Schiff. One Birchwood

(W.E.) ; very rare (E. & T. p. 12)

— limacodes, Hufn. Monk Wood, June 28,

1898, June 28, 1900 ; Middleyards,
rr^«fA^rWx, scarce, June (T.M.N.F.C.
p. 178) ; Wyre Forest (Fletcher)

VII. TORTRICINA
I. EPIBLEMID^
Lobesia permixtana, Hb. Eymore Woods,
May 15, 1863 (T.W.N.C. p. 79) ;
Monk Wood, May 25, 1899 ; Middle-
yards (Fletcher)
Chrosis euphorbiana, Frr. Worcester (M.

p. 456)
Bactra lanceolana, Hb. Bog, West Malvern,

May 21, 1896 ; Wyre Forest
Exartema (Sericoris) latifasciana, Hw. Worces-
ter (M. p. 457)
Eucosma (Penthina) corticana, Hb. Very
common (E. & T. p. 38)

— semifasciana, Hw. Wyre Forest (Fletcher)

— caprasana, Hb. Monk Wood (Fletcher)

— sororculana, Zett. Common (E. & T.

p. 36)

— pruniana, Hb. Near Waterworks, Worces-

ter, June 20, 1896

— oblongana, Hw. Oddingley (Fletcher)

— profundana, F. Wyre Forest (Fletcher)

— arcuella, CI. Wyre Forest, June 7, 1896,

June 10, 12, 1899 ; Ribbesford, July 17,
1899

— purpurana, Hw. Sheriff's Lench, July 5,

1900

— schulziana, F. Rare (E. & T. p. 39)

— urticana, Hb. Wyre Forest, ]\Ay 9, 1897 ;

common

— lacunana, Dup. Monk Wood, June 17,

1897

— striana, SchifF. Worcestershire ; common

(E. & T. p. 38)

— blanderiana, L. Worcester (St. vol. ii.

p. 261)
Pamplusia mercuriana, Hb. Rare (E. & T.

P-38)
Evetria (Retinia) buoliana, SchiflF. St. John's

(W. H. Edwards)
Enarmonia (Spilonota) simplana, F.R. West

Malvern, May 21, 1896

— (Retinia) pinicolana, Z. Local (E. & T.

p. 38)

— (Poedisca) oppressana, Tr. Monk Wood

(Fletcher)
Tmetocera ocellana, F. Five, Worcestershire ;

rare (E. & T. p. 37)
Eudemis nasvana, Hb. Worcestershire
Ancylis (Anchylopera) derasana, Hb. Between

Middleyards and The Rough

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Ancylis lundana, F. Perry Wood, May 13,
1895; Monk Wood, May 25, 1899
rrench Woods (W. H. Edwards)

— mitterbacheriana, SchilF. Worcestershire

common

— lactana, F. Monk Wood, June, 1898

Middleyards (Fletcher)
Gypsonoma (Spilonota) dealbana, Frol. Monk

Wood, July, 1899
Cydia (Grapholita) obtusana, Hw.

— ustomaculana. Curt. Rare (E. & T. p. 37)

— fractifasciana, Hw. Rare (E. & T. p. 39)

— (Catoptria) pupillana, CI. Rare (E. & T.

P-38)
Notocelia uddmanniana, L. Middleyards,
July 14, 1896; Monk Wood ^X^tzhzx)

— (Spilonota) trimaculana, Hw. Rather

rare (E. & T. p. 37)
— - roborana, Tr. Middleyards, July 9, 1895

— (Halonota) tetragonana, Stph. Worcester-

shire
Epiblema (Pardia) tripunctana, F. Monk Wood,
May 26, 1895 ; Middleyards, May 13,
1896; common

— (Grapholitha) nisella, CI. Rare (E. & T.

p. 37) ; five, Worcestershire

— (Phlocodes) demarniana, F.R. Worcester-

shire

— tetraquetrana, Hw. ") „^ , .

— tedell, CI. 1 ^"'■^"'^"^"-^

— (Halonota) similana, Hb. Common (E. &

T. p. 37)
— - pflugiana, Hw. Bransford, May 9, 13,

1896; generally distributed
— • trigeminana, Stph. Worcestershire

= ™Td™:"T\'''''-}>'-(E-^T.p.3;)

— • (Poedisca) bilunana, Hw. Worcestershire

— ophthalmicana, Hb. Monk Wood (Fletcher)
— ■ solandriana, L. Worcestershire ; rare (E.

& T. p. 37)

— semifuscana, Stph. Worcestershire

var. piceana. Rare (E. & T. p. 37)
Hemimene (Dicrorampha) alpinana, Tr.
Worcestershire

— petiverella, L. Worcestershire

— sequana, Hb. Crown East Wood (Fletcher)

— simpliciana, Hw. Worcestershire
Pammene (Stigmonota) nitidana, F. Ribhes-

ford, June 17, 1897

— germarana, Hb. -v

— fimbriana, Hw. \ rrr , ■

— rhediella, CI. [ ^^^'"^t^rshre

— splendidulana, Gn. J

— gallicolana, Z. Worcester (St. vol. ii.

p. 241) ; three, Worcestershire
Laspeyresia servillana, Dup. Monk Wood
(Fletcher)

— (Stigmonota) perlepidana, Hw. Weymans

Wood, May 13, 1897

Laspeyresia compositella, Fr. Bransford, May
9, 1896

— nigricana, Stph. Old Hills, June 24, 1897

— coniferana, Rtz.

ulicetana, Hw.

Common (E. & T. p.38)

Carpocapsa pomonella, L. Common; Victoria
Institute and Boughton (W. H. Edwards)

— splendana, Hb. Among oaks (Fletcher)

— Juliana, Curt. Common (E. & T. p. 38);

Temple Laughern (Fletcher)
Epinotia (Opadia) funebrana, Tr. Among
plum trees (Fletcher)

— hypericana, Hb. Wyre Forest (W. H.

Edwards)

2. TORTRICID^

Rhacodia caudana, F. Croft Wood, August
II, 1898 ; Nunnery Wood, September I,
1898, abundant; common (E. & T.

P-38)
Acalla (Peronea) hastiana, L. Common (E.
& T. p. 38)

— literana, L. St. John\ (Edwards)

■ — boscana, F. Worcester (M. p. 523)

— mixtana, Hb. Worcestershire

— lipsiana, SchifF. Common (E. & T. p. 38)

— variegana, Schiff. Worcestershire

— contaminana, Hb. Common

— shepherdana, Stph. Rather rare (E. & T.

P-37)

— aspersana, Hb. Six, Worcestershire ; rare

(E. & T. p. 38)

— holmiana, L. Common ; near Water-

works, Worcester, June 29, 1896
Capua flavillaceana, Hb. Eymore Wood, May

15, 1863 (T.W.N.C. p. 79)
Cacoecia (Tortrix) podana, Sc. Monk Wood,

June 20, 1895 ; Perry Wood,Mz.y 23,

1896; common

— cratxgana, Hb. Common

— xylosteana, L. Nunnery Wood, August 4,

1898 ; common ; rare (E. & T. p. 37)

— rosana, L. Common

— sorbiana, Hb. Britannia Square, June 9,

1896; Trench Woods, June II, 1896;

common ; rare (E. & T. p. 37) ;

Bransford (W. H. Edwards)
• — costana, F. Hartlehury Common, July 20,

1898
- — unifasciana, Dup. Perry Wood, July 4,

1895

— lecheana, L. Wyre Forest, June, 1896,

common

— musculana, Hb. Worcestershire
Pandemis (Tortrix) corylana, F. Five,

Worcestershire ; common (E. & T. p. 37)

— ribeana, Hb. Very common (E. & T.

P- 37)

— heparana, SchifF. Perry Wood, April 13,

1895

118

INSECTS

Pandemis cinnamomeana, Tr. Middleyards,

July 14, 1896
Tortrix forskaleana, L.\ Nunnery Wood, June

— bergmanniana, L. J 26, 1896; common

— ministrana, L. Perry Wood, May 21,

1900

— conwayana, F. Trench Woods, June 15,

1895; Lord's Wood, June 27, 1896;
Perry Wood, July 10, 1 896

— loeflingiana, L. Nunnery Wood, June 26,

1896

— viridana, L. Perry Wood, June 13, 1895;

a common pest

— paleana, Hb. At ' light,' St. John's

(Fletcher) ; very common (E. & T.

P- 36)

— viburniana, F. Worcestershire

— forsterana, F. Monk Wood, July 11, 1 895 ;

Wyre Forest, Bramford, etc.

— (Sciaphila) virgaureana, Tr. Worcestershire

— octomaculana, Hw. Common (E. & T.

P-38)

— osseana, Sc. Rather common (E. & T.

P- 39)
Isotrias hybridana, Hb. Common (E. & T.

p. 38)
Exapate congelatella, CI. Bine's Green

(Fletcher)
Cheimatophila tortricella, Hb. Very common

3. PHALONIAD^

Lozopera dilucidana, Stph. Perry Wood

(Fletcher)
Phalonia (Argyrolepia) zephyrana, Tr.

Worcester (M. p. 547)

— badiana, Hb. Worcestershire

— tesserana, Tr. Coneybury Copse (Fletcher)

— (Eupoecilia) nana, Hw. Rather rare (E.

&T. p. 39)
Chlidonia baumanniana, SchifF. Common
Eupoecilia maculosana, Hw. Worcestershire
Euxanthis (Eupoecilia) angustana, Tr. Four,

Worcestershire ; one to ' light,' Dine's

Green (Fletcher) ; rather common (E.

& T. p. 36)

— (Conchylis) straminea, Hw. Worcester ;

one to ' light,' Oldbury Road (Fletcher)

— (Xanthosetia) zoegana, L. Middleyards,

May 29, 1895 ; Kepax Ferry, June 12,
1898 ; Monk Wood (W. H. Edwards);
common (E. & T. p. 39)

— hamana, L. Monk Wood, July 11, 1895;

Bransford, June 3, 1896 ; common (E.
& T. p. 39)

4. TRYPANID^

Trypanus cossus (Cossus ligniperda), L. Larvae,
Worcester, 1898, 1 900 ; Old Hills and
St. John's (W. H. Edwards)

VIII. TINEINA

I. ^GERIADiE

^geria apiformis, CI. Larvae, Old Hills,
May 3, 1896 ; Powick, Hanley, eight,
not uncommon (T.M.N. F.C. p. 177);
larvae near Spetchley, 1899 (J. Peed)

— crabroniformis, Lew. Bredon and Ockeridge

(W. H. Edwards) ; Monk Wood, 1898
(J. Peed)
Trochilium spheciforme, Gern. Wyre Forest,
June 6, 1897, June 11, 18, 1899

— tipuliforme, CI. Dr. Clarke's garden,

Worcester, 1898 ; Wyre Forest

— asiliforme, Rott. Wyre Forest, June 6,

1897 ; Monk Wood and Trench Woods
(W. H. Edwards) ; Temple Laughern
(Fletcher) ; Ockeridge (J. Peed)

— myopiforme, Bkh. Goodyear's garden,

Malvern Link (R.F.T., E. & T. p. 8) ;
Rose House, Worcester, 1900 (J. Peed)

— culiciforme, L. Wyre Forest, June 6, iSgj

— formiciforme, Esp. Osier beds near

Worcester, 1897 (G. D. Hancock and
J. Peed)

— ichneumoniforme, F. Crown East

(Fletcher)

2. GELECHIADiE

Epithectis mouffetela, SchifF. Five, Worcester-
shire ; Wyre Forest (Fletcher)

Anacampsis vorticella, Sc. Tihberton (Fletcher)

Xenolechia scalella, Sc. Wyre Forest, May 23,
1896, June 5, 7, 1897 ; Monk Wood,
June 8, 1898, May 25, 1899

Gelechia politella, Stt. Oddingley] /pi . l \

— maculea, Hw. Ombersley J ^ '

— luculella, Hb. Ribbesford, July 17, 1897

— notatella, Hb. Martley (Fletcher)

— sororculella, Hb. Among sallows. Middle-

yards (Fletcher)

— scotinella, H.S. Middleyards Lane (Fletcher)

— rhombella, Schiff. Spetchley (Fletcher)

— lentiginosella, Z. Worcester (St. vol. ii.

P- 331)
Brachmia rufescens, Hw. (Fletcher)
Ypsolophus marginellus, F. The Slads, July

24, 1899; Pitmaston (Fletcher)

— fasciellus, Hb. (M. p. 609) ; Trench Woods

(Fletcher)

— ustulellus, F. (M. p. 609)

Chelaria huebnerella, Don. One, Worcester-
shire

3. CECOPHORIDiE

Carcina quercana, F. Common ; Lord's Wood,
June 27, 1896 ; Dodderhill Common,
July 16, 1896, etc.

Hypercallia christiernana, L. IVyre Forest,
July 8, 1900

119

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Aplota palpella, Hw. Bramford (Fletcher)
Chimabache phryganella, Hb. \ p

— fagella, F. J
Semioscopis steinkellneriana, SchifF. Worcester

(Fletcher)

Exsretia allisella, Stt. At 'light,' Oldhury
Road (Fletcher)

Depressaria ocellana, F. At sallows, Bram-
ford, March 19, 1896

— yeatiana, F. At ' light,' Worcester

(Fletcher)

— applana, F. Worcester

— chaerophylli, Z. Diners Green (Fletcher)

— pulcherrimella, Stt. Indoors (Fletcher)

— heracliana, De Geer. Laughern Plantation,

1897
Harpella geoffrella, L. Perry Wood, May 13,

1896
CEcophora sulphurella, F. Cowleigh Park,

May 27, 1897 ; Stretton's Garden, May

22, 1898

Acompsia (CEcophora) grandis, Desv. Bewdley
Forest (St. vol. ii. p. 357, M. 635)

— tripuncta, Hw. Worcestershire

— tinctella, Hb. Shrawley Wood (Fletcher)

— unitella, Hb. Comer Lane (Fletcher)

— panzerella, Stph. Wyre Forest (Fletcher)

4. ELACHISTID^
Coleophora fabriciella, Vill. Trench Woods,
Oddingley (Fletcher)

— frischella, L. Himbleton j

— alcyonipennella, Koll. Pirton \ (Fletcher)

— siccifolia, Stt. Poivick )

— vibicella, Hb. Trench Woods, June, 1896

(St. vol. ii. p. 389, Fletcher)

— albicosta, Hw. Old Hills (Fletcher)
Elachista albifrontella, Hb. Perry Wood, June

6, 15, 1898

— gangabella, Z. Worcestershire

— triatomea, Hw. Monk Wood

— cygnipennella, Hb. Perry Wood, June 6,

1898 ; Bredon, June 3, 1897 ; Rock,

May 18, 1898
Pancalia leuwenhoekella, L. \ rr^
Chrysoclista bimaculella, H. J

— linneella, CI. Cotheridge (Fletcher)

— atra, Hw. Bransford, July 25, 1898
Mompha (Laverna) decorella, Stph. At ' light,'

near Worcester (Fletcher)

— miscella, SchifF. Oddingley (Fletcher)
Heliozela resplendella, Stph. By Laughern

Brook (Fletcher)
Antispila pfeifFerela, Hb. One to ' light,' near

Worcester (Fletcher)
Scythris (Butalis) fuscoaenea, Hw. Wyre

Forest (Fletcher)

— fuscocuprea, Hw. Coneybury Copse

(Fletcher)
Endrosis lacteella, Schiff. Common

Epermenia (Chauliodus) illigerella, Hb.
Worcester (St. vol. ii. p. 397, M. 691);
Tibberton (Fletcher)

5. PLUTELLID^

Prays curtisellus, Don. Bransford
Yponomeuta cognatellus, Hb. Worcester

— padellus, L. Croft Bank, Broadway, Trench

Woods, etc.

— plumbellus, SchifF. Near Worcester
vigintipunctatus, Retz. Foregate Street

Cerostoma caudella, L.

Worcestershire

— xylostella, L.

— alpella, Schiff. Wyre Forest (Fletcher)

— costella, F. Worcestershire

— sequella, CI. Lovington (Fletcher)

Plutella porrectella, L. 1 „, , .

■r rr y Worcestershire

— cruciterarum, Z. J

Glyphipteryx fuscoviridella, Hw. Ombersley

— thrasonella, Sc. The Slads

— oculatella, Z. Worcester (M. p. 704) ;

Crown East (Fletcher)

— equitella, Sc. Ockeridge ; Great Witley

(Fletcher)

— fischeriella, Z. Middleyards (Fletcher)
Simaethis fabriciana, L. Perdiswell, 1895;

Middleyards, May 9, 1896, etc,

6. TINEIDvE
Nepticula aurella, Tutt. (vol i. p. 233)
Bucculatrix nigricomella, Z. The Grove Farm
(Fletcher)

— boyerella, Dup. Diners Green \

— ulmella, Z. Oldbury Road [ (Fletcher)

— cratsegi, Z. Martley Road )
LithocoUetis amyotella, Dup. Worcester (M.

P- 737)

— cramerella, F. Common

— pomifoliella, Z. \

— spinicolella, Stt. I r^^ , ; •

1-r 1- 11 tj r Worcestershire

— corylifoliella, Hw.

— tristrigella, Hw. )

Ornix guttea, Hw. At ' light ' (Fletcher)

— betulae, Stt. JVyre Forest ; by mothing

(Fletcher)
Gracilaria alchimiella, Sc. Trench Woods,
May 18, 1895 ; Perry Wood, May 21,
1895 ; Monk Wood, July 17, 1895

— ononidis, Z. Worcester (M. p. 753) ; one

indoors (Fletcher)

— hofmanniella, Schleich. (M. p. 754)
Leucoptera (Cemiostoma) spartifoliella, Hb.

Worcestershire
Lyonetia prunifoliella, Hb. Boughton (Fletcher)
Bedellia somnulentella, Z. Three larvae

found (Fletcher)
Tischeria complanella, Hb. Worcestershire

— angusticoUella, Z. JVorcestcr (M. p. 760)
Argyresthia brockeella, Hb. Britannia Square,

June 21, 1896

INSECTS

Argyresthia goedartella, L. IVyre Forest

— pygmxella, Hb. From sallow catkins,

Middleyards

— retinella, Z. ~|

— conjugella, Z. I ^,^,,,,,„^,v,

— ephippelia, s.

— nitidella, F. J

Zelleria hepariella, Stt. One at Middleyards

(Fletcher)
Swammerdamia combinella, Hb. Crown East

(Fletcher)
Roeslerstammia erxlebella, F. Worcestershire
Fumea sepium, Spr. Worcester (M. p. 774) ;

Old Hills (Fletcher)
Solenobia inconspicuella, Stt. Lichen covered

palings (Fletcher)

— Douglasii, Stt. Worcester (M. p. 775)
Ochsenheimeria bisontella, Z. Lathe Hill

(Fletcher)

— vacculella, F.R. Ronkswood (Fletcher)
Scythropia crataegella, L. ^

Incurvaria pectinea, Hw.

— muscalella, F. \ Worcestershire
Lampronia luzella, Hb.

— rubiella, Bjerk. J

Trichophaga (Tinea) tapetiella, L. 34, Fore-
gate Street, June, 1897 ; Museum, Vic-
toria Institute, Worcester (W, H.
Edwards)

Tinea capitella, CI. Worcester

— arcella, F. ^ tt/- ^ 1 ■

■ II TTi. t Worcestershire

— parasitella, Hb. )

— caprimulgella, H.S. Crown East (Fletcher)

— fuscipunctella, Hw. "j

— pellionella, L. r Worcestershire

— lapella, Hb. J

— semifulvella, Hw. Comer Lane (Fletcher)
Nemophora swammerdammella, L. Bransford,

May 9, 1896 ; Middleyards (Fletcher)

— schwarziella, Z. Bransford, May 4, 1896 ;

Oddingley (Fletcher)

— metaxella, Hb. Middleyards (Fletcher)
Adela fibulella, SchifF. Bransford, May 14,

189s ; TMerton (Fletcher)

— crcesella, Sc. The Slads, June l6, 1898 ;

Comer Lane (Fletcher)

— degeerella, L. Monk Wood, May 26,

1895 ; Wyre Forest, June 6, 7, 1896,
June 12, 1899

— viridella, Sc. Common

Nemotois cupriacellus, Hb. Oddingley (Fletcher)

IX.

MICROPTERTGINA
I. HEPIALIDiE

Hepialus hectus, L. Perry Wood, June 19,
1895; Monk Wood, May 30, 1896;
Crown East (W. H. Edwards) ; com-
mon

— lupulinus, L. Common

Hepialus velleda, Hb. Farley Wood, June 21,
1900; Old Storridge (W. E.) ; local
(E. & T. p. 8)

— var.gallicus. Nunnery Wood {l.l>l.'ii.W.
p. 140)

— sylvinus, L. Perry Wood (I.N.H.W. p.

140); near Worcester and about Cow-
leigh, August, not common (T.M.N.F.C.
p. 178) ; rather rare (E. & T. p. 8) ;
Trench Woods (W. H. Edwards) ; Castle
Morton, not common (Rev. E. C.
Dobree Fox)

— humuli, L. Common

2. MICROPTERYGID^

Micropteryx sparmannella, Bosc. Worcestershire

— purpurella, Hw. Trench Woods, April 1 9,

1899

— semipurpurella, Stph. Worcestershire
Eriocephala aureatella, Sc. Eymore, May 15,

1863 (T.W.N.C. p. 79)
The following somewhat local lepidoptera

have been observed at the various places

mentioned,

Wyre Forest. — The Dark Green Fritillary
[Argynnis aglaia), the Greasy Fritillary
{Melitaa aurinia), the Narrow-bordered
Bee Hawk {Hemaris homhyliformis), the
White - barred Clearwing {Trochilium
spheciforme). Yellow - belted Clearwing
{T. asiliforme. Large Red-belted Clear-
wing Cr. culiciforme), the Forester [Procris
statices), the Least Black Arches {Roes-
elia confusalis), the Clouded BufF {Dia-
crisia russula), the Scarce Vapourer
{Orgyia gonostigma), the Pale Eggar
{Eriogaster cratagi), the Fox [E. rubi),
the Kentish Glory {Endromis versicolora),
the Emperor (Saturnia pavonia), the
Lobster [Stauropus fagi), the Marbled
Brown [Drymonia trimacula), the whole
of the Polyplocidae with the exception
of the Frosted Orange {Polyploca ridens),
the Nut-tree Tussock {Colocasia coryli),
the Miller {Acronycta leporina), the Coro-
net {A. ligustri), the Reddish Arches
{Hadena sublustris), the Birdswing [H.
scabriuscula), the Large Nutmeg {H. sor-
dida), the Dotted Rustic {Caradrina al-
sines), the Light-feathered Rustic [Agrotis
cinerea), the Barred Chestnut {A. dahlii),
the Northern Drab {Monima opima), the
Powdered Quaker {M. gracilis), the Blos-
som Underwing {M. miniosa), the Orange
Upperwing [Orthosia croceago), the Great
Oak Beauty {Diastictis roboraria), the
Barred Sallow {Orthosia aurago), the Brown
Dart {Aporophyla lutulenta), the Silvery
Arches {Melanchra tincta), the Pale Shin-
ing Brown {M. advena), the Dog's Tooth

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

{M. dissimtlis), the Beautiful Brocade {M.
contigua), the Lesser Snout {Hypena ros-
tralis), the Little Thorn [Cepphis adven-
aria), the Blotched Emerald {Euchlor'n
pustulata), the Waved Carpet {Euchceca
iylvata), the Dotted Border [Eois stra-
minata), the Satin Wave [E. suisericeata),
the Seraphim {Lohophora halterata), the
Yellow-barred Brindle {Trichopteryx vire-
tata), the Argent and Sable [Plemyria
hastata\ the White Spot [Pyrausta octo-
maculata\ the Dotted Grey {Epithectis
mouffetella), the Black-spotted White
{Xemkchia scalella), the Christiernian
{Hypercallia chrhuernana\ Panzers [^Ac-
ompsia panxerella), and the Double-barred
{Cerostoma alpella)
RiBBESFORD WooD. — The Tortrix Moth
[Sarrothrlpus undulana), the Scallop Shell
[Calocalpe undulata\ Dark Silver-striped
{Pammene nitidana)
Shrawley Wood. — Orange Sallow [Orthosia
citrago), Chequered Straw [Evergestis stra-
mlnalis)
The Ran Dans. — The Wood Tiger {Arctia

plantaginii)
Oddingley. — The Little Blue [Chrysophanus
minimus), the Brown Argus (C. astrarche),
the Gold China-mark {Pyrausta flavalis),
the Narrow Long-cloak {Eucosma oblong-
ana), Gelechia politella, Nemotois cupria-
cellm
The Trench Woods. — The Wood White
{Leucopbaiia iinapis), the Clouded Yellow
{Colias edusa), the Duke of Burgundy
Fritillary {Nemeobius lucina), the Narrow-
bordered Bee Hawk {Hemaris hombyli-
formis), the Yellow-belted Clearwing
{Trochilium asiliforme), the Forester [Pro-
cris staticei), the Wood Swift [Hepialus
sylvinus), the Festoon [Apoda limacodes),
the Dark Tussock {Dasychira fascelina),
the Oak Hook-tip {Drepana binaria), the
Powdered Quaker {Monima gracilis), the
Blossom Underwing {M. miniosa), the
Twin-spotted Quaker {M. munda), the
Light Orange Underwing {Brephos
notha), the Great Oak Beauty {Dia-
stictis roboraria), the Silver Cloud {Pseu-
dopanthera punctata), the Mallow [Xan-
thorhoe cervinata), the Warted Knot-horn
{Acrobasis tumidana), the Long-winged
(Ypsolophus fasciellus), Coleophora vibicella
HiMBLETON. — The Marbled White {Melan-

argia galathea), Coleophora frischella
OcKERiDGE Wood. — The Wood White
[Leucophasia sinapis), the Lunar Hornet
{Mgeria crabroniformis), the Yellow-
belted Clearwing {Trochilium asiliforme),
the Large Red-belted Clearwing (T".

cuUciforme), the Orange Footman {Lithosia
sororcula), the Chocolate Tip {Pygiera
curtula), the Oak Hook-tip {Drepana
binaria), the Miller {Acronycta leporina),
the White Letter [Triphana leucographa),
the Lead-coloured Drab {Monima popu-
leti), the Orange Sallow {Orthosia citrago),
the Olive {Caradrina subtusa), the
White-spotted {Erastria fasciana), the
Grey Birch {Ectropis punctularia), the
"White-spot {E. luridata), the Large
Emerald {Geometra papilionaria), the
False Mocha {Leucophthalmia porata) the
Drab Looper {Asthena murinata) the
Striped Twin-spot {Xanthorhoe salicata),
the Purplish Knot-horn {Salebria betula)

Monk Wood. — The Wood White {Leuco-
phasia sinapis), the Dark Green Fritillary
{Argynnis aglaia), the Silver-Washed
Fritillary {A. paphia), the Marbled White
{Melanargia galathea), the Yellow-belted
Clearwing {Trochilium asiliforme), the
Large Red-belted Clearwing (7". cuUci-
forme), the Forester {Procris statices), the
Tortrix Moth {Sarrothripus undulana),
the Orange Footman {Lithosia sororcula),
the Rosy Footman {Miltochrista miniata),
the Four-dotted Footman {Cybosia meso-
mella), the OakHook-tip {Drepana binaria),
the Chocolate-tip {Pygara curtula), the
Figure of Eighty {Palimpsestis octogesima),
the Coronet {Acronycta ligustri), the
Autumnal Rustic {Agrotis glareosa), the
Twin-spotted Quaker {Monima munda),
the Olive {Caradrina subtusa), the Pale
Shining Brown {Melanchra advena), the
Silver Cloud {M. conspicillaris), the
White-spotted Marble {Erastria fasci-
ana), the Orange Underwing {Brephos
parthenias), the Light Orange Under-
wing {B. notha), the Purple Thorn {Sele-
nia tetralunaria), the Blotched Emerald
{Euchloris pustulata), the Treble Brown
Spot {Eois trigcminata), the Plain Wave
{E. inornata), Haworth's Carpet {Hydrio-
mena unifasciata), the Seraphim {Lobophora
halterata), Enarmonia oppressana, the
Hooked Marble {Ancylis lactana), the
Black Double-blotched {Epiblema ophthal-
micana), Laspeyresia servillana

Perry Wood. — The Gold Swift {Hepialus
hectus), the Figure of Eighty {Palimp-
sestis octogesima), the Blotched Emerald
{Euchloris pustulata), Lozopera dilucidana

Nunnery Wood. — The Powdered Quaker
{Monima gracilis), the Blossom Under-
wing {M. miniosa), the Dotted Chestnut
{Conistra rubiginea)

The Crown East Woods. — The Large
Green Silver-lined {Hylophila bicolor-

INSECTS

ana), the Gold Swift {Hepia/us hectus),
the Powdered Quaker {Monima gracilis),
the Blossom Underwing {M. mimosa),
the Twin-spotted Quaker {M. viunda),
the Lesser Snout {Hypena rostra/is), the
Blotched Emerald {Euchloris pustulata),
Hemimene sequana, Glyphipteryx ocula-
tella. Tinea caprimulgella

MiDDLEYARDs. — The Wood White {Leuco-
phasia sinapis), the Pale Clouded Yellow
{Colias hyale), the White-letter Hair-
streak {Thecla w-alhum), the Large
Green Silver- lined (Hylophila bicolor-
ana), the Least Black Arches [Roeselia
confusalis), the Festoon {Apoda limacodes),
the Oak Hook-tip {Drepana hinaria), the
Coronet {Acronycta ligustri), the Twin-
spotted Quaker {Monima munda), the
Double Kidney {Caradrina retusa), the
White-spotted Pinion (C diffinis), the
Lesser White-spotted Pinion (C. affinis),
the Bordered Straw (C. umbra), the White-
spotted Marbled {Erastria fasciana), the
White-streak {Hypenodes albistrigalis),
the Lesser Snout {Hypena rostralis), the
Blotched Emerald {Euchloris pustulata),
the Small Scallop {Eois emarginata),
Hypochalcia ahenella. Thistle Ermine
[MycLois crihrella). Pearl Veneer {Cram-
bus pinellus), the Wainscot Veneer {Chilo
phragmitellus), the Naked-winged {Ancylis
derasana), Gelechia scotinella, Aplota pal-
pella,Chrysoclista atra, Nemophora metaxella

Park Wood. — The Purple Emperor {Apa-
tura Iris), the White Letter {Triphana
leucographa)

CocKSHOT Hill Wood. — The Lunar Hornet
{^geria crabroniformis)

The Croft Wood.— The Clouded Yellow
{Colias edusa), the White Admiral {Ly-
menitis sibilla), the Marbled White
{Melanargia galathea), the Small Blue
{Chrysophanus minimus), the Cistus
Forester {Procris geryon), the Narrow-
bordered Five-spot Burnet {Zygana loni-
cerw), the Miller {Acronycta leporina), the
Little Thorn {Cepphis advenaria), the
Silver Cloud (Pseudopanthera punctata),
the Scallop Shell {Calocalpe undulata)

Bow Wood. — The Marbled White {Melan-
argia galathea)

TiDDESLEY Wood. — The Lappet {Gastro-
phaca quercifoUa), the Blotched Emerald
{Euchloris pustulata), the Waved Carpet
{Euchceca sylvata)

Croome Perry Woods. — The Blotched
Emerald {Euchloris pustulata)

Bredon. — The Marbled White {Melanargia
galathea), the Brown Argus {Chryso-
phanus astrarche), the Lunar Hornet

{/Egeria crabroniformis), the Cistus
Forester {Procris geryon), the Scarce
Footman {Lithosia complana), the Wood
Tiger {Arctia plantaginis), the Four-
spotted {Eustrotia luctuosa), the Golden
Wave {Euchceca blomeri), the Lace Bor-
der {Leptomeris ornata), the Chalk Carpet
{Hydriomena procellata), the Small Waved
Umber {Eucrymatoge vitalbata), the Chalk
Carpet {Xanthorhoe bipunctaria), the
Sweep {Baptria atrata), the Scarce
Pearl {Psammotis hyalinalis), Wavy-
barred Sable {Pyrausta nigrata)

Great Farley Wood. — The Northern
Swift {Hepialus velleda)

The Lickey. — The Holly Blue {Lycana
argiolus), the Wood Tiger {Arctia plan-
taginis), the Emperor {Saturnia pavonia)

The Berrow Hill, Martley. — The Duke
of Burgundy Fritillary {Nemeobius lucina),
the Chequered Skipper {Cyclopades pales-
mon), the Swallowtail {Papilio machaon)

Ankerdine Hill. — The Treble Brown Spot
{Eois trigeminata), the Figure of Eighty
{Palimpsestis octogesima)

Broadway Hill. — The Little Blue {Chryso-
phanus minimus), the Brown Argus (C
astrarche)

Malvern Hills. — The Camberwell Beauty
{Vanessa antiopa), the Grayling {Satyrus
semele), the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary
{Nemeobius lucina), the Holly Blue {Ly-
cana argiolus), the Bedstraw Hawk
{Deilephila galii), the Five-spot Burnet
{Zygana trifolii), the Wood Tiger {Arc-
tia plantaginis), the Lunar Yellow Under-
wing {Agrotis orbona), the Mottled Grey
{Xanthorhoe multistrigaria)

Blackmore Park. — The Maple Prominent
{Odontosia cuculla)

The Old Hills. — The Bedstraw Hawk
{Deilephila galii), the Hornet Clearwing
{/Egeria apiformis), Fumea sepium

Madresfield. — The Crimson-speckled Foot-
man ( Utethesia pulchella)

Broad Heath. — The Emperor {Saturnia
pavonia), the Small Grass Emerald
{Nemoria viridata)

PowiCK Ham. — The Forester {Procris statices)

Cotheridge. — The White-letter Hair-streak
{Thecla w-album), Chrysoclista Unneella

Spetchley Park. — The Brindled Beauty
{Biston hirtarius)

Dine's Green and Oldbury Road. — The
Pearl Veneer {Crambus pinellus), the
Chequered Veneer (C falsellus), Exa-
pate congelatella, Depressaria charophylli,
Bucculatrix boyerella, Exaeretia alliseUa

Old Storridge Common. — The Northern
Swift {Hepialus velleda)
23

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Malvern Link. — The Greasy Fritillary
{Melittea aurinia), the White - letter
Hair-streak [Thecla w-album), the Striped
Hawk {Deilephila lineata), Silver-striped
Hawk {D. celerio), the Red-belted Clear-
wing [TrochiHum myopiforme)

Malvern Wells. — The Confused {Hadena
furva)

Mathon Lodge. — The Large Tortoiseshell
[Vanessa polychloros)

Hartlebury Common. — The Fox {EriogasUr
rubi), the Dotted Border {Eois stramin-
ata), the Large Twin - spot Carpet
{Xanthorhoe quadrifasciaria\ the Aquatic
Veneer (Schcenohius forficellus). Greening's
Plume [Oxfptilus tmcrii)

The Slads.— The Marbled White {Melan-
argia galathea\ the Little Blue [Lycana
minimus), the Four-spotted [Eustrotia luc-
tuosa), the Juniper Pug {Tephroclystis sob-
rinata), the Purple [Eucosma purpurana),
the White-bordered [Tpsolophus margin-
ellus), Sultz's {Adela croesella)

Offenham. — The Striped Hawk Moth
{Deilephila Uvornica)

Castle Morton. — The Large Tortoiseshell
{Vanessa polychloros), the Scarce Footman
{Lithosia complana), the Wood Swift
{Hepialus sylvinus), the Grisette {Acro-
nycta strigosa), the Small Wainscot {Cara-
drina fulva), the Hedge Rustic {Melan-
chra cespitis), the Crescent-striped Rustic
{Hadena ahjecta), the Large Nutmeg [H.
sordida), the Dot [Melanchra persicarics),
the Rosy Minor {Hadena literosa), the
Mottled Rustic {Caradrina morpheus), the
Dotted Rustic (C. alsines), the Pearly
Underwing {Agrotis saucia), the Stout
Dart {A. obscura), the Six-striped Rustic
{A. umbrosa), the Northern Drab {Mon-
ima opima), the Dismal {Orthosia ypsilon),
the Dotted Chestnut {Conistra rubiginea),
the Barred Sallow {Orthosia aurago), the
Dusky Lemon Sallow (O. 'gilvago), the
Centre-barred Sallow (O. xerampelina),
the White-spotted Pinion {Caradrina
diffinis), the Brown Dart {Aporophyla
lutuknta), the Dog's Tooth {Melanchra
dissimilis), the Silver Cloud {M. conspicil-
laris), the Tawny Pinion {Polia semi-
brunnea), the Chamomile Shark {Cucullia
chamomilU), the Bordered Straw {Cara-
drina umbra), the Pinion-spotted Pug
{Tephroclystis insigniata), the Yellow-

barred Brindle {Trichopteryx viretata),
the Flame {Hydriomena rubidata), the
Broom-tip {Eucestia rufata)
DowLEs Brook. — The Miller {Acronycta

leporina)
Laughern Brook. — The Miller {Acronycta
leporina), the Alder {A. alni), the Frosted
Orange {Ochria ochracea)
New Pool. — The Small Wainscot [Caradrina

fulva)
Lady Pool. — The Birdswing {Hadena scab-

riuscula)
The Severn. — The Double Kidney [Cara-
drina retusa), the Miller {Acronycta lepo-
rina)
The following are in the larval state some-
times common pests of our orchards, hop-
yards, market gardens and roots : —

The Large White {Pieris brassica), the
Small White (P. rapa), the Green-veined
White {P. napi), the Comma {Vanessa c-
album), the Death's Head {Acherontia atropos),
the Eyed Hawk {Sphinx ocellatus), the Currant
Clearwing {TrochiHum tipuliforme), the Red-
belted Clearwing {T. myopiforme), the Short
Cloak {Nolla cucullatella), the Least Black
Arches {Roeselia confusalis), the Ghost
{Hepialus humuli), the Black Arches {Oc-
neria monacha), the Goat {Trypanus
cossus), the Wood Leopard {Zeuzera pyrina),
the Pale Tussock {Dasychira pudibunda), the
Vapourer {Orgia antiqua), the Lackey (Clisio-
campa neustria), the Gold Tail {Porthesia
similis), the Buff-tip {Phalera bucephala), the
Dagger {Acronycta psi), the Cabbage Moth
{Melanchra brassica), the Dark Sword-grass
{Agrotis suffusa), the Turnip Moth {A. sege-
tum), the Heart and Dart {A. exclamationis),
the Gothic [A. typica), the Bright - line
[Melanchra oleracea), the V. Moth {Dia-
stictis wauaria), the Magpie {Abraxas gros-
sulariata), the Mottled Rustic {Caradrina
morpheus), the Silver Y {Plusia gamma), the
Figure of Eight {Diloba caruleocephala), the
Willow Beauty {Selidosema gemmaria), the
Brimstone [Opisthograptis luteolata), the Spin-
ach [Eustroma associata), the Mottled Umber
[Hybernia defoliaria), the Winter Moth [Oper-
ophtera brumata), the Green Pug [Chloro-
clystis rectangulata), the Garden Carpet
[Xanthorhoe fluctuata), the Phoenix [Eustroma
prunata), the Garden Pebble [Mesographe
forficalis), the Apple Tree [Carpocapsa pomo-
nella)

124

SPIDERS

ARACHNIDA

Spiders^ etc.

Scarcely any collections have been made of members of this order
in the county of Worcestershire, so that very little is known of its spider-
fauna. The twenty-nine species contained in the following short list
were collected by Mrs. Martin of Norton, R. Innes Pocock, Esq., F.Z.S.,
and by Miss Vaughan of Whittington.

DRASSID^

1. Scotophisus blackwallii (Thorell).
Whittington (Vaughan).

CLUBIONIDiE

2. Clubiona pallidula (Clerck).
Norton (R. I. P.).

3. Clubiona corticalis, Walckenaer.
Norton (R. I. P.).

4. Clubiona brevipes, Blackwall.
Norton (R. I. P.).

AGELENID^

5. Tegenaria atrica, C. L. Koch.

Norton (R. I. P.) ; Whittington (Vaughan).

6. Tegenaria derhami (Scopoli).

Norton (R. I. P.) ; Whittington (Vaughan).

ARGIOPID^

7. Araneus diadematus, Clerck.

Norton (R. I. P.) ; Whittington (Vaughan).

8. Zilla X - mtata (Clerck).
Whittington (Vaughan).

9. Zilla atrica, C. L. Koch.
Whittington (Vaughan) ; Norton (R. I. P.).

[O. Meta segmentata (Clerck).

Whittington (Vaughan).
[ I . Linyphia triangularis (Clerck).

Norton (R. I. P.).
[2. Linyphia montana,

Norton (R. I. P.).
[3. Linyphia peltata (Wider).

Norton (R. I. P.).

14. Stemonyphantes lineatus (Linnaeus).
Whittington (Vaughan).

THERIDIIDiE

15. Steatoda bipunctata (Juinnxus).
Whittington (Vaughan).

16. Theridion tepidariorum (C. L. Koch).
Whittington (Vaughan) ; Norton (R. I. P.).

17. Theridion sisyphium (Clerck).
Norton (R. I. P.).

18. Theridion ovatum (Clerck).
Norton (R. I. P.).

19. Theridion varians, Hahn.
Norton (R. I. P.).

20. Theridion denticulatum (Walckenaer).
Norton (R. I. P.).

THOMISIDiE

21. Philodromus aureolus (Clerck).
Norton (R. I. P.).

DICTYNIDiE

22. Amauroblus ferox [Wzlckenaer).
Norton (R. I. P.).

23. Amaurobius similis (Blackwall).

Norton (R. I. P.) ; Whittington (Vaughan).

24. Dictyna arundinacea (Linnseus).
Norton (R. I. P.).

LYCOSIDjE

25. Pardosa nigriceps (Thorell).
Norton (R. I. P.).

26. Pardosa pullata (Clerck).
Norton (R. I. P.).

OPILIONES

Phalangium parietinum, De Geer.
Whittington (Vaughan).
Phalangium opilio, Linnaeus.
Norton (R. L P.).

29. Oligolophus agrestis, Meade.
Norton (R. I. P.).

125

CRUSTACEANS

Scientific literature appears to contain scarcely any specific records
relating to Crustacea in Worcestershire. Nevertheless, with a view to
the growing interest in questions of distribution and in the details of every
local fauna, it may not be superfluous briefly to indicate what groups of
Crustacea will beyond question be found represented within the limits of
the county, and some of the species the search for which will more or
less certainly be rewarded with success.

The zoological class with which we are concerned is commonly
divided into two principal branches, the Malacostraca and the Entomos-
traca. The former of these two has attained a position by far the higher
in what may be called the scale of intellectual development, although by
parasitic habits a few of its members have fallen back into a state of
disgraceful degradation. Many persons are much surprised when first
they hear that the unfavoured woodlouse is not only a crustacean, but be-
longs to the aristocratic section of the class, and is distinguished even in
that section by having had the energy and enterprise to forsake an aquatic
existence for life upon land. The tremendous character of the change
from water-breathing to breathing air may be realized by any one who
attempts to reverse the process. The woodlouse is a terrestrial isopod.
An isopod is a sessile-eyed crustacean of the kind which as a rule has the
breathing apparatus in the appendages of the pleon or tail-part. Of the
land isopods some go wherever man goes ; some have their special pro-
vinces, districts, or isolated localities. England, without being very
richly provided, has several genera and species, and some of these are so
generally distributed over the country that their occurrence in this
county, as in others, may be affirmed with the utmost confidence. Such
are Oniscus asellus, Linn., ' very common throughout England, Scotland
and Ireland under decaying vegetable and animal matter, not only in
damp, but in the dryest localities ' ; ^ Porcellio scaber, Latreille, of which
Bate and Westwood say that they have ' found it partial to growing
vegetables, and it appears to possess a strong partiality for nearly ripe
wall-fruit,' this dainty animal ' being widely distributed throughout
England and Ireland';^ Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille), one of the
' pill-millepedes,' not to be confounded with the larger and less common
G/omeris margwata, not a crustacean but a myriapod, with which it shares
the habit of rolling itself up into a complete ball. Bate and Westwood
expressly state that the Armadillidium is very abundant in the midland

1 Bate and Westwood, British Sessile-eyed Crusttnen, vol. ii. p. 471. 2 /,(,,■ (-,7 p ^yj,

126

CRUSTACEANS

counties.'^ To these may be added PMloscia muscorum (Scopoli), which
' prefers dry rather than damp situations, under leaves, stones and moss,'
in accordance with the meaning of its name, the shade-loving tenant of
mosses, a species which ' is found abundantly throughout the southern
part of England,'^

The freshwater isopod, Asellus aquaticus (Linn.) and the freshwater
amphipod, Gammarus pulex (Linn.) occupy all counties without fear or
favour, the amphipod being like the isopod a sessile-eyed crustacean,
that is to say, not having the eyes articulated as is the case with those
organs in shrimps and lobsters. Otherwise an amphipod is very differ-
ently constructed from an isopod, having its heart in a different situation,
in connection with the circumstance that its breathing apparatus is not
in the tail part, but in the central compartment between head and tail.

After so far constructing a hypothetical carcinology for Worcester-
shire, I had the satisfaction of having it to some extent confirmed
through a correspondence with the Rev. C. E. Ranken of Malvern,
president of the Worcester Naturalists' Field Club. Mr. Ranken con-
sulted the curator of the ' Hastings ' Museum, Victoria Institute, Wor-
cester, and that gentleman, Mr. William H. Edwards, took the trouble
of looking through several books and making enquiries. The conclusion
Mr. Edwards came to was similar to my own, for he says, ' No one seems
to have ever collected the Worcestershire Crustacea, hence we have no
authentic records.' At the same time he has begun to remove the defi-
ciency by transmitting to me the paper which I now have the pleasure
of quoting : —

' Crayfish [Astacus fuviatilis) . We have a specimen in the museum
taken in the river Severn near Worcester Bridge a few years ago ; also
an old one from Dick Brook, Shrawley ; other localities for Worcester-
shire (as far as I know) are Crowle Brook and Dowles Brook near
Bewdley.

' Freshwater Shrimp. I know nothing about the species or even
genera, but what is " locally " known as the " Freshwater Shrimp " is
common in the county ; but I am afraid this information is too vague to
be of any value, and I cannot put my hand on specimens now.

' Woodlice. Armadillidium vulgare (the " Pill Woodlouse ") is
common throughout the county wherever I have observed. I have
seen large numbers when pupas digging.

' Porcellio scaber (the " Common Woodlouse ") is only too common
everywhere.

' Oniscus asellus. I am under the impression that I have seen this
in Worcestershire, but not being a collector of Crustacea, I have not
observed closely enough to determine it with certainty, and though I
have searched during the last few days, I have not been successful in
finding specimens.'

On this welcome contribution a few remarks may be offered.

The river crayfish belongs to the genus Potamobius, which in various

1 Bate and Westwood, British Sessile-eyed Crustacea, vol. ii. p. 495. * Loc. cit. p. 451.

127

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

particulars differs from Astacus, the genus of the lobster. Apparently
also the specific name jiuviatUis is not the proper one for the crayfish of
our English rivers, which ought rather perhaps to be called Potamobius
pallipes. But whatever its exact designation, it has a special interest for
inland counties as being the highest in rank of any Crustacea that they
can produce. It is not the only stalk-eyed crustacean to be found in
England in fresh water, but none of the others appear to be met with
far inland, and none of them approach the crayfish in size. It is only
now that its distribution in our island is becoming gradually better
known. For its eastward extension Mr. Walter Garstang, writing to
me from the Plymouth Laboratory under date December 13th, 1900,
quotes Mr. H. D. Geldart as vouching positively for its occurrence in
the headwaters of the Bure, and in some other streams of the county of
Norfolk, and now Mr. Edwards adds Worcestershire in the west to its
domain. Huxley, discussing the absence or apparent absence of these
crustaceans from localities in which they might have been expected,
says : ' It is still more remarkable that, according to the best information
I can obtain, they are absent in the Severn, though they are plentiful in
the Thames and Severn canal.' ^

The freshwater shrimp of which Mr. Edwards makes mention can-
not well be anything but Gammarus pulex. The only other amphipods
which the county is Hkely to possess are the subterranean species known
as ' well-shrimps.' For their occurrence, indeed, we may claim one
actual record, though whether it can strictly be called a specific record
is open to question. In their interesting historical account of the genus
Niphargus, Schiodte, Bate and Westwood include Worcestershire in the
list of EngUsh localities from which specimens had been obtained. The
specimens of which they are speaking are referred to the species Niph-
argus aquilex, Schiodte. The authors explain that they are found in
wells surrounded by very diverse geological conditions, and append the
following footnote : ' Shortly after the exhibition of the specimens
from Maidenhead, at the Linnsan [Linnean] Society, Mr. Edwin Lees
informed us of the discovery by himself of a specimen in water from the
well of his own residence in Cedar Terrace, Henwick, Worcester. This
well had been deepened in the preceding year into the red marl, which
is the formation under gravel. The animal had not been previously seen,
and only a single individual was observed.' * Since Bate and Westwood
record three species of Niphargus and one of Crangonyx from English
wells, since these small, pale, blind or purblind species are not so very
easy even for experts to distinguish, and since the authors do not claim
themselves to have seen the specimen from Cedar Terrace, it would be
rash to guarantee its belonging to Niphargus aquilex. But the prolonga-
tion of the third uropods, which are the hindmost tail appendages, is a
distinction between Niphargus and Crangonyx tolerably easy to observe,
so that we may with some confidence accept the generic determination

* Huxley, The Cra^sh, International Scientific Series, vol. xxviii. p. 288, ed. 3 (1881).
' British Sessile-eyed Crustacea, vol. i. p. 313.

128

CRUSTACEANS

as correct. Further records of these innocent and interesting animals,
which from their pellucid appearance may be supposed to live on water
as well as living in it, are much to be desired.

In regard to woodlice it may be observed that winter is an un-
favourable season for collecting them, as they then show little or no
activity and are more than ever withdrawn from view ; nor should it
be supposed that only the species which have been here mentioned are
likely to be found. Several others might be named as almost equally
certain to occur, but they may be allowed to bide their time till con-
jecture has been replaced by observation.

On turning to the Entomostraca we are confronted by possibilities
indefinitely larger. If inductive philosophy can in anything be trusted,
it will entitle us to affirm with supreme confidence that the waters ot
Worcestershire will yield Chydorus sphcericus and Daphnia pukx, for ex-
ample, among the Cladocera ; Cyclocypris serena among the Ostracoda ;
Cyclops viridis among the Copepoda. Mr. J. D. Scourfield, writing in
1897, says of the Entomostraca, 'The freshwater forms hitherto re-
corded may be estimated at 600, distributed as follows : Phyllopoda,
100; Cladocera, 200; Branchiura, 20; Ostracoda, 120; and Cope-
poda, 160. Of these we have in the British Isles, as far as yet known,
only about 190, namely Phyllopoda, 2 ; Cladocera, 75 ; Branchiura, i ;
Ostracoda, 58 ; and Copepoda, 54.' Of the three largely represented
groups several species have a more or less ubiquitous distribution. Of
the two phyllopods Apus cancriformis seems to be at present either very
rare in England or very seldom observed, whereas Chirocephalus diaphanus,
after passing out of sight for a time, is now regaining notice. A third
phyllopod, Artemia salina, was at one time well known as English, its
habitat at Lymington in Hampshire being repeatedly mentioned in
books concerned with Entomostraca. But it is no longer known at that
locality, and when two or three years ago I made enquiries about it
through a friend at Droitwich, this interesting brine shrimp was equally
unknown there. The manager of the salt works however obligingly
sent me some small beetles aHve in salt, in which he said they had
flourished for some weeks, having no other visible means of subsistence.
It will be remembered that Dr. Baird in his account of the brine
shrimps remarks that ' Their enemies, in such a fluid as the Artemia
inhabits, are not numerous ; but their chief foe is a small beetle allied
to the Dytiscus, which Mr. Joly observed at Montpellier, and proposes
to name Hydroporus salinus. When it meets an Artemia it darts at it
and bites it ; it then retires for a short time, but returns to the attack
again and again, till it succeeds, by numerous bites, in killing the poor
creature, and devouring it with astonishing avidity.' ' Between the
beetle and the shrimp our sympathy may be divided, for a diet exclu-
sively of salt must have a peculiar monotony, to relieve which we may
be sure that man himself would never hesitate to kill a crustacean. If
the Droitwich insects be the same as those observed at Montpellier, there

* Baird, British Entomosh-aca, p. 60, Ray Soc. (1850).
^ 129 K

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

is still a chance that where the foe exists there also the victim may be
found.

Of the Branchiura the single British species, Argulus foliaceus
(Linn.), parasitic on carp and trout and sticklebacks and some other
fishes, is likely to be met with wherever its hosts are systematically
searched for its discovery. It is easily recognized by its disk-like form
and the pair of suckers which represent the second maxillas.

Among parasites, which offer so rich a field for minute research,
two others may be mentioned as with little doubt occurring in Wor-
cestershire. These are the Copepoda, Achtheres percarum^ von Nord-
mann, and hernceopoda salmonea (Linn.). They agree in having one of
their pairs of jaws, the maxillipeds, modified for attachment to the body
of the fish they infest. As the specific names indicate, the former
species devotes itself to the perch, while the other gives a preference to
the salmon. The salmon, with its change of residence from salt water
to fresh, has the interesting privilege of changing its parasites, the
marine Copepoda forsaking it after it has left the sea, and giving place
to the freshwater Lernceopoda. But I have the authority of Mr. J. W.
Willis-Bund, F.L.S., of Wick Episcopi, Worcester, for including in the
fauna of the county the seafaring parasite which is found on the clean-
run salmon. The creature in question is named Lepeophtheirus stromii,
Baird. It is much less abnormal than the form with which it is wont
to change places, but still adaptation to life on the slippery body of a
fish has made it in some respects unlike the free-swimming members of
its order. It has a flattened appearance, the front division broadly oval,
the tail part long and narrow, but not nearly so long as the parts which
are frequently supposed to be its tail, namely, the two slender ovisacs,
or egg-bearing tubes, which are three or four times as long as the body.
The male is much smaller than the female. Mr. Willis-Bund has also
observed parasites on trout and on some of the Cyprinids. Of the latter
the carp is known to entertain Ergasilus sieboldii, von Nordmann, and
other members of the family support other Copepoda of various eccentric
shapes.

On the whole, then, it will be understood that if observed facts are
rather meagre for a carcinological history of Worcestershire, there are
very considerable natural opportunities for its future development.

130

FISHES

It has been the boast of Worcestershire that all the different kinds
of EngUsh freshwater fish are to be found in one or other of the rivers in
the county. There is more truth in this than in most of such generali-
zations, as the county is situate in the Severn and Trent watersheds.
With one or two exceptions nearly all the different species of freshwater
fish occur in the Severn and its tributaries, even if not in its Worcester-
shire tributaries ; so it is possible, but most improbable, from their present
condition that such of the English freshwater fish that are not found in
the Severn watershed may be found in the Worcestershire streams that
are the upper waters of some of the tributaries of the Trent.

Broadly speaking, for the purpose of the distribution of freshwater
fish in England and Wales, a Hne representing the oolitic rocks running
from Portland to the Humber divides the country into salmon rivers and
coarse fish rivers ; all east of the line being coarse fish, west of it salmon.
It is not to be understood that no salmon are found to the east of the
line, or coarse fish to the west, but that the eastern rivers are those suited
for coarse fish, and were probably the original home of those fish, while
the western rivers were the original home of the Salmonidce, and salmon
east of the line are mere survivals of a past state of things, while coarse
fish west of the line are immigrants. One of the interesting points as to
Worcestershire fish is the probability that originally there were no coarse
fish in its rivers, but that through its tributary the Avon the immigration
of coarse fish began. The date of this immigration it is perhaps im-
possible to fix, but it was no doubt aided and increased by the canals
made during the last half of the eighteenth and the first quarter of the
nineteenth centuries. In considering the Worcestershire fish the two divi-
sions must be borne in mind, the original inhabitants and the immigrants,
and these are broadly represented by the Salmonidee and the Cyprinidce.

Another great division of the Worcestershire fish, that is the Severn
fish, is with regard to the place of breeding ; several of the more important
kinds are what are known as anadromous fish, that is they go up the rivers
to spawn. These include the salmon {Salmo salar), the different forms of
trout (S. trutta), the two species of shad, the allice {Clupea alosd) and the
twaite {C. fintd) ; and the two species of lamprey, the great sea lamprey
[Petromyzon marinus) and the lampern (P. jiuviatilus) . The catadromous
fish, those that descend from the rivers to breed in the sea, are represented
only by the eel {Anguilla vulgaris), for although certain other forms drop
down the rivers at different times of the year they do not appear to do
so for breeding.

In order to keep up the stock of these two great divisions, the
anadromous and catadromous, one thing is necessary : that their passage up

131

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

and down the river should be unobstructed. To intercept their passage,
to catch them when migrating, all sorts of devices have been used and
invented, and the statute book is one long story of the attempts of
Parliament to secure a free passage for the anadromous fish. From
Magna Charta to the present reign, Act after Act has been passed for
this purpose, and it is not too much to say that none of them have been
effectual. In Worcestershire a great change as to anadromous fish has
been made in the last sixty years by the erection of weirs under the Severn
Navigation Acts, which have had the effect of retarding the passage of
fish up the river, partly by restricting the flow of the tide to below the
county boundary, partly by preventing the free run of the fish at all times.

Another cause that has operated on the supply of the anadromous
fish has been the erection of the large reservoir on the upper waters of
the Verniew, one of the Welsh tributaries of the Severn. This reservoir,
by impounding the rain-water, has diminished the number of spring and
summer freshets, with the result that the anadromous fish have so
many fewer opportunities of passing from the tidal to the fresh water,
and are detained in the upper tidal water for a length of time instead of
merely passing through it, and so are not only unable to come up but are
caught there in greater numbers than was formerly the case.

A further cause that has tended to decrease the number of the
anadromous fish is the fact that the law still allows the undiluted efiluent
from sewers to be discharged into a tidal river. The city of Gloucester
discharges not only all its sewage but also all its manufacturing refuse, and
after a storm, when the fish should be ascending the river, the sewers are
washed out by the storm-water, and this efiluent meeting the ascending
fish turns them back again to the estuary.

These three causes — the obstructions, the decrease of summer freshets
and the pollutions — have affected the stock of migratory fish in the
Severn, causing it to decrease largely. The flounder, which used to
ascend to Shrewsbury and beyond, is not now found above Worcester.
Shad and twaite are only casual visitors as far as Worcester, instead of
coming as formerly in cartloads. The number of lampreys is very small,
and the supply of lamperns is largely reduced. As to salmon and sea
trout, the same causes have diminished their numbers, but as to these
fish there are special reasons for their decrease ; but for the other anad-
romous fish the three causes above mentioned are the reasons they are
rapidly ceasing to be Worcestershire fish. As to the catadromous fish,
they too are largely decreasing in number, but this is not from the same
causes. No doubt the cessation of summer floods has something to do
with the catch being less than it used to be, for more eels were caught
in a number of summer freshets than are now caught in one or two
high floods. But the great cause of this falling off is the capture of
the young eels when they are ascending the river in the spring.
March, April and May, according to the weather, is the time for the
elvers to ascend, and they then ascend in millions. To give some idea of
the quantity caught, an elver would be about three inches long, and

132

FISHES

probably at least a dozen would be required to go to an ounce — say two
hundred to a pound. It is no unusual thing to take a ton of elvers in a
night, that is over a million and three-quarters. It is true that this is
only on the spring tides and for a few nights, but it may be said con-
fidently that in an average season from twenty to thirty million elvers are
caught. The facilities for catching have been greatly increased by the
erection of the weirs, yet surprise is sometimes expressed that the supply
of eels diminishes.

Passing from the division between anadromous and catadromous fish
a word should be said on the changes that have been made in the Severn
itself so as to render it less fit than formerly for Salmonidce and better
adapted for Cyprinidce. Before 1842 the shoals and fords on which fish
could spawn began from the point, or perhaps below the point, to which
the tide regularly ascended, and continued all the way up the stream.
The river was then more fitted for Salmonida than for Cyprinida ; but the
improvements required for the navigation have caused all these fords to
be dredged out and the river is practically turned into a canal. The result
is that there are about twenty miles of canalized river between the head
of the tideway and the first ford, all deep water, in no part of which
could a salmonoid fish spawn, but in any part of which he could be
netted. Further, across the water at intervals are placed four weirs that
require a rise in the river for the fish to get over them. This water
is now so well adapted for coarse fish that they increase and multiply in
it to an unlimited extent, as all netting for fish other than salmon is illegal
in the Severn district. The consequence is that certain kinds of fish, not-
ably pike and chub, have greatly increased. The increase in the fish food
has not been at all in proportion to the increase in numbers, the result
being that the fish have largely decreased in size, and although probably
in actual numbers there are more fish than there were, the average size
has greatly diminished. The lack of food has driven the coarse fish into
the tributaries, where they used never to be seen, with the result that
they have greatly thrived, and driven the trout higher and higher up the
streams so that the area of water now frequented by trout in Worcester-
shire is yearly decreasing, and that frequented by coarse fish increasing.

The Worcestershire fish are therefore undergoing a rapid change.
Probably in the course of this century the anadromous fish will have
become if not extinct at least only casual visitors, the catadromous fish
will be present in lessened numbers, while the streams will be peopled
mainly with Cyprinidce. The occurrence of any specimen of the
Salmonidce will be a noteworthy event.

As far as can be made out from any existing evidence the fish that
have hitherto been found in the Worcestershire rivers were very much
the same as at present. A hst of fish, but probably not an exhaustive one,
is given in 1678 by the Statute 30 Car. II., c. 9. There it appears that
the fish were salmon, trout, pike, barbel, chub and grayling. Salmon is
mentioned as ' salmon, salmon marl and salmon peal.' The salmon peal is
{Salmo truttd) the sea trout, but what the ' salmon marl ' is it is impossible

133

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

to say. Since 1678 barbel, if it existed then, has become extinct in
the Severn. The list is clearly not exhaustive, as no mention is made of
perch, ruffe, dace, roach. The Act makes it illegal to kill elvers or young
eels, a provision which was repealed and is now only partly re-enacted.

It will be seen from the following list, which represents the fishes
of Worcestershire at the present time, that out of the thirty-five English
freshwater forms thirty are met within the streams of the county. There
is no modern record of the barbel being a Severn fish, and although
common in the Trent it cannot get into the upper tributaries of that
river in Worcestershire from the Birmingham pollutions ; the same cause
stops the burbot. The Crucian carp has never been introduced into the
county. There are no lakes, so no lacustrine fish such as the char.

TELEOSTEANS

ACANTHOPTERYGII

1. Perch. Perca fluviatilhy Linn.

Found commonly in the Severn, Teme,
Avon, Salwarp, and most of the brooks, but
not nearly in such numbers as formerly. In
some large pools, such as Pirton and Sharply,
there are a considerable quantity, but the
Perch must be regarded as one of the
forms decreasing in number in the county.

2. Ruffe [Pope, Daddy Ruffe, Boar Pig].

Acerina cernua, Linn.
A very common, perhaps the commonest, fish
in the Severn and in the lower parts of all the
tributaries. It is steadily increasing in numbers.

3. Miller's Thumb [Bullhead, Cull]. Cottm

gobio, Linn.
Although not often seen, unless specially
looked for, this is a very common form in
most streams. It hides under stones and
roots in the day-time, and seems to feed
mostly at night.

ANACANTHINI

4. Flounder. Pleuronectes fiesus, Linn.
This fish used to ascend the Severn in

considerable numbers, and to be very com-
monly taken by anglers using a worm, but
since the erection of the navigation weirs at
Tewkesbury and Gloucester, its numbers have
fallen off considerably, probably because it is
only able to surmount these obstacles at high
tides. There are still a good many in the
Teme between the mouth and Powick Weir.

HEMIBRANCHII

5. Three-spined Stickleback. Gastrostcus

aculeatui, Linn.
Common in most of the ditches and back-

waters, but not often noticed, as when in the
water they are put down as minnows or young
fish. Probably most of those in Worcestershire
are the smooth-tailed form (G. liwrus, Cuv.).

6. Ten - spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus

pungittus, Linn.
Much more local than G. aculeatus, but
not uncommon ; when it occurs in brooks
it is said to be very destructive to ova and
fry.

HAPLOMI

7. Pike [Jack]. Esox lucius, Linn.

A very common and rapidly increasing
form in the Severn and all the tributaries.
The prohibition of freshwater netting in
the Severn a few years ago has led to an
enormous increase in the number of small
pike, which may now be found in almost
all the streams in the county.

OSTARIOPHYSI

8. Carp. Cyprinus carpio, Linn.

The carp is fairly common in ponds and is
occasionally found in the rivers, but it can
nearly always be traced to some pond from
which it has escaped.

9. Gudgeon. Gobio Jiuviati lis, Flem.

A very numerous species in the Severn and
most of the tributaries, and one that seems
increasing.

10. Roach. Leuciscus rutilus, Linn.

A very common and increasing form in all
deep still waters, especially in the Avon.

FISHES

11. Rudd. Leuciscus erythrophthalmus, hinn.
It is sometimes said that this is not a Wor-
cestershire form ; but if the usual tests sepa-
rating this fish from the roach are to be relied
upon, namely (i) the position of the dorsal
fin, (2) the rigid upper lip, (3) the brighter
red about the eye and fins, specimens of this
fish have been caught in pools in the county —
for instance, from some near Ripple.

12. Dace. Leuciscus dobula, Linn. {L. vul-

garis, Day).
A common form in streams on the Severn,
Teme, less so on the Avon. Common in
most of the brooks ; usually found below, or
at the foot of, a weir or in a mill-race.

13. Chub. Leuciscus cephalus, Linn.

The commonest fish in the county. Found
in all the rivers, and gradually pushing its
way further and further up the tributaries.

14. Minnow. Leuciscus phoxinus, Linn.
Common in particular places in clear

streams, but it has a habit of disappearing
from places where it was plentiful one year,
not a minnow being found there in the next ;
a decreasing species.

15. Tench. Tinea vulgaris, Cuv.

Found in a number of the pools in differ-
ent parts of the county, rarely in the rivers ;
but when such is the case, the fish has escaped
from some pool.

16. Bream. Abramis brama, Linn.

This fish is very common in the Avon,
and runs to a fair size ; its range is extend-
ing. It is by no means uncommon in the
Severn since the river has been deepened and
dredged, and has also ascended some of the
tributaries ; found in some number in the
deep holes in the lower Teme.

17. White Bream, Breamflat. Abramis

blicca, Linn.
This bream is said to be found in the
Avon, and to be becoming more plentiful
than formerly. It is a smaller fish than the
bream, and hardly ever exceeds a pound, if it
reaches that weight.

18. Bleak. Alburnus lucidus. Heck. & Kner.
A very common fish in the Severn and in

the lower parts of most of the tributaries, but
not as a rule found above the first serious
obstruction in any of them.

19. Loach. Nemachilus barbatulus, Linn.

A common form, but not often seen, as it
feeds at night and hides under stones and

roots in the day-time. It is sometimes used
for bait, but with that exception it is not
much sought for.

20. Spinous Loach. Cohitis tania, Linn.

A very local form. Although I have

never met with it myself, I have seen

specimens that I am informed came from
the county.

MALACOPTERYGII

21. Salmon [Samlet, Smolt, Botcher, Gilling].

Salmo salar, Linn.
A fairly numerous fish in the Severn and
certain of its tributaries ; the chief in Wor-
cestershire being the Teme and the Dowles.
In Worcestershire the number of clean run
fish taken is very small, probably not aver-
aging over 200 a year, all caught by net,
but in the autumn and winter very large
numbers are seen at the weirs, trying to
pass up, and on the spawning beds. The
young, before they are ready to migrate to
the sea, are locally called 'samlets ' ; when
ready to migrate, and having the silver scales,
' smolts ' ; on their first return from the sea,
' botchers ' ; the ' grilse ' of most rivers, on
their second return, ' gillings ' ; and after
that, ' salmon' ; while a salmon that has
spawned, and not since returned to the sea,
is called an ' old fish 'or 'a kelt.' In
Worcestershire all the salmon that are
legally caught are caught with a draft net.

22. Sea Trout [Sewin]. Salmo trutta, Linn.
For some reason this form, which is very

common in the estuary, does not run up the
Severn in any great numbers, and is not
often taken with a bait. The mesh of the
net that can lawfully be used for taking
it is so large (2 inches from knot to knot)
that the fish pass through it, so that probably
there are more fish in the river than are
observed. The marking on the form of
this fish found in the Severn differs con-
siderably to the marking on the Welsh sewin
(S. cambricus). The Severn form rarely ex-
ceeds 3 lb., and is generally from ^ to i^ lb.
In the winter larger fish ascend and are found
spawning in places where salmon cannot
reach. In the Severn the sea trout go up
the whole length of the river, and up the
Teme as far as Powick.

23. Trout [Brown Trout]. Salmo fario,

Linn.
Without going into the question whether
iS. trutta and 5. fario are or are not local
forms of the same species, here S. fario is

135

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

used to describe the fish found in the brooks
in the county, and which does not as a rule
migrate. So restricted, S. fario may be said
to be a common form in some of the brooks
and tributaries, but unfortunately decreasing
in numbers. Few trout are now found in
the Worcestershire part of the Severn itself,
except sterile specimens that have turned
cannibals, dropped down from some of the
streams, and taken up their abode usually
under one of the weirs. Originally all, or
nearly all, the streams and brooks in the county
held trout, and probably nothing else, but the
coarse fish are yearly driving the trout higher
and higher up the streams in which they still
are found. In some cases hybrid forms appear
as trout. Yearling trout have been obtained
from a distance, turned down, and bred with
the native fish, but it is doubtful if the result
is satisfactory. The quality of the Worcester-
shire trout varies greatly ; a trout from the
Teme itself is hardly ever in first-rate con-
dition, while trout from its tributaries are at
the same time in splendid order.

24. Grayling. Thymallus vexillifer, Linn.
The grayling is found in some numbers

in the Teme and its tributaries, but is not
now seen, except a chance specimen, in the
Severn itself in Worcestershire. In some of
the smaller streams which are suited to it
the grayling does more than hold its own, and
increases faster than the trout.

25. Allice Shad [Twaite, Shad]. Clupea ahsa,

Linn.
This fish, which was never very common,
as only stragglers run so far up the river, has

become very rare since the erection of the
navigation weirs, but is still taken in some
numbers in the river below Gloucester. It
ascends the river at the end of April and
May, but seems unable to pass up a fish
ladder, and unless the tide is high enough
to take the fish over the weir it now never
passes up.

26. Twaite [Shad, Twaite Shad]. Clupea

fintOy Linn.
This fish used to be caught in the Severn
and Teme in very large numbers every year.
It ascends in small shoals to spawn in May
and June. Like the shad it rarely if ever
passes through a fish pass, and only comes
up if there is a high tide and a freshet.
The shoals hardly ever contain more than
a dozen fish, but the number of these shoals
used to be very large. They take a bait
greedily and give most excellent sport with
a rod and line.

APODES

27. Eel. Anguilla vulgaris, Turt.

The commonest fish in the Severn and its
tributaries. The adult fish descend the river
from June to Christmas on every freshet, and
are caught in large numbers in fixed traps at
weirs and in large nets. They run to a large
size ; over 3 lb. is not uncommon, but the
average would be about | lb. The male eels
are called ' stick eels.' The young eels,
' elvers,' ascend the rivers in March, April
and May in enormous numbers, usually only
on the spring tide, and in greater numbers if
the wind is from one quarter — south-west.

CYCLOSTOMES

28. Lamprey [Lamprey Eel]. Petromyzon

marinus, Linn.
This form ascends the rivers to spawn in
May and June, but in decreasing numbers,
probably because the localities fit for spawn-
ing are becoming fewer. The most fre-
quented places at present are on the lower
Teme, where some may be seen every year.
On the Severn the fish are only taken at the
weirs on their way up to the Teme. The
fish work in pairs, and make a cavity in the
river bed, where the spawn is deposited. The
size of the stones they will remove is almost
incredible. Having spawned they drop back
into the deep water and are not seen again.

29. Lampern. Petromyzon fluviati In, Linn.
This form ascends the rivers in very large

numbers in any freshet from September to

March. It is found at all the weirs on the
Severn and Teme, and is taken in wicker
baskets, called ' wheels,' laid on the weirs,
into which they force themselves. They
spawn about March. A few years ago
they were taken in large numbers for bait
for cod, but this trade has now fallen off.

30. Pride [Lamprey, Vamprey]. Petromyzon
bronchia Us, Linn.
This form never exceeds four or five
inches, and is mainly used as a bait for
chub ; it may be found in the rivers all
the year round. In the autumn freshets
numbers of so-called pride are taken in the
eel nets, obviously descending to the sea, and
it seems doubtful if these are not either a
distinct species or the young of one of the
two other species.

136

REPTILES
AND BATRACHIANS

Great Britain possesses seven species of reptiles and six batrachians,
including the edible frog {Rana esculenta) , which is probably an intro-
duction from the continent. It has however ' come to stay,' and has
stayed so long that it may now fairly rank as a British species. Of these
thirteen species Worcestershire has eleven, five of the reptiles, and six
of the batrachians. It has both the lizards {Lacerta vivipara and L. agilis)
and the slow-worm {Anguis fragilis) . But all of them seem to be decreas-
ing in numbers, especially the slow-worm, which is now seldom seen
even in places where it was formerly common.

Two of the three snakes are also resident : the ring snake [Tropidonotus
natrix) and the adder {Vipera berus). There is no trustworthy record of
the third, the smooth snake {Coronella austriaca), having ever been seen
in the county, possibly because its favourite food the lizard is by no
means abundant. The ring snake is fairly common ; so is the adder in
certain places, especially in Wyre Forest.

Of the batrachians the common frog [Rana temporaria) is abundant
everywhere, but R. esculenta has not yet been found in the county. The
toad {Bufo vulgaris) is a common resident, but is at times more abundant
than at others. There are but few records of the appearance of the
natterjack toad {Bufo calamita) ; one was found on Dodderhill Common
on August 29th, 1860.^

Of the newts the great crested newt {Molge cristata) is common, so
is the common newt {M. vulgaris), but the palmated newt {M. palmatd)
is only locally plentiful. It is often confounded with and mistaken for
the common newt, whose company it frequents,

REPTILES

LACERTILIA has been found, as well as on Hartlebury

I. Common or Viviparous Lizard. Lacerta Common and in Wyre Forest.

vivipara, Jacq. 2. Sand Lizard. Lacerta agilis, Linn.
Although so abundant in the southern coun- Pennant, in his British Zoology (vol. iii.

ties of England, the present small species is p. 12, 1769) mentions a lizard which was

rare in Worcestershire, or at any rate very killed at Wollescote in the parish of Old Swin-

seldom observed, owing no doubt in some ford, Worcestershire, in 172 1, measuring 2 feet

measure to its unattractive appearance. There 6 inches in length, and having a girth of

is however every reason to conclude that 4 inches ; the forelegs were 8 inches from

careful search would discover it in localities the head, and the hind legs 5 inches from

where it has not yet been noticed. On them, and the legs themselves 2 inches in

the Ridgeway, which divides the counties length. That statement of dimensions is

of Worcester and Warwick, this small lizard wholly incredible, and doubtless Pennant was

1 Transactions iVorcestershire Naturalists' Club, i. p. 60.
137

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

misinformed as to the size of the creature ;
but there is one part of it which needs a
passing notice, namely, the very small girth
in relation to the length. The Rev. Mr.
Shephard, who first recorded the species as
British in the Transactions of the Linnean
Society for i8o2, described it as being up-
wards of a foot long. Professor Bell also, in
his History of British Reptiles, mentions hav-
ing seen lizards of this species approaching
that length, but the Rev. Leonard Jenyns,
whose accuracy is unquestionable, gives in his
Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 7 inches
as the total length.

The sand lizard is met with in Worcester-
shire : Pennant gives Tenbury, as well as the
places above mentioned, as a locality, and in
parts of Wyre Forest and near Kidderminster
it is still to be found. The present writer re-
ceived one, which was taken on the Worcester-
shire side of the park at Ragley, the seat of the
Marquis of Hertford, which measured a little
over 8 inches in length, and another of
smaller size, which was captured when remov-
ing some rubbish at the entrance to the ex-
cavations for gypsum at Spurnal near Alcester.
3. Slow-worm or Blind-worm. Anguis fra-
gilis, Linn.

This reptile, according to Hastings, is rather
less common than the snake, but whatever it

was in 1834, it is certainly rarer now. It
may occasionally be seen on elevated stony
places, but is almost unknown in the valleys.
It is still found in some numbers in parts of
Wyre Forest and in Habberley Valley.

OPHIDIA

4. Common or Ringed Snake. Tropidonotus

natrix, Linn. {Natrix torquata, Ray.)
Too numerous and too generally distributed
to require particular notice. In spite of per-
secution it holds its own. It is very common
in the damp osier-beds and coppices in the
Teme valley.

5. Common Viper or Adder. Vipera berus,

Linn.
A common reptile in all suitable localities,
such as waste sandy and stony places. In parts
of Wyre Forest it is very plentiful. Hastings
mentions the Trench Woods, the neighbour-
hood of Malvern, and the Breedon and Ab-
berley hills as localities where it is found,
and there are many other places in the
county which it frequents. At Cracomb
near Fladbury Mr. H. E. Strickland dis-
covered the variety known as the red viper,
of which he contributed an account to Low-
don's Magazine of Natural History which
appears at page 399 of vol. vi.

BATRACHIANS

ECAUDATA
Common Frog. Rana temporaria, Linn.

Common in every meadow, pool and ditch,
as well as on the margins of the streams.

2. Common Toad. Bufo vulgaris, Laur.
Common, but not so abundant as the frog.

The toad is easily tamed with gentle treat-
ment, and will follow the hand to take flies
from the fingers. Gardeners like to introduce
the toad into the cucumber and melon frame,
where it consumes a great quantity of insects
and sometimes attains to a great size. It is
far more plentiful in some years than in others.

3. Natterjack Toad. Bufo calamita (Laur.).
Although this toad is easily distinguished

from B. vulgaris by the yellow line on the
back, yet its appearance is very seldom re-
ported, partly because it usually occurs in places
where toads are not looked for, e.g. sandy
commons and wastes, and partly because to
most persons a toad is a toad and nothing
more. A specimen was taken in August,
i860, on Dodderhill Common,' and doubtless
other specimens would be found if looked for
1 Tram. Worcestershire Naturalises' Club, i. p. 60.

in similar and suitable localities. This toad
seems to live in colonies, and these colonies
migrate, disappearing from a locality for a time,
and then after an interval of longer or shorter
duration appearing again.

CAUDATA

Newt. Molge

4. Great Crested

Laur.
Common in stagnant waters, pools, ditches
and other places.

5. Common Newt. Molge vulgaris, Linn.
Like the last species it is found in stagnant

water, but more frequently out of it, in
damp cellars or other underground places.
It is also sometimes found in winter in holes
in banks of earth or rubbish.

6. Palmated Newt. Molge palmata, Schn.
Although this is the most widely distributed

of all the newts, yet its recorded occurrences
in Worcestershire are few, probably because
it has been mistaken for M. vulgaris, in
whose company it is often found. It can be
distinguished by the absence of colour on the
throat, which is of a pale flesh tint.

138

BIRDS

The Worcestershire birds are a subject of difficulty for two reasons,
(i) The very irregular shape of the county boundary makes it hard
to say what birds should or should not be included ; for instance, a bird
killed in an isolated parish surrounded by another county some distance
from its regular border, yet still a part of Worcestershire, and also the
case of birds killed on or near the boundary, when it is either a river or
a parish like Broadway jutting out into another county ; and (2) the
varied conditions of the different parts of the county which make it almost
impossible for any one observer to compile from his own knowledge an
accurate list of all the birds. In the north-west of the county the remains
of Wyre Forest give a list that is quite different from the southern dis-
trict, while the woodlands of the midland part have a bird population
distinct from that of the hills and open spaces on the western boundary.
The Severn and its tributaries make quite unexpected additions to the list.
While the increase of the population and towns in the north cause the
disappearance of much of the bird life that used to be found there,
the change in the cultivation, the improved farming, the increase of
market gardening, have made considerable change in the different species
met with in the south of the county.

Another difficulty is the old records. How far can they be relied
upon ? Their account of very uncommon and unexpected specimens must
be regarded with some distrust, e.g. the crane {Grus communis), especially
as the heron [Ardea cinerea) is often locally called the crane ; but it is not
safe to assert that the records, although suspicious in various cases, are
necessarily incorrect, as some very unexpected visitors, e.g. the two-barred
crossbill [Loxia bifasciata), have doubtless occurred.

The south of the county has been better observed than the other
districts, probably the Avon valley is the only part that has been really
thoroughly and satisfactorily worked, the result of which is the account
of the birds given in this History. Observers in other parts have not
made prolonged or systematic observations, although some very valuable
notes, such as those of Mr. Howard on the mid- Worcestershire birds,
have been published.'

The resident species of birds in the county is not a large list, and is
possibly a decreasing one. Out of the 207 species of birds mentioned
below as Worcestershire, the residents number but 60, and probably this Ust
will be annually further reduced. The visitors may be divided into regular
and casual, the regular containing some 45 out of the 147 are also decreas-

1 Zoologist, 1899, p. 259.

139

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

ing, as the constant change in the districts makes the places they used to
frequent less and less suitable for them. The casual visitors are the
increasing list, partly because a number of the former regular visitors must
now be placed in it, and partly because birds are at present more closely
observed than formerly ; so species that used not to be noticed are now
recorded.

Of the residents there are none that call for special notice, except
perhaps the blackcock {Tetrao urogallus), whose continued existence is a
survival of a different state of things, and due entirely to the fact that
until very recently the Crown held the Forest of Wyre. The red-legged
partridge [Caccabis rufa) is a modern introduction, the only set off against
the number of residents that have disappeared during the nineteenth
century. A small heronry still exists in Shrawley Wood, so that some of
the herons met with in the county are residents. Probably the snipe
{Gallinago ccelestes) has ceased to breed in Worcestershire, against this
there is evidence that the woodcock {Scolopax rusticula) breeds regularly
but sparingly. The losses include all the hawks but the sparrow-hawk
[Accipiter nisus) and the kestrel {Falco tinnunculus), all the owls but the
white owl [Strix Jiammea) and the brown {Syrnium aluco), most of the
water-birds — the wild duck {Anas boscas), moorhen {Gallinulo chloropus),
coot {Fulica atra) and dabchick {Podicipes Jiuviatilis) being now probably
the only real residents — and all the waders, if any ever bred here.

Of the two classes into which the visitors are divided, the regular and
the casual, the regular seem to be decreasing chiefly from the fact of the
change in the condition of things, yet it is difficult to get the regular
migrants to forsake their old haunts ; for instance, the Black Country
near Oldbury is the last place where snipe would be sought for, yet in the
autumn when they are migrating, jack snipe [Gallinago gallinula) are still
to be met with on some of the pools in that neighbourhood, while yearly
a few gulls and terns come up the Severn seeking the places they used to
frequent before drainage and improvement spoilt their feeding-grounds.

The casual list is swelled by those species that formerly came regularly
but now only come occasionally, such as some of the hawks, water-birds
and waders. In the Severn estuary a large number of the Anatidce
and Laridce are found regularly, these in old times, when the Severn
was tidal, came up with the tide to the marshes, which afforded them
shelter and food. Now the river in Worcestershire has been made non-
tidal by weirs and the Longdon Marshes have been drained these birds
only come occasionally. No gulls now breed in this county, those that
do come usually only appear in floods. Cormorants and shags have
a habit of wandering up the stream to meet the young salmon on their
migration downwards. The number of young salmon that migrate from
the Severn has very largely decreased, so that cormorants and shags are
very seldom seen within the Worcestershire boundary. But the casual
list has been largely increased, not only by regular visitants becoming
casuals, but also by the fact that every rare bird is now shot and stuffisd.
This has resulted in various additions to the Worcestershire list. For

140

BIRDS

instance, the gull-billed tern {Sterna anglicd) shot at Cofton reservoir and
the curlew sandpiper (T'ringa subarquatd) shot at the same place, have
both been added to the Worcestershire list by means of the common
gunner and the bird stuffer.

A noteworthy feature in respect of the bird population of the
county is the conversion into garden land of a large area in the southern
district. The great and recent extension of the gardening industry
around Evesham and Pershore, including many of the surrounding
villages, and amounting to thousands of acres, has effected a consider-
able change among the bird inhabitants. With the exception of a few
finches and starlings at all seasons, and of warblers in the spring and at
the period of ripe fruit, very few birds frequent these gardens. The pretty
and lively chaffinch has, however, a way of putting in an appearance on
the beds of early radishes, and the linnet is sure to be seen when the
various kinds of Cruciferce are ripening their seeds, while the bullfinch
fails not, if permitted, to pay his respects to the buds of the plum trees
and gooseberry bushes all through the winter. Against such birds, and
indeed all birds, the gardeners wage incessant war with the gun, so that
few birds remain in the gardening district.

The Severn valley is one of the great lines of bird migration across
England, the course of the Avon is another ; on two occasions the birds
have been seen passing over the county in the last-named line in actual
migration : once in the town of Evesham and once in the village of South
Littleton. Unfortunately there is no record of the dates, but on the
first occasion, the night being very still and dark, the birds were seen in
countless numbers passing over Evesham in a north-easterly direction,
only just clearing the chimneys, their white belHes being strongly illu-
minated by the street lamps. They were quite within gunshot, and
were witnessed by many townspeople, who came out of doors to see what
was a very remarkable sight. On the other occasion the night was very
bright and moonlight, and some very small bodies, mere specks, were
observed passing in front of the moon, which proved to be birds at a
great height, also travelling, so far as could be determined, in a north-
easterly direction.

Birds doubtless on migration have many times been heard though
not seen passing over in the night. Mr. T. E, Doeg of Evesham, a good
ornithologist, fixes a date in the following communication to the Evesham
Journal of October 6th, 1899 : ' Probably some of your readers who,
hke myself, are often awake during the midnight hours, may have
been interested during the past month in noticing the great number of
migratory birds that have been passing over our district on passage from
their breeding haunts in the far north to the more genial cHmate of the
southern countries, where they spend the winter. They were particularly
numerous on the very dark night of September 6th, when, from a little
before twelve until after two o'clock, there was almost a constant stream
of them passing over the town.' None of the birds were visible on the
night mentioned.

141

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

The classification of the species as well as the nomenclature used
in this article has been taken from Saunders' Manual of British Birds, 2nd
edit., 1899.

Bearing in mind what has already been said of the nature of the
county boundary and of the number of streams which pass in or out of it,
which streams it should be remembered are the highways of many birds,
it has been decided to introduce into the present list certain species which,
though not actually killed in the county, have been so at places so near
to it as to leave no reasonable doubt of their connection with it. Such
species are bracketed thus [ ], and their exact locality particularized, to
distinguish them from those which are strictly Worcestershire birds.

A few words on what has already been done to enumerate the birds
of Worcestershire are desirable.

The earlier published lists of Worcestershire birds are extremely
incomplete and not very accurate. One of the first is the Illustrations of the
Natural History of Worcestershire, by Dr. (afterwards Sir) Charles Hastings,
which appeared in 1834. It does not profess to give anything more than
a selection of the most remarkable animals, but having been prepared
under the auspices of a great authority on ornithology, H. E. Strickland,
and contributed to by Mrs. Perrot, who at one time gathered material
for a history of British birds, it is worthy of very careful consideration.
It includes not only birds, but also mammals, reptiles and fish.

In Stanley's Worcester Guide, published about 1855, there is a list
of the birds occurring round the city. It is believed it was prepared by
Mr. Martin Curtler of Worcester, a gentleman whose name appears in
the following pages, and who has a good collection of Worcestershire birds.

A Hst of the birds in the Malvern district by Edwin Lees appeared
in the Transactions of the Malvern Naturalists' Field Club for 1870, but
the record is not very satisfactory. After mentioning the goosander and
the red-breasted merganser, the author speaks of the dun-diver as a dis-
tinct species in the following words : ' Dun-diver {M. castor, Linn.)
killed on the Teme, February, 1870.' The last-named bird is however
either the female goosander or the pochard [Fuligula ferina), which is
locally called the ' dun-bird.' Again the ' yellow-legged gull {Larus fus-
cus)' is mentioned as being occasionally found on the Avon and Teme.
But L. fuscus, although yellow-legged, is the well-known lesser black-
backed gull, and appears under that name in every work on British
ornithology ; while the real yellow-legged herring gull (L. cachinnans)
has only been once met with in Great Britain. Of the Anatidce Mr.
Lees gives a medley of sixteen species, all of which are said to appear in
the autumn and winter, but he includes the garganey or summer teal,
which only appears in the spring and during the summer.

In 1889, a list of Worcestershire birds appeared in Hardwicke' s Science
Gossip, by F. G. S. A., under the title of 'Notes on Worcestershire Birds.'
It enumerates 118 species.

In 1 89 1 Mr. Willis Bund printed a tabular and systematic list of
the birds which had been met with in the counties of Worcester, Here-

BIRDS

ford, Gloucester, Oxford, Warwick, Stafford and Shropshire. It is by-
far the most complete list of the birds of Worcestershire which has been
compiled, but it is a list only, and supplies no details respecting the
species occurring in the county. As the notices of the appearance of
some of the birds were supplied by the present writer, certain of the
following records are identical with some given in that list.

While fully conscious of the many imperfections of the present
list of the birds of Worcestershire, the very little help which has been
rendered by previous writers must not be forgotten, and may plead for
the indulgence which is due to what is really the first attempt to deal
with the matter systematically. That there are scattered notices of species
occurring in our county which have been overlooked in it there is no
doubt ; while closer observation would doubtless bring to light the
occurrence of birds of which so far there is no record.

Saunders in his Manual of British Birds (2nd ed., 1899) gives the
total number of British species as 384, an addition of 14 from 1889,
when the first edition of his book was published. He thus classifies the
birds : Birds that have bred in Britain in the nineteenth century, 199 ;
birds that are regular winter migrants, 45 ; birds of infrequent occur-
rence, 66 ; birds that have occurred fewer than six times, 74.

The following is a comparative table of the Worcestershire birds
with that of Mr. Saunders : —

Birds that have bred in British Birds that have bred in Worces-

Isles in nineteenth century . 199 tershire in nineteenth century 90

Winter visitors 45 Winter visitors 18

Infrequent visitors .... 66 Infrequent visitors .... 56

Occurred less than six times . 74 Occurred less than six times . 43

384 207

It must not be however assumed that these last two classes at all
correspond, many of the infrequent visitors to Worcestershire are in-
cluded in the birds that have bred in the British Isles, e.g. the buzzard
and the little owl, while many of those that have occurred less than six
times here are fairly common birds elsewhere, e.g. eider duck, stormy
petrel and other water-birds.

I. Missel-Thrush. Turdus viscivorus, Linn."^ not hesitate to help himself to articles put out
This the first bird on the Worcestershire to dry on the garden hedge. The nest of one
list is becoming scarcer of late years. It is of these birds at Cleeve Prior was found to
one of the most harmless of our birds, while have a yard of lace woven into its substance,
it is our earliest musician, pouring forth a while from the lining of another was taken
sweet wild song from the very top of some a quantity of thick soft string, such as is
tall tree almost before the frost and snow of sometimes used to tie sacks of corn. Deal
winter have disappeared. But he is a sad shavings which had been swept out of a car-
thief when material for the construction of a penters' shop were largely used in the con-
nest is wanted, and, like FalstafTs soldiers, will struction of a nest, while shreds of bast matting

from a garden were found to enter largely into
1 When the name of an individual following the the composition of another. But the most re-
name of a species is included in round brackets it markable choice of material for a nest is the
indicates that the original describer of the species following : The dairy women in the valley of
did not adopt the generic name now used. the Avon wrap their pounds of butter in small

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

pieces of white calico, a great many of which,
having been washed, were laid on a cropped
garden hedge to dry. A considerable number
were found to be missing, but the real thief
was not suspected until the pieces of calico
were discovered worked with a liberal mixture
of dry grass, roots and mud into a nest of a
missel-thrush in an adjoining orchard.

The early-constructed nest of this bird, al-
ways in some naked tree or large bush, is seen
at once by every marauding magpie who hap-
pens to come that way, discovery and de-
struction are with him one and the same.
The magpie will perch on the side of the nest,
and despite the clamour of the thrush, deliber-
ately devour either eggs or young, or both.

2. Song-Thrush. Turdus musicus, Linn.
Though well known everywhere, the song-
thrush is not generally suspected of being a
very great consumer of snails. Yet there is
no other bird which devours them wholesale
as this thrush does. At all seasons when these
gasteropods are obtainable the thrush smashes
their hard shell on a stone to get at the con-
tents, and being by no means a shy bird, espe-
cially where there are no guns, the breaking-
up process may be readily observed. The bird
takes the snail by the lip of the shell, and
raising itself up to its full height, brings it
down on the stone, and continues the process
until the shell is so much broken that the soft
mollusc can be extracted, it is then torn to
pieces and swallowed. Even the large garden
snail, He/ix aspersa, is not proof against the
smashing powers of the thrush, while the shells
of all the smaller banded snails are easily mani-
pulated.

3. Redwing. Turdus iliacus, Linn.
Arriving in this country earlier in the win-
ter than the fieldfare, the appearance of the
redwing is not so easily noted on account of
its general resemblance to the song-thrush. Its
mode of flying will however readily distinguish
it. When put up it hurries off in a rapid and
twisting flight, taking an upward direction,
and very rarely near to the ground, as is ob-
servable with the song-thrush when disturbed.
Whether the redwing feeds in the winter on
anything more than hedge fruit and an occa-
sional insect I am not able to say, but it has
not been observed like the song-thrush and
blackbird to have recourse to a special diet,
nor yet to feed on turnips or other roots like
the fieldfare.

4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn.
During very hard winters fieldfares suffer

very severely, and even die of starvation after

the fruit of the whitethorn has been consumed.
At such times they frequent fields of swede
turnips to feed, and attack the roots of that
plant, often doing considerable mischief, for
those roots which have been broken into by
the bird rot off towards the spring. I have
seen carrots, as well as turnips, which have
thus been damaged by fieldfares.

[White's Thrush. Turdus varius, Pallas.

Although this rare bird has not as yet been
met with in Worcestershire, one has been shot
at Welford in Gloucestershire, which lies on
a tongue of land running between the counties
of Warwick and Worcester, and so near the
boundary of the latter county that it may very
properly be mentioned here. The occurrence
was recorded by the present writer in one of
the early volumes of the Ibis.']

5. Blackbird. Turdus merula, \^'\nn.
Blackbirds, like song-thrushes, feed largely

on snails, but instead of selecting the large
ones they take the very smallest and swallow
them whole. During the winter months the
blackbird turns over the dead leaves lying in
the bottom of woods, coppices, shrubberies and
hedgerows for the small molluscs or crustaceans
concealed beneath them, and if approached
cautiously when so engaged, may be seen
flinging the leaves alternately to the right
and left while eagerly prosecuting his search.

6. Ring-Ousel. Turdus torquatus, Linn.
This bird is generally seen in Worcester-
shire as a passing visitor in the spring and
autumn, sometimes remaining for a week or
more on its journey. It was ' of unfrequent
occurrence ' when Sir Charles Hastings wrote
in 1834. Lees, 1870, records it as an
autumnal visitor only in the vicinity of Mal-
vern, but Mr. W. Edwards of that place
found a nest containing four eggs near there
in 1877. The berries of the mountain ash
appear to be a great attraction to it.

7. Wheatear. Saxicola oenanthe (Linn.).
Two very distinct races of wheatears visit

us in the spring and autumn, but so far as
I know, only temporarily : the one a small
variety, and the other materially larger and
more delicately coloured. Lees says that a
few wheatears frequent the Malvern Hills and
breed, but he gives no particulars, and indeed
does not appear to have recognized the two
varieties. The smaller wheatear is the less
common the earlier to arrive, and is never
seen except on the ground. The larger one
comes two or three weeks later, and often
alights on hedges, bushes, and even trees, flit-
ting from tree to tree along a hedgerow. I

144

BIRDS

have seen the latter bird frequenting the bro-
ken stony ground on the highest point of the
Cotteswold range about Cheltenham in the
summer, and from the solicitude of the bird
entertained no doubt of the existence of a nest
somewhere near ; and as that locality is not
very distant from the Malvern Hills, it is
probable that it was the large w^heatear which
Lees observed.

8. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.).
This is during the whole of the summer

one of the commonest of our migratory birds,
freely nesting in the fields and meadows, the
nest being very frequently mown over in the
hay-making season.

9. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.).
The stonechat is much less common than

the whinchat, and is resident. It frequents not
only barren stony places, but also cultivated
fields, and may not infrequently be seen perched
on the very top sprig of a roadside hedge. The
considerable difference in the plumage of the
sexes enables the observer to determine at a
glance when there are two together that they
are a pair ; as that is often the case even in
mid-winter it seems not unlikely that the
stonechat pairs for life. The nest is usually
so well concealed that it is most difficult to
find. Generally speaking, some piece of waste
land is chosen where the nest will not be laid
bare by the scythe. I have found it on the
Worcestershire side of the Malvern Hills,
where it is said by Lees to appear as a
summer visitor — but it is certainly a resident
bird.

10. Redstart. Ruticilla phcEnicurus {Lmn.).
The redstart is one of the earliest of our

summer migrants to visit us and is regularly

require more than a notice of him as a Wor-
cestershire bird.

13. Nightingale. Daulias luscinia {Lmn.).

The nightingale is plentiful in the valleys
of the Severn, the Avon and the Teme, and
such parts of their tributaries as run through
low and fertile places ; the higher and com-
paratively barren regions of the county are not
frequented by this unrivalled songster. But
in even the most favoured spots the number
of nightingales varies greatly from year to
year. One year they may be heard in almost
every brake and hedgerow, and in another be
thinly scattered, their numbers being readily
known by their song. It would not be diffi-
cult to make a census of the nightingales in a
given area by counting the birds heard singing.

[Northern Nightingale. DauUas philomela.

About the middle of June, 1879, I heard
the song of some bird, with which I was
wholly unacquainted, proceeding from a thick
brake of umbelliferous plants, white with blos-
som, in the orchard of a house in South
Littleton. It was a very loud, clear and
continuous song. Proceeding very cautiously
I approached quite near to the bird and saw
him very distinctly, and indeed watched him
for some time. He was of an uniform
brown colour, a little paler beneath, and the
throat, swollen by song, appeared to be quite
white. I have subsequently examined pre-
served skins of the northern nightingale and
do not hesitate to identify the bird I saw with
that species. The only discrepan " lies in
the colour of the throat, which is i white,
though light-coloured, in the skins. I may,
however, observe that Temminck in his work

the birds of Europe says, ' Gorge blanche.,

distributed, nesting indiscriminately in holes of entourh de gres fonce; which agrees pretty accu

trees, walls or buildings, usually but not al-
ways so far within as not to be seen from
outside, and generally discovered, if at all, by
the bird flying out. The old orchards of
Worcestershire are very favourite places with
the redstart, and the nest is often in a hole in
an aged apple tree.

11. Black Redstart. Ruticilla ///;ij (Scopoli).
The occurrence of this bird in Worcester-
shire was for some time doubtful, resting on
the statements of one having been seen at
Cracombe, near Evesham. Mr. W. Edwards
has, however, disposed of the doubt by the
following note : ' Black Redstart found dead
in the Priory Church, Malvern, in 1884.'

12. Redbreast. Erithacus rubecula (Linn.).
Though one of the most interesting of our

resident birds, the robin is too well known to

rately with what I saw. Herr Gatke met
with the northern nightingale once only in
Heligoland, and he observes, ' It would there-
fore appear that of the many migrants visiting
this island from high northern latitudes, or the
far east, few persist with such stubbornness in
the north-to-south direction of their line of
flight as does this species.']

14. Whitethroat. Sylvia cinerea (Bechstein).
The present species is so common and so
well known all through the summer that it
may pass with the remark that it is heard in
every hedge bottom and almost every bush.

15. Lesser Whitethroat. Sylvia curruca
(Linn.).
Although this bird is a common summer
visitor it is not nearly so abundant as the last-
45 L

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

named, and it is not heard in the rubbish of
a hedge or ditch, but more frequently from
some tree or tall bush. The nest, which is
extremely fragile, but nevertheless a very beau-
tiful structure, is almost alw^ays placed at some
little distance from the ground, sometimes in-
deed high enough to enable the obsen'er to
walk under it and see the eggs through the
bottom.

1 6. Blackcap. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.).
The blackcap is one of our early summer

visitors, but as his song is not heard on his
arrival his first appearance is unobserved.
When however in Aill song his sweet wild
melody proclaims his presence. Although
somewhat of a mimic his music will never
be taken for that of any other bird, for how-
ever much he may imitate, his finishing notes
are always his own and quite unmistakable.

17. Garden- Warbler. Sylvia hortensis {^tzh-

steiii).
This bird is never so common as the
blackcap, is more strictly a sylvan species,
and certainly not, as the name implies, a fre-
quenter of gardens. The song is a low, sweet
and continuous warble, but has none of the
wild music of the blackcap's.

18. Dartford Warbler. Sylvia undata (Bod-

daert).
I am unable to add anything to the state-
ment made many years ago by Hastings of
the occurrence of this bird at Springhill, near
Broadway, excepting to observ'e that the
brakes of furze which are there of consi-
derable extent are very suitable to the
habits of this species.

19. Goldcrest. Regului crntatm^Y^.l^.YiQzh.
We have a considerable number of gold-
crests which breed with us, and the place for
which preference is shown for the nest is the
horizontal bough of a yew. Other evergreen
trees are resorted to, such as the spruce fir,
and even ivy-clad trees and bushes are some-
times selected. There is not, however, any
doubt that the greater number of these small
birds observed in Great Britain in the win-
ter are autumn visitors which depart in the
spring. The goldcrest is not uncommonly
seen throughout the winter in the company
of tits searching among the branches and
sprigs of trees in woods and coppices, and
uttering its small plaintive note, so unlike
its merry song of the breeding season.

[Firecrest. Regulus ignicapillm (Brehm).
On two occasions at least this species has
been met with in near proximity to the county

of Worcester, once at Weston-on-Avon, and
once at Dorsington, both places in the north-
east corner of Gloucestershire, and by the side
of the Avon. The first was seen by the pre-
sent writer in a large ivy-grown hedge, and
being shot proved to be a male, and the second
was also seen and recognized but not shot. It
is also reported to have occurred near Worces-
ter. The motions of both more nearly resem-
bled those of a tit than of a goldcrest.]

20. ChiffchafF. Phylloscopus rufus (Bechstein).
A common summer visitor, though not so

abundant in Worcestershire as the willow-
warbler. It is our very earliest migrant,
having been heard in the vale of the Avon
as soon as the last day of February. That
was in 1 846, when the writer both heard and
saw one busily engaged in searching some
hawthorn bushes for insect food.

21. Willow- Warbler. Phylloscopus trochilus
(Linn.).

Locally, Willow-Wren.
This bird so closely resembles the chifFchaff
as to be difficult to distinguish from it, yet
the two are quite distinct both in their song
and the coloration of the eggs.

22. Wood -Warbler. Phylloscopus sibilatrix
(Bechstein).

Locally, Wood-Wren.
Although bearing considerable resemblance
to the chiffchafF and willow-warbler the
present species will not be confounded with
them, being larger, and the wings relatively
smaller. It is much less abundant than either
of them, and appears to prefer trees in woods
and coppices rather than hedges or brakes, and
its song, which is a peculiar sort of trill, is
often heard from some tall tree, frequently
from its very top. The nest which, like
those of the chiffchafF and willow-warbler,
is on or near the ground and is domed, instead
of being lined with feathers is lined with
horse-hair.

23. Reed - Warbler. Acrocephalus streperus
(Vieillot).

As the name imports the present noisy little
bird frequents beds of reeds, and in fact a reed
bed is almost a necessity to it. Occasionally
it will be heard in osier aits or in beds of
willow-bushes, or indeed amongst other tall
plants, but only where there are no reeds.
The nest is always suspended between the
vertical stems of reeds, osiers, or other up-
right plants by the side of river or pond. Its
abundance or the reverse appears almost wholly
to depend on the presence or absence of reed
beds.
46

BIRDS

24. Marsh - Warbler. Acrocephalus palustris

(Bechstein).

A bird, which has subsequently proved to
be the marsh-warbler, was known to visit the
valley of the Avon in the counties of War-
wick, Gloucester and Worcester, as a summer
migrant more than thirty years since. The
first one observed frequented some very high
beans by the side of the Avon at Welford,
about five miles down stream from Stratford.
Others were subsequently heard and seen, but
it was not until the summer of 1887 that the
species was satisfactorily determined, when two
were shot by the author, whose attention was
called to them by their unmistakable song and
by their particular movements. Since that time
others have been noted. In 1888 four were
heard, all in the same neighbourhood, namely,
in the valley of the Avon, near Littleton.
After that date others were noted, and in the
middle of June, 1892, a pair were seen by
the author in some rank herbage in the bottom
of a deserted stone quarry, when on search
being made a nest was found suspended be-
tween the stems of some nettles. But an
animal of some kind had apparently rushed
through the nettles and pushed the nest aside
so that it could no longer be made use of.
It contained one egg. Another nest was
speedily constructed near the spot, and was
found to be suspended between the stems of
some umbelliferous plants. The pair of birds
were watched going to and from the nest
until four eggs were laid, which with the
one in the first nest made up the full number,
and after an interval of a few days, during
which no more eggs were laid, both nests
with the eggs were taken.

Since the date above mentioned, the marsh-
warbler has been repeatedly heard in the same
neighbourhood, and no doubt remains that it
is a regular summer visitor with us, though
not in any considerable numbers. It is a
thorough mimic and has been heard to imitate
the notes of the skylark, swallow, sparrow,
chaffinch, blackbird, thrush, starling, partridge,
and some others, which are mixed and blended
with its own notes into a low but very sweet
song. The precise spots chosen by the
marsh-warbler are such as are frequented by
the common whitethroat and the sedge-
warbler, but it has not been heard in the
reed beds of the Avon.

25. Sedge- Warbler. Acrocephalus phragmitis

(Bechstein).

A common bird all through the summer,
and its chattering song may be heard in every
hedge, and almost every bush. The place

chosen for the nest corresponds with that
selected by the whitethroat.

26. Grasshopper-Warbler. Locustella navia

(Boddaert).
Although the grasshopper-warbler cannot
be said to be a rare bird in Worcestershire, it
is by no means abundant, and is very local,
being more frequently heard in the western
part of the county than in the north or the
eastern side. It occasionally haunts corn,
more especially barley-fields, in which there
is little doubt it sometimes breeds. The
few nests the writer has seen were all placed
directly on the ground ; one of them on a
steep grassy hedge bank, and three others
in a field of Italian rye-grass. The latter
were all exposed at the same time by the
scythe in a field near the Avon. By ap-
proaching cautiously the parent bird could be
seen upon the nest, which had then nothing
to hide it, and would creep off out of sight,
having more the appearance of a mouse than
a bird. All the three nests were made of
the withered leaves of the rye-grass, and the
lining was of the same but of finer leaves.

[Savi's Warbler. Locustella lusctnioides {Ss-vi).

The present species is included by Mr.
Willis Bund in his list of Worcestershire
birds, and also in the list of the county of
Salop. A small bird having the size and
colour of Savi's warbler has been seen several
times during the summer in an osier bed in
the Avon, a few miles up stream from Eve-
sham. On the first occasion it was seen both
by the author and his brother, and in the
following year by his brother, near the same
spot. The habit of these birds was to creep
up an osier quite to the top, and then take a
short flutter upwards and float down on open
wings somewhat as a tree-pipit does from the
top of a bush or tree. The short flights were
often repeated, but there was no song of any
kind.]

27. Hedge - Sparrow. Accentor modularis

(Linn.).
It is unnecessary to dwell upon this very
common resident which may be seen every
day about our dwellings.

28. Alpine Accentor. Accentor collaris (Sco-

poll).
An alpine accentor was shot several years
since near the village of Ettington, a few
miles from Stratford-on-Avon, and is still pre-
served in a case of local birds. As Ettington
lies almost on the line of division between the
counties of Warwick and Worcester, the bird

[47

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

may with equal probability have been killed
in either county. An enquiry made with a
view to determine the point only proved that
it was shot near the village.

The present species has been reported to
have visited the Malvern Hills, but there is no
mention of it in the list compiled by Lees.

29. Dipper. Cinc/us aquaticus, Bechstein.

So long ago as 1834 Sir Charles Hastings
wrote of the dipper as ' of unfrequent occur-
rence ' in the county; and Lees, in 1870,
reports it as ' becoming rare ' in the neigh-
bourhood of Malvern. It is still by no means
scarce on the tributaries of the Severn and
Teme on the Herefordshire side of Wor-
cestershire, on some of which it nests annu-
ally. In 1896 there was a nest on the Teme
within two miles of Worcester. In other
parts of the county it is much less common.
Occasionally, but only very occasionally, one
is shot on one or other of the small streams
which feed the Avon, and some have been
seen in very immature plumage on the Avon,
leaving no doubt that they were bred there.

[Bearded Reedling. Panurus hiarmicus
(Linn.).
Locally, Bearded Tit.

This bird can only be mentioned as a pro-
bable former inhabitant of Worcestershire, and
the ground for the belief that it did at one
time frequent some parts of the county may
be briefly stated as follows : It has been traced
up the Thames into Gloucestershire and the
upper reaches of the river are fed by stream-
lets which pass through parts of Worcester-
shire, in which, where reeds grow, the bird
would find suitable haunts. In the second
edition of Pennant's British Zoology, the
author relates having seen the bearded tit
near Gloucester, and it is more than merely
probable, therefore, that the reed beds of the
Severn and its tributaries would be frequented
by it.]

30. Long-tailed Tit. Acredula caudata (hinn.).
This is one of the numerous birds found in

our county, which, though hardly to be styled
rare, is nevertheless not often seen in places
where years ago it was common. Its beautiful
nest is so conspicuous that, except in very
little-frequented districts it stands no chance
of escaping notice and destruction. The nests
are still brought into the Worcester market
for sale as curiosities, in spite of the Wild
Bird Acts.

31. Great Tit. Pants major, Linn.

The great tit is a bird which can well take
care of himself, and there is no danger of the
species becoming a rarity. No food is more

to his taste than the seeds of the sunflower.
Years ago that handsome plant might be seen
in almost every garden, and this bird, as well
as the blue tit, fed freely on its ripened seeds,
but for a long period the sunflower was but
rarely grown. Quite recently, however, it
has again made its appearance, though not
so abundantly as formerly, and the tits are
again busy in the autumn with the great disc-
shaped heads. Nuts also at that season are
much relished by the great tit, but their
kernels are difficult of access. The heads of
the garden poppy are often broken into by
this bird, not however to reach the seed,
but for the earwigs which are always con-
cealed in them. The rough stone walls
around the village of South Littleton furnish
very favourite nesting-places for this tit,
where however their eggs or young are not
infrequently destroyed by mice.

32. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn.

Of all our tits, excepting the long-tailed
tit, the present species is the least common in
Worcestershire ; and from the circumstance
that the nest is very rarely if ever found in
the county, it seems probable that it is only a
winter visitor to us. In the southern coun-
ties it is far more abundant at all seasons. It
is a shy bird, having but little if any of
the impudence which is so conspicuous in
some of the tits, giving way to all the other
species when food is put out for their use in
the winter. The coal-tit is not infrequently
seen in the company of the goldcrest searching
the tops of coppice trees and overgrown hedge-
rows.

33. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn.
Second in degree of infrequency in the

county is the marsh-tit, and it is most com-
monly seen in small companies in woods,
coppices and brakes, and not often near
houses and homesteads. A nest of which
I made a particular examination, was in the
soft touchwood of a pollard withy tree ; the
hole which contained it having been exca-
vated by the pair of birds, which I watched
bringing out the fragments of decayed wood.

34. Blue Tit. Parus caruleus, Linn.

This is one of the birds which can adapt
itself to such varying conditions that there is
no probability of its becoming rare, or even
fewer in number, besides which it appears to
be a prolific species. A pair of these birds
took possession of the letter-box at the house
where the present writer at one time dwelt,
and having constructed a nest in it an egg
was laid. The nest and egg were removed

[48

BIRDS

on account of the birds doing damage to the
letters, but still eggs were laid, and had to be
taken out every day until sixteen was reached,
when the place was abandoned by the birds.

35. Nuthatch. Sitta casta. Wolf.

The nuthatch is a fairly common bird in
the county, and its grating '• gurra gurra ' may
be often heard. Although the nuthatch does
not excavate for itself, its well-known habit
of closing with mud the entrance to the place
in which the nest is placed to the size required
for the ingress and egress of the bird, is a
very great protection against the interference
of birds larger than itself. In an old ash tree
in the South Littleton churchyard was a hole
of which a pair of nuthatches took possession
and narrowed the entrance to keep out a
pair of starlings which had inhabited it for
several years. The mud used was from a
road maintained with lias stone, which when
dry was almost as hard as stone itself, and
most effectually kept the starlings from en-
tering. The entrance to the hole in which
the nest of the nuthatch is placed is not
always narrowed. A pair of these birds reared
their young in an old wall on the premises
of the writer, and the entrance was not in
any way contracted.

36. Wren. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch.
Locally, ' Jenny Wren.'

The wren is without exception the most
prying little bird we have, and its food ap-
pears to consist of very small insects or eggs,
which are procured by unceasing and close
search in everything that comes in its way
either on the ground or near to it, for the
wren, unlike the tits and the goldcrests, is
never seen feeding in the tops of trees. The
inquisitiveness of the bird when on the banks
of the Avon sometimes leads to a rather curi-
ous ending. Eels are taken in the summer
by means of wicker traps, large baskets locally
' putcheons,' which are taken out of the water
in the autumn and laid by to dry previously
to being stored away for the winter. These
are found almost invariably to contain wrens
which have entered the aperture for the eels,
and have failed to find the way out.

A very extraordinary choice of a place for
its nest is sometimes made by this little bird.
A pair of trousers, belonging to a man who
had been engaged in the village of South Little-
ton, had been hung up to dry on a line and left
there some time. When they were taken off
the line a small bird flew out, which proved
to be a wren which had constructed a nest in
them. The garments were immediately re-
placed on the line and from the nest a brood

of wrens was successfully reared and took
flight.

37. Tree-Creeper. Certhia familiaris, Linn.
Although the tree-creeper is not rare it

is far from numerous, and its nest is but sel-
dom seen. Three nests examined by the
author were in very dissimilar places. One
was in a crack in an old mud wall forming
the back of a cowshed in the corner of a pas-
ture field, and was composed principally of
red cow-hair. The second was placed in the
fork of a large pear tree, just where two large
vertical arms separated a little, and then united
above leaving a slit below. The third one
was attached to the inside of a piece of loose
bark on a pollard withy by the side of the
Avon near Cleeve Prior. It was discovered
by the bird flying out. Some weeks after-
wards the piece of bark was torn down, when
the young had evidently flown. The nest
was found snugly occupying a recess inside the
bark, and was formed principally of what ap-
peared to be bits of stick, which proved on
examination to be the dead and dried up suc-
culent points of climbing ivy, which, by ex-
posure, had become extremely light and fragile.
It was lined with fine fibre and rabbit's fur.

38. Pied Wagtail. MotacUla luguhris, Tem-

minck.
The pied wagtail though a common, can
hardly be called an abundant bird with us, and
appears to breed less frequently than formerly.
Early in the autumn, however, flights consist-
ing chiefly of immature birds retire in the
evening to the osier beds on our streams to
roost, though certainly not in such numbers
as in past years. Later in the autumn, or at
the approach of winter, small companies of
this wagtail, apparently on migration, appear,
as they are only observed for a short time.

[White Wagtail. MotacUla alba, Linn.

I can only say of this species that I have
seen it by the side of the Avon near Stratford,
and do not doubt its occasional appearance in
Worcestershire. Mr. Whitlock has discovered
that it is a regular visitor to the Trent valley,
though in quite limited numbers ; and its
occurrence by the side of the Severn and its
tributaries may be confidently predicted.]

39. Grey Wagtail. MotacUla melanope, Pallas.
This, the most elegant in form and most

interesting in its movement of all our wagtails,
is usually an autumn visitor to our county, but
has never, to my knowledge, been known to
breed. In only one instance, in a wide dis-
trict in the midland counties, has this bird
been seen in breeding plumage, namely, in the
49

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

early part of the summer of 1898, at Loxley
near Stratford-on-Avon.

The margins of our streams and pools are
the almost exclusive haunts of this prettily
coloured and active little bird, where it may
be seen singly or in pairs, but no doubt on
migration, as it is obviously a come-and-go
visitor, and is not observed continuously at
the same place. In the spring one occasion-
ally appears, though but rarely. Lees says it is
' not common ' near Malvern.

[Blue-headed Yellov*' Wagtail. Motacilla
flava, Linn.

The present species has been met with at
least three times near Welford-on-Avon in
Gloucestershire, which lies between two parts
of Worcestershire ; but there is no direct evi-
dence of its having occurred in the latter
county, though it is more than probable that
it has done so.

The male may be readily recognized by the
bluish-grey of the top of the head, and both
male and female by the presence of white on
the three outer tail feathers on each side. In
the common yellow wagtail two outer tail
feathers on each side are so marked. One of
the Welford specimens, shot by Mr. W. H.
Baylies, and now in the author's collection, is
a female, but shows the white of the tail
feathers as above stated very distinctly. The
yellow of the under parts is also of a deeper
hue than in the common species, and is more
conspicuous when the bird is on the ground
or flitting before the observer.]

40. Yellow Wagtail. Motacilla rail (Bona-

parte).
A very common summer visitor, frequenting
ploughed fields and meadows, and nesting in
both those situations, the nests being always
on the ground.

41. Tree-Pipit. Anthus trivialis (Linn.).
An abundant summer visitor with us,

breeding in numbers, seeming to prefer mea-
dows and waste land for nesting-places to
ploughed and cultivated fields.

42. Meadow-Pipit. Jnthus pratensis (Linn.).
This pipit, which is a common resident and

breeds with us, frequents sheep pens in the
winter, where it sometimes suffers very severely
from the effects of wool becoming tightly
wound round the toes, which get loaded
with mud. This hardens in the spring, and
the toes are so much constricted as to be not
infrequently lost. The pied wagtail, also fre-
quenting the same places, sometimes suffers
similarly.

[Richard's Pipit. Anthus richardi, Vieillot.

Hastings says of this species : ' The Anthus
richardi is reported to have been killed in the
low meadows at Fladbury.' I assume that
the Avon meadows are here meant. There
is very great reason to believe that Richard's
pipit has been seen feeding on a patch of
shingle and mud in the Avon at Welford.
Mr. W. H. Baylies, residing at that place, a
most accurate obser\'er of wild birds, describes
the bird in question as having somewhat of
the elongated form of a wagtail, with the long
dark markings about the face well defined and
conspicuous. He was quite sure the bird he
saw was neither a tree, meadow or rock pipit,
with all of which he was well acquainted.
It is however possible it was the tawny pipit
{A. campestris), for which it is not difficult to
mistake Richard's pipit.]

43. Rock-Pipit. Anthus obscurus (Latham).
All I can say of the rock-pipit is that it

sometimes appears by the side of the Avon
during the winter, and that one year a con-
siderable number were shot at different locali-
ties in its course, some of them as high up as
Warwick. The impression at the time was
that they had proceeded up stream from the
Severn as a migratory flight.

44. Golden Oriole. Oriolus galbula, Linn.
Of this handsome bird Lees says : ' Seen

by the late Colonel Patrick near Whitehall
St. John's' ; and Mr. W. Edwards, of Malvern,
records the appearance of one at Malvern
Wells in 1869. I have the following note
which I made on the occasion of a golden
oriole visiting South Littleton in 1892: 'A
golden oriole was seen feeding with some
starlings on ripe pears in the orchard here in
the forenoon of the i2th of October, 1892,
which, from the brilliancy of the plum-
age, must have been a male. Being scared
away, he did not return to the same spot, but
was seen a week later in the vicarage garden,
which adjoins the orchard above mentioned.
After an interval of a few days, he was again
observed in the same garden ; and between
then and the end of the month he was
watched feeding on the ground, after the
manner of a blackbird, under an apple tree in
a close near to the same place. On each oc-
casion he was seen it was noticed that when
disturbed he flew right off and out of sight.'

About the same time a golden oriole was
seen by the Rev. C. W. Simons, rector of
Saintbury in the parish of Willersey, which
adjoins Saintbury, and also Broadway, Worces-
tershire, and is about six miles distant from
Littleton.

BIRDS

45. Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor^'L'mn.
The great grey shrike, though a compara-
tively rare visitor to us, has nevertheless so
often been seen that an enumeration of the
dates of its occurrence at several places in the
county seems scarcely necessary. I have notes
of its appearance in the valley of the Avon,
and Lees gives Blackmoor Park as a place
which it visited in 1867, while Mr. W. Ed-
wards says that one was several times seen in
the Malvern Cemetery in 1897.

46. Red-backed Shrike. Lanius collurio, Linn.
This is a regular summer migrant, and

breeds in the Teme valley and in many places
in the county. Its habit of impaling food on
thorns is too well known to require confirma-
tion. A more or less vertical thorn, and one
which grows out of a strong branch of a haw-
thorn bush, generally so near the middle as to
be out of sight, is selected, and unless close
search is made it escapes observation. The
following articles of food have been seen by
the author impaled on thorns by this shrike,
namely, mice, shrews, voles, young birds,
including a young partridge, blackbeetles,
humblebees, bluebottle flies and large-bodied
moths.

[Woodchat Shrike. Lanius pomeranm,
Sparrman.

'Stated by Mrs. Perrott to appear in the
neighbourhood of Evesham ' (Hastings, p. 65,
1834).]

47. Waxwing. Ampelis garrulus, Linn.
The waxwing has occurred in the county

several times, perhaps not very infrequently.
A fine male was shot at Atch Lench in the
winter of 1859-60, and soon after came into
the hands of the writer. In February, 1893,
one which had been shot near Worcester was
brought to Mr. Holloway of that city for
preservation. During that winter a consider-
able number of waxwings visited England.

The waxwing is stated by Hastings to be
of ' infrequent occurrence ' in the county, and
Lees reports that specimens have occurred near
Malvern, but he supplies no particulars. Mr.
W. Edwards, however, writing from Malvern,
says: '1896, three specimens were killed,
two at Welland and one at Malvern Wells.
I saw a pair feeding on the lawn at Holly
Mount.'

48. Pied Flycatcher. Muscicapa atricapilla,

Linn.

' An inhabitant of the woods near Eardis-
ton' [Hastings, p. 65).

To the above I can add several other locali-
ties in the county, namely, near to the city of

Worcester, Spetchley and Malvern. Lees
speaks of it as a Malvern bird, ' Rare, but oc-
casionally seen ' ; and Mr. W. Edwards says,
' One at the Rhydd, near Hanley Castle.'
This bird has also been seen at Powick. In
the near parts of the counties of Warwick and
Gloucester several specimens have been re-
corded.

49. Spotted Flycatcher. Muscicapa grisola,

Linn.
This is a regular summer migrant, and one
of the latest, seldom making its appearance
before the end of May. The apple orchards
of Worcestershire are peculiarly suited to
the habits of the flycatcher, and pairs may be
noted in such places all through the summer,
taking their station on some low bough or the
top of a stake and capturing insects on the
wing under the tree. In old orchards there
is abundance of places on the crooked and
moss-grown trees which are convenient for
the lodgment of a nest, and they may be seen
stuck about in the quaintest manner. I be-
lieve that only one brood is raised, for as well
as arriving late in the spring, the flycatcher is
one of the earliest to depart in the autumn.

50. Swallow. Hirundo rustica, Linn.

It is with the greatest regret that I am
obliged to relate that in Worcestershire, as in
other counties, the swallow has within the last
few years become a comparatively rare bird,
and the following will, I believe, give a toler-
ably exact idea of the decrease in its numbers.
The premises where I now live used a few
years ago to afford convenience for as many as
seven nests ; but by a gradual decrease they
were reduced to one in 1898, and in the sum-
mer of 1899, not a single pair nested here.
The accommodation remains, and the old nests
are still in place, but the birds have gone. That
this is not a merely local record will, I think,
be evident if a census of the swallows is made
at their roosting-places in the osier beds in our
streams, where the decrease in their number
is so remarkable that I shall not be exaggerat-
ing if I say that where there are now scores
there were formerly thousands.

51. House- Martin. Chelidon urhica (Linn.).
Like the swallow, the martin now appears

in decreased numbers, but in not nearly so
great a degree. There never was a time
when it was as abundant as the swallow, and
I cannot call to mind its roosting in clouds
like that bird.

52. Sand-Martin. Cotile riparia (Linn.).
There does not seem to be any diminution

in the number of sand-martins, though, as the

151

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

species is local on account of the requirements
of a suitable place for a nest, it may really be
less abundant than it appears to be. Never-
theless, where there are good breeding-places
its numbers are as great as formerly.

53. Greenfinch. Llgurinus chloris (Linn.).
The greenfinch was at one time more abun-
dant than it is now, and might be seen in
considerable flocks in rickyards in the winter,
where it fed chiefly on the corns of barley ;
and I have observed quite large flights cling-
ing to the sides of ricks of that grain. There
are few of our small birds which have bills
strong enough to break up a barleycorn, but
the greenfinch can do it quite easily. The
husk containing the seeds of the mangel-
wurzel, when ripe, is exceedingly rough and
hard, and is proof against the attacks of nearly
all our seed-eating birds ; but the greenfinch
can crush it, and will certainly do so if not
kept off when the seeds are ripening.

54. Hawfinch. Coccothraustes vulgaris, Pallas.
This is one of the very few birds which

have become more abundant within the last
twenty or thirty years. Hastings, writing in
1834, reported it as infrequent in the county.
Lees speaks of it as a rare bird around Mal-
vern, but sometimes breeds. Some time in the
' thirties ' a hawfinch was shot in the valley
of the Avon, which was thought to be so re-
markable a bird that a great many people
visited the house where it was to examine it.
Of late years it has become comparatively
common in the county, where it breeds annu-
ally.

55- Goldfinch. CardueUs elegam, Stephens.

Mr. Aplin, in his work on the Birds of
Oxfordshire, mentions two distinct varieties
of the goldfinch ; the one large, light in
colour and brilliant, which is a summer mi-
grant, and the other small, dark-coloured and
resident. Both varieties occur in Worcester-
shire, but the larger and brighter one certainly
remains with us until at least mid-winter, and
I have specimens which were shot in the alder
trees of the Avon in the middle of December,
1896. We have a fair number of goldfinches
breeding with us, due in some measure to the
preference shown to the pear tree as a nesting-
place, and the pear is essentially a Worcester-
shire tree. When our pear trees have lost
their leaves the nests of the goldfinch may be
seen on the very ends of the branches, looking
like small round balls. The seeds of all kinds
of thistles, as well as of the teazel and bur-
dock, afford food for the goldfinch, and in
mid-winter the alder and ash are visited and

the seeds eaten, but it is only the germ of the
latter which is consumed.

56. Siskin. Carduelis spinus (Linn.).

The siskin is an irregular winter visitor,
occasionally appearing in considerable num-
bers, though whole seasons may pass and none
or only a few stragglers be seen. The Rev.
F. O. Morris, in his work on British Birds,
has the following : ' When at school at
Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, I and my
schoolfellows used to shoot several of these
birds out of pretty considerable flocks, which
used occasionally to frequent the gardens near
the town, and more generally the alder trees
by the side of Charford brook.' He also speaks
of their being at Stoke Prior, a little lower
down the same stream, in 1852. The alder
trees by the side of our streams are the chief
resorts of the siskin in the years when it visits
us, which was the case in the winter of 1889-
90. Their stay, however, was very brief; they
were here to-day and gone to-morrow.

57. House-Sparrow. Passer domesticus (Linn.).
The sparrow it need hardly be said is only

too abundant, and is a scourge to other birds
of his own size.

58. Tree-Sparrow. Passer montanus (Linn.).
This species is very much less abundant

than the house-sparrow, and though frequent-
ing open fields and small enclosures is very
seldom seen near houses. The nest is often
placed in a hole of a pollard withy or apple
tree, or in the thatch of a cattle shed, but is
always outside, and seldom, if ever, inside the
building.

59. Chaffinch. Fringilla ccelehs, Linn.

The chaffinch is a common and well-known
bird, though by no means a favourite with the
growers of radishes. The nest, the beauty of
which is unrivalled, is usually placed in the
fork of a bush or tree, but occasionally a de-
parture from the general habit has been
noticed. A nest was seen by the writer in
a recess or niche in the upright bole of an
aged and lichen-covered pear tree, and so
much resembled the bark of the tree that
had not the bird flown out it would have
escaped notice. Another was placed in the
crooked and tangled roots of an asli tree in the
vertical bank of a brook, only a foot above the
water, and a third was in a still more unlikely
place, namely in the side of a wheat rick in a
rickyard. The last-named one was described
by a labourer who found it as being ' like a
ball of worsted ' stuck in the side of the rick.
He might have said of grey worsted, for that
was what it considerably resembled when seen

152

BIRDS

from a little distance, no attempt having been
made by the bird to approximate the colour
of the nest to its surroundings.

60. Brambling. Fringilla montifringilla, Linn.
This is an uncertain visitor, appearing in

winter, and mixing with flights of finches and
linnets, but not with sparrows. It is notice-
able from the white patch over the tail, which
is very conspicuous when the bird is flying
away from the observer. An unusual number
visited the valley of the Avon in the winter of
1 899-1 900, and a considerable flight appeared
in February of the latter year in company with
linnets, and fed on seeds which had been
thrown out from the great tithe barn built by
the Abbots of Evesham at Middle Littleton.
Nearly twenty were shot by an inhabitant of
the village, which being subjected to exami-
nation were observed to be males and females
in about equal proportion. Although the
males had generally the usual rufous breast
and throat, three of them had more or less
dark-coloured throats. That peculiarity is
worthy of particular mention, as it is not
mentioned by Yarrell, Macgillivray, Howard
Saunders nor Temminck, though Degland says
that the upper part of the neck (presumably
all round) is dark in colour in summer. From
the circumstance of some of the dark throats
being more or less mottled by light rufous
feathers, it seems probable that the dark colour
is a seasonal as well as a sexual peculiarity.
Mr. Aplin, in his work on the birds of Ox-
fordshire, speaks of the occasional dark-coloured
throats in this bird as a variety only, and he
further says that part is sometimes white in-
stead of black.

61. Linnet. Linota cannabina (Linn.).
There is no diminution in the numbers of

the present species, all that is necessary for a
full show of linnets being a weedy stubble
after harvest, where a good quantity of char-
lock seed has been scattered. The favourite
place for the nest is a brake of furze, but any
close bush will do, and when there is no such
accommodation in a state of nature, a cropped
hawthorn hedge is chosen and freely used.

62. Lesser Redpoll. Linota rufescens (Vieillot).
The lesser redpoll is a winter visitor, and

frequents the sides of streams, especially if
there are alder trees and bushes, on the seeds
of which it feeds, and sometimes on the seeds
of the willow herb. Mr. Howard Saunders,
in his Manual of British Birds, speaks of this
bird as occasionally breeding in Worcester-
shire, but I have never been fortunate enough
to find a nest in the county, though I have

seen one at Alcester, Warwickshire, which is
but a little way from the boundary.

63. Twite. Linota flavirostris (Linn.).
The twite is a rare straggler with us, and

only seen in severe weather, when its mono-
tonous note declares its presence.

64. Bullfinch. Pyrrhula europaa, Vieillot.
In those parts of the county where there

is much market gardening the bullfinch is
not a favourite, and certainly the fruit-
growers have no great reason to like him.
Whatever may be said in his favour, the
damage he does to fruit trees and gooseberry
bushes is too serious to be overlooked. Com-
mencing on a branch of a gooseberry bush,
the bullfinch will climb along it and consume
every bud, leaving the ground beneath littered
with the chaff made in getting at the inner
part, which is eaten. The seed of the ash is
also consumed by this bird. Unlike the gold-
finch, which picks out the germ only, the
bullfinch feeds on the whole of the seed, com-
mencing at one end and biting bits off until all
is eaten.

[Pine-Grosbeak. Pyrrhula enucleator (Linn.).

I include this bird in the list of Worcester-
shire birds on the authority of Hastings. Its
occurrence is most doubtful.]

65. Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra, Linn.
The crossbill is one of the birds reported

by Hastings as of infrequent occurrence in
Worcestershire sixty years ago ; but Lees,
writing in 1870, says that it is now seen
occasionally, but formerly it would seem that
its visits were more frequent, as in an old
History of Birds published in the last century
it is said that crossbills visit the orchards of
Worcestershire and Herefordshire in great
numbers, destroying the apples for the sake
of their enclosed kernels.' He also quotes
Mr. Edwards as an authority for stating that
crossbills were abundant in the neighbourhood
of Malvern in 1869. Subsequently however
Mr. Edwards has made the statement that this
bird ' frequents the Hill every year near the
Wells.' This is most likely due to the con-
fusion between this bird and the hawfinch. A
local name of the hawfinch is ' grossbeak,' and
this is confused with ' crossbeak.' Certainly
is not an annual visitor.

In the very early spring of 1870 (the spring
following the winter when so many were seen
at Malvern), a flight alighted on a spruce fir
on the lawn at the Vicarage, South Littleton,
and two were shot. Shortly afterwards several
appeared in an ancient oriental Cyprus on the
lawn of the house in which the writer now

t53

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

lives in South Littleton. They were busily
engaged in feeding on the seeds in the close
hard cones which would have defied even the
specially adapted mandibles of the crossbill to
open had they not been operated on by the
vicissitudes of the previous winter. That
flight remained two days until the supply
of cones was exhausted.

66. Two-barred Crossbill. Loxia bifasciata

(Brehm).
I am unable to report a second occurrence
of this bird in the county. Mr. Strickland's
specimen, long ago noticed, is still preserved
in the Cambridge Museum.

67. Corn-Bunting. Emberiza miliaria, Linn.
This is one of those birds which, though

not uncommon, is not by any means abun-
dant. In the valley of the Avon (taking in
parts of the counties of Warwick, Glouces-
ter and Worcester), this bunting breeds by
preference in fields of vetches, and the nests
are often destroyed when the vetches are con-
sumed by horses and sheep.

68. Yellow Hammer. Emberiza citrinella,

Linn.
This is one of our most abundant resident
birds, and the nest is to be found in the bottom
of every hedge and brake as well as in the
open fields. The song is said by the country
people to be as follows :

' A little bit, a bit, a bit of bread and no cheese.'
The ' no ' is strongly accented and the last
word drawn out. Another version of the
same is —

'A dish, a dish, a dish of green p-e-a-s.'
The last word, ' peas,' being much drawn out.

69. Cirl Bunting. Emberiza cirlus, Linn.
The cirl bunting is not a rare though a

very local bird in Worcestershire, and is ob-
served to frequent the same spot in limited
numbers from year to year ; the favoured
locality being in the clay districts rather than
in the alluvial or sandy ones. It is a shy, re-
tiring bird, and frequents trees much more than
does the yellow hammer, the male often choos-
ing a tall elm for his place of song, from near
the top of which you will hear him, but will
not easily discover his whereabouts. His song
bears considerable resemblance to that of the
yellow hammer, but has not the long terminal
note.

70. Reed-Bunting. Emberiza schagniclus, Linn.
The reed-bunting, or, as it is often called,

the reed-sparrow, is a resident, and found by
the side of all our streams and some of our
pools.

71. Snow - Bunting. Pkctorophenax nivalis

(Linn.).
It is only in severe winters that the present
species make its appearance with us, and then
only in small numbers, generally singly. Lees
records one instance of its occurrence near
Malvern, on the hills, in February, 1856.
Mr. W. Edwards mentions having seen on
two occasions flocks on the Malvern Hills in
severe winters. A specimen in the collection
of the present writer was shot in the rickyard
at the Manor House, Cleeve Prior, on No-
vember 27th, 1849, when it was feeding in
company with sparrows and other small birds.

72. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Linn.

The starling is one of the few birds which,
in face of all opposition and in a country in
which there is a dense and increasing popula-
tion, not merely holds its own but actually
increases in numbers. The flocks which ac-
cumulate in the autumn to visit some common
roosting-place are almost incredible in respect
of numbers. The reason of their increase
may be found in the readiness with which the
starling adapts itself to changes of surroundings,
especially at nesting time. Take the follow-
ing as an instance. For several years a pair
bred in a woodpecker's hole in a large elm in
close proximity to the writer's residence, but
the tree being blown down it might have
been supposed that the starlings would have
abandoned the hole, which in the prostrate
tree was only a few inches from the ground.
It was not so, however, for they entered it
and successfully reared a brood in it.

73. Rose-coloured Pastor. Pastor roseus

(Linn.).

Lees in his list of the birds of the Malvern
district reports that a female of this species
was shot in the vicinity of Powick in August,
1855, and to that record I can add the follow-
ing : —

A few years since a bird supposed to be a
young starling, which had been shot near
Worcester, was brought to Mr. H. Holloway
of that city for preser\'ation, and remained un-
noticed in his hands until the year 1899, when
it was seen and identified by the present writer
as an immature rose-coloured pastor. All that
could be learned about it was that it was
brought when freshly killed by the man who
shot it, and that it was in the company of
young starlings near to the city at the time.

74. Chough. Pyrrhocorax graculus (Linn.).
This bird was killed at Lindridge in

November, 1826. It was perched on the
summit of a building adjacent to Sir C. Smith's^

154

BIRDS

where it was probably resting after a long
flight {Hastings, p. 66). Its nearest locality to
Worcestershire is in some of the Welsh cliffs.

[Alpine Chough. Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Koch.

On the authority of a very careful observer,
Mr. J. Hiam, who saw a bird of this species
near his residence at Astwood Bank, Worces-
tershire, I introduce it into the present list,
though with great doubts as to it being any-
thing more than an escaped bird. At the
same time, as it was met with on four different
occasions in Heligoland by Herr Gatke, there
is no reason why truly wild birds of this
species should not appear in Great Britain
(see Saunders, p. 232).]

75. Jay. Garrulus glandarius (Linn.).

The jay was a common resident in Wor-
cestershire, and is still found in decreasing
numbers wherever there are woods and coppices
suitable to its habits.

76. Magpie. Pica rustica (Scopoli).

In all the most highly cultivated parts of
the county, as well as where game is preserved,
this bird has sensibly decreased in numbers.

A tame magpie which was kept some years
ago by a woman having the care of a crossing
on the Great Western Railway, three or four
miles from Evesham, built a great domed nest
in what is locally known as a washing pan,
which stood at the door of her hut, and laid in
it a full complement of eggs. These were
taken out and replaced by other magpie's eggs,
but the cheat was at once discovered by the
bird, and every one of them was speedily
broken by her.

77. Jackdaw. Corvus monedula, Linn.

The daw is one of those birds which can
bend to circumstance in the battle of life, and
so holds its own. Accordingly it is a common
resident.

78. Raven. Corvus corax, Linn,

When Hastings wrote, in 1834, the raven
had become a rare Worcestershire bird. How-
ever, late in the ' forties,' it was still breeding
at Stanford Court, the seat of the Winington
family, as I was informed by the Rev. W.
Rufford, Vicar of Sapey, in a communication
from him in July, 1849. Lees says that in
1870, when he wrote, the raven might be
occasionally seen passing over the Malvern
district, and relates that many years before

that date he saw a nest

ith

young just

fledged at Sarn Hill, Bushley. If it ever
appears now in the county it is as a casual
wanderer from Wales.

79. Carrion-Crow. Corvus corone, Linn.
We still have the carrion-crow, or as it is

often called provincially the gor crow, and in
some localities it is pretty common ; yet, taking
the county through, its numbers have greatly
diminished within the last four or five decades.

80. Grey or Hooded Crow. Corvus comix,

Linn.

The hooded crow is mentioned by Mr.
Willis Bund as a resident, but no instance of
its breeding in the county has come to my
knowledge. It has not very infrequently
occurred, but always, so far as I know, as
a straggler, and bearing in mind the great
number which annually pass Heligoland and
reach our eastern coast, it does not seem im-
probable that some of them may stray into our
county.

I have known the hooded crow frequent
the sides of the Avon and feed on the mussels
which became accessible when the water ran
low by the action of the locks. It is also
sometimes seen in our pastures accompanying
the herds of cattle. Lees mentions one in-
stance only of the occurrence of the hooded
crow at Malvern.

81. Rook. Corvus frugilegus, Linn.

There is no diminution in the number of
our rookeries, nor yet in the number of
the nests. It sometimes happens that a
carrion-crow will visit a rookery to feed on
the rooks' eggs. The crow will perch on the
edge of a nest, and in spite of the attempt of
the rooks to drive him off, will deliberately
consume the eggs. The owner of the rookery,
though fully aware that there is something
wrong with the rooks, does not easily discover
what is the matter ; the colour of the crow
so nearly resembling that of the rooks as to
render detection difl^cult. I have known a
rookery almost destroyed by such a marauder,
or perhaps by a pair of them.

82. Sky-Lark. Alauda arvensis, Linn.
The sky-lark is, I am happy to say, a

common and resident bird in our county, and
we still have his music in our fields and
meadows all through the summer.

In the afternoon of December 28th, 1899,
a bird flew past my brother, W. B. Tomes,
and myself, near the Avon, in the parish
of North Littleton, which from some resem-
blance about the head and beak to a haw-
finch attracted our attention. But the flight
was decidedly that of a lark. It alighted
in an adjacent field, and in the act of doing
so exhibited some white in the middle of each

155

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

wing, which became apparent when relieved
against the dark ground. I entertain but
little doubt that it was a white-winged lark
[Alauda siberica). A supposed sky-lark, having
white in each wing, was seen by my brother
and a friend in September, 1898, when part-
ridge shooting near Littleton, which may
have also been a bird of that species, though
of course the probability would be in favour
of its being only a pied sky-lark.

83. Wood-Lark. Alauda arborea, Linn.

In the valley of the Avon, as well as in
other parts of the county, the wood-lark is rare,
but its peculiar but cheery song may frequently
be heard in the valley of the Teme.

84. Swift. Cypselus apus (Linn.).

While the swallows and martins have so
seriously diminished in numbers, the swift is
quite as plentiful as it ever was. It is so
emphatically a bird of the air that the common
people say it ascends into the higher regions
of the atmosphere to roost ! That the inter-
course between the sexes takes place high up
in the air, as observed by Gilbert White at
Selborne, the present writer can from personal
observation confirm.

Whether the alpine swift, Cypselus melba
(Linn.) can be claimed as a Worcestershire
bird, or even as a Gloucestershire species, is
open to question, but a swift of great size and
having a white under part passed over the
present writer near the village of Weston-on-
Avon, within gun-shot, in the first week in
July, 1876, flying in a south-west direction.
There can be no doubt that it was either an
alpine swift, or the still rarer needle-tailed
swift, AcanthyUis caudacuta (Latham).

85. Nightjar. Caprimulgus europaus, Linn.
The nightjar, or goatsucker, cannot be called

at all abundant in the county ; but is met
with in such localities as are congenial to its
habits, which may indeed be said of its appear-
ance in other counties. Its abundance or the
reverse appears to be dependent rather on
the nature of the locality than its latitude.
Hastings is silent about the goatsucker. It is
still fairly plentiful in Wyre Forest. In the
Malvern district it is said by both Lees and
Edwards to be not uncommon, and the latter
gentleman has met with the nest and eggs.
It has also bred at Cracomb near Evesham.

86. Wryneck. lynx torquilla, Linn.

The wryneck, though not rare, is much less
frequently heard or seen than formerly, and
from enquiry it appears to be seldom brought
to the bird stuffers for preservation. The

falling off in numbers may be attributed to the
want of proper habitats, as the old orchards of
Worcestershire were everything that could be
desired, affording at once abundance of insect
food as well as suitable building places ; but
the more modern orchards afford neither.

87. Green Woodpecker. Gecinus viridis

(Linn.).
Locally, Iccle (? Hicicwall).
This bird is one which, notwithstanding
the diminution in the quantity of timber, still
remains as common as heretofore, and may
be seen and heard in suitable localities at all
seasons.

88. Great Spotted Woodpecker. Dendrocopus

major (Linn.).
Hastings says nothing of this woodpecker
by which we can learn anything of its fre-
quency, only that it is less common than the
green woodpecker. Lees gives it as occurring
near Malvern, where it is ' rather uncommon.'
It appears to be more common in that part of
the county adjoining Herefordshire than else-
where, from which locality a considerable
number of species are annually brought into
Worcester for preservation.

89. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Dendroco-

pus minor (Linn.).
More frequent in the county than the last,
this little bird is also more generally distributed,
and is partial to orchards, in which in the
early spring it makes its presence known by
its loud jarring noise, said to be occasioned
by the rapid action of the bill on a decayed
branch. It has a habit at that season of
climbing up to the very top sprig of a tall tree,
and from that conspicuous place uttering its
note, which somewhat resembles that of the
wryneck, but is keener and louder. The nest
is in a hole made by the bird in a dead branch
high up in an apple, plum, or cherry tree, in
an orchard or garden. The statement that
the young will issue from the hole and climb
about the tree is, so far as the observation of
the writer has gone, entirely erroneous. On
the contrary they sometimes issue from the
hole and fall to the ground, as he can affirm
from personal observation.

90. Kingfisher. Alcedo ispida, Linn.

A good deal has been said of late about the
scarcity of the kingfisher, and the wanton
destruction of the bird on account of the beauty
of its plumage has been mentioned as the sole
cause. That the blue plumage has exercised
great influence in the reduction of the number
ofthis the most brilliantly-coloured British bird
there can be no doubt. Only quite recently

156

BIRDS

the writer was shown in the hands of a local
bird stufFer a box full of kingfishers (more than
twenty in number) mounted for the decora-
tion of ladies' hats. Fortunately however the
demand had fallen off, and the specimens
were no longer required by the hat maker.
But we must not credit the destruction of
kingfishers for such a purpose as the sole cause
of their rarity. Spring floods such as the dis-
astrous floods of 1887, when all the low-lying
meadows were under water, destroyed the
nests of the kingfisher wholesale, and from
that date there was a very obvious falling off
in its numbers. The bird still is found in
some numbers on the rivers and brooks in the
county.

[Bee-Eater. Merops apiaster, Linn.
I can record the appearance of one which
was shot not far from the boundary of the
county, at Redhill near Alcester, on May
29th, 1886. It proved on dissection to be
a female containing five or six eggs, and as it
was in the company of a second, would pro-
bably have bred. Another, some years ago,
was shot near Longdon.]

91. Hoopoe. Upupa epops, Linn.

The hoopoe is mentioned by Hastings as of
infrequent occurrence in Worcestershire. A
specimen preserved in the Worcester Museum
was killed at the Yew Tree, Ombersley, and
recorded in the Zoologist in 1862 by Mr. A.
Edwards, who also referred to one which
occurred about twenty years previously near
the Trench Woods, about seven miles from
Worcester. He also secured a third which
was shot about the same distance from the
city between that time and 1862, the date of
his communication. A hoopoe was shot by
the late Mr. W. H. Ashwin at Bretforton
on the 4th of May, 1875. The latest in-
stance of the appearance of the hoopoe in the
county, of which I have any knowledge, is of
one shot near Shipston-on-Stour, but I am in
ignorance of the precise date.

92. Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus, Linn.

This well-known summer visitor is fairly
common all over the county. For many
years past I have had a very decided opinion
that the female cuckoo conveys her eggs into
the nests of other birds by means of her beak,
and I arrived at that conclusion from having
found both eggs and young in nests so placed
that it would have been impossible for her to
have laid her eggs there in the manner of
other birds. Once I saw a young cuckoo in
the nest of a wren, which was overhead in
the thatch in the inside of a cattle shed. The
young bird had its head out at the hole of the

domed nest, and was being fed by the wrens.
It would have been impossible for the female
cuckoo to have laid the egg in that nest.
The above particulars were given by me to
Mr. Gould at the time he was engaged with
his great work on British birds. On another
occasion I found a cuckoo's egg in the nest of
a redbreast in some ivy against a wall, and the
nest was so close to the wall that the latter
really formed one side of the nest. More-
over, the nest was closely overhung by large
leathery ivy leaves, and a bird of the size of a
cuckoo could not possibly have sat upon it.
The nest of the reed-warbler is always sus-
pended between three or four upright stems,
generally those of reeds, and nests so placed
are often found to contain the egg or young
of the cuckoo, and it may be safely asserted
that a cuckoo could not lay an egg in such a
nest.

I have great reason for suspecting that I
have more than once disturbed a female
cuckoo when laying her egg. It is not un-
usual in the breeding season to see a silent
cuckoo rise from some bare place, such as an
unfrequented road, and alight again after a
short flight, as if reluctant to leave the spot.
After two or three such short flights, a longer
one will bring the bird back to the place
where it was first seen — doubtless if, as is
now generally thought, the cuckoo takes her
egg in her beak, it would be laid on some
spot from which it could easily and safely be
taken up, and that would not be amongst
herbage of any kind, not even the grass of a
pasture, but on some bare place. Cuckoos
flitting before one in the way I have men-
tioned are not unusual, and are always single
and always silent.

93. White or Barn Owl. Strix flammea^
Linn.

It is with the greatest regret that I am
obliged to record the very great decrease in
the number of this handsome, interesting and
useful bird in our county, but year by year it
becomes less frequent, and the time is not far
distant when it will be spoken of as formerly
known in Worcestershire. A very remark-
able variety was killed at the Limekiln Farm,
Martley, Worcester, early in the month of
June, 1897, which came into the hands of
the writer shortly after that date. The whole
of the under surface is of a deep yellowish
salmon colour. Around the eyes there is a
considerable extent of bright chestnut, and
the upper parts of the body are darker in
colour than is usually seen in the ordinary
specimens of the barn-owl. In size it rather
exceeds the usual individuals. This variety

t57

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

is known to ornithologists as the ' western
owl,' and a figure of it will be found in
Dresser's Birds of Europe. I am happy to
have been able to introduce it into the Wor-
cestershire list.

94. Long-eared Owl. Am otus (Linn.).

A resident bird, which may be said to be
uncommon rather than rare ; the long-eared
owl has hov/ever never been mentioned as
breeding in Worcestershire. It is to a great
extent a woodland species, and is partial to
plantations in which there are many ever-
greens, such as pines and spruce firs.

95. Short-eared Owl. Jsio accipitrinus (PaWns).
Of this species Mr. Willis Bund says :

' Mostly autumn migrants ; a few reside,'
which applies to Great Britain and not ex-
clusively to Worcestershire. Lees speaks of
it as of a rare occurrence in the Malvern dis-
tricts. So far as I can learn there is no record
of this species having ever bred in Worcester-
shire, but it is not uncommon in some parts
of the county as an autumn visitor. On the
Cotteswold Hills it is not at all infrequent,
and seems to prefer turnip fields.

96. Tawny or Brown Owl. Syrnium aluco

(Linn.).
This owl must be considered as the com-
monest owl in Worcestershire. It has a
much better idea of taking care of itself than
the barn-owl, and will sometimes take up
its quarters very near our dwellings and ob-
serve so much caution that its presence would
remain unknown were it not for its droppings
which betray it.

97. Little Owl. Athene noctua (Scopoli).
There are two undoubted Worcestershire

specimens of this species, one in the Museum
at Worcester and the other in the collection
of the writer. The first was taken at Ear-
diston, the residence of Sir C. S. Smith, but
there is no record of the date, and the second
was shot in the spring of 1897 at Lulsley,
near Knightwick, in this county. It was first
seen on the roof of some farm buildings, and
was subsequently shot from there.

98. Scops-Owl. Scops giu (Scopoli).

Besides the recorded specimen mentioned
by Hastings, I have heard of one which was
brought to the late veteran taxidermist of
Worcester, Mr. H. Holloway, for preservation.
It came into his hands between thirty and
forty years ago, when freshly killed, but I
have failed to gather any particulars concern-
ing it.

158

99. Marsh-Harrier. Circus aruginosus (Linn.).
About thirty years since a bird of this

species was shot at Witley Court. I know of
no other occurrence of this harrier in Wor-
cestershire, and this solitary specimen is in
immature plumage.

100. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.).
The hen-harrier must now I think be

mentioned as having formerly occurred in
Worcestershire, not a straggler having ap-
peared for some years. A female in the
Worcester Museum was taken at Eardiston,
but the date is not known. The latest occur-
rence in the county of which I have any
knowledge is that of a female which was shot
near Shipston-on-Stour in 1877, and brought
to Mr. Quartermain, of Stratford-on-Avon,
for presen'ation, where I saw and examined it.

[Montagu's Harrier. Circus cineraceus
(Montagu).

I possess an adult male which was shot a
good many years ago at Sutton Coldfield in
Warwickshire, not very distant from our
county boundary.]

lOi. Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris. Leach.

Of late years the buzzard has become a
rare bird in all the midland counties, its ap-
pearance being confined to stragglers, few in
number and far between. Only one speci-
men of local occurrence is in the Worcester
Museum, and that was taken at Croome Park.
The latest Worcestershire specimen which I
have heard of was killed at Witley Court in
the early part of 1892, and brought to the
late Mr. H. Holloway, of Worcester, for pre-
servation. The buzzard was considered to
be rare in the Malvern district so long ago as
1870, and Mr. W. Edwards regarded the
occurrence of one at Eastnor in 1869 as
worthy of record. It still breeds in Wales
at no very great distance from the Worces-
tershire boundary.
102. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.).

Like all the birds of prey the sparrow-hawk
is less frequently seen in the midland counties
than it used to be ; though it cannot now be
said to be otherwise than common, and it is
certainly a resident bird, breeding for the most
part in woods and coppices where it is least
likely to be observed. The eggs are always,
to the best of my knowledge, laid in an old
nest of some other bird, as that of a crow or a
magpie, often one that has been reduced by
the wear of more than one winter to a lump
of decayed sticks. The mere platform made
by the ringdove has been known to serve the
turn of the sparrow-hawk, but whatever is its

BIRDS

selection there is always a kind of super-
structure of its own, which in one nest
examined by the writer was composed wholly
of dead couch grass, locally known as 'squitch.'
It is very rarely that the nest is at any great
height from the ground.

103. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny.

It would seem that when Hastings wrote
in 1834, the kite, though very rare, was not
extinct in Worcestershire. His words are,
'The Kite, Milvus vulgaris, and Osprey,
Balhucardus haliaetus, but very rarely occur.'
Lees mentions the middle of the last century
as the date when the kite was well known on
the Malvern Hills, but was no longer there in
1870. Yet he makes the following remark-
able statement : ' Curiously enough about
twenty years ago the Grimsend estate was
unoccupied for a considerable time ; the kites
returned to their old haunts, and remained till
the Grimsend again secured a tenant.' He
records one as having been shot in Croome
Park in the winter of 1869-70. I have a
note of one having been killed there which is
now in the collection of Mr. Martin Curtler,
and which may be the bird mentioned by
Lees.

104. Honey - Buzzard. Pernis apivorus

(Linn.).
I can record two instances only of the
occurrence of this bird in Worcestershire.
One was killed at Eardiston, and is now in
the Worcester Museum, and the other was
taken at Witley Court about thirty years
since, and is now in the collection of the
present writer. It is probable that there are
other Worcestershire specimens in private
collections, for Hastings wrote, ' not of un-
common occurrence.' The latest appearance
of this fine bird which I can record was about
the middle of May, 1894, when one was
taken in a jay trap at Ragley Park, on that
side of the estate nearest the Ridgeway, which
divides the counties of Warwick and Wor-
cester. Although therefore it was probably
not killed in Worcestershire it must have been
in very near proximity to it.

[Iceland Falcon. Falco islandus, Gmelin.

In one instance only have I known the
Iceland falcon to occur in the midland
counties. One was shot by Mr. John Hyatt
on his estate at Quinton in Gloucestershire,
in very close proximity to the boundary of
Worcestershire, in the autumn or early part
of winter of 1852. It was seen and examined
by me when freshly killed, and the species
determined.]

105. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus,

Tunstall.
The peregrine is a regular- visitor to our
county, no winter passing when a certain
number of them are not seen. The vicinity
of rivers appears to be the most favoured
locality for them, as they prey on teal and
moorhens. But peewits, wood-pigeons, and
partridges also form part of their diet, and the
feathers of these birds are left in the meadows
showing what has been their bill of fare. But
besides the feathers of the birds on which they
have fed, they cast some of their own, which
on examination not only determine the age of
the traveller but also the sex. Lees appears
to have regarded the peregrine as a rare bird,
and mentions one killed at Croome Park,
'some years ago,' and Mr. W. Edwards re-
cords one shot at Cradley in 1872, and
another at Evesham in 1878. This falcon
builds in Wales not a very great distance
from the county boundary.

106. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn.

The hobby was formerly a comparatively
common summer visitor to the vale of the
Avon, when the swallow was an abundant
bird, but has now become rare. Several nests
have come to the knowledge of the writer
in the Avon valley, though only one which
was within the boundary of the county. It
was found at a place called Porter's Coppice
near Evesham, and full-fledged young were
taken from it, one of which was seen and
examined by the writer. Another nest was
discovered near the village of Willersey,
Gloucestershire, half a mile from Broadway
in Worcestershire.

The time to see and note the hobby in
former years was in the autumn when the
swallows were gathered in countless numbers
in the evening to roost in the osier and reed
beds of the Avon. On the evening of the
30th of July, 1847, the writer and two
friends took their station near some osier beds
at Welford-on-Avon, with the intention of
looking after the hobbies which were known
to come there to feed on the swallows. The
air was literally filled with the latter birds for
a distance of a quarter of a mile up and down
stream. At first one hobby appeared and
passed on rapid wing through and through
the cloud of swallows, occasionally making a
dash at one. Soon afterwards a second came,
followed at intervals by two others, making
up four which were in sight at the same time,
and were passing backward and forward
through the swallows just where they were
thickest. One hobby being shot, the others left

159

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

the spot. On other occasions hobbies have
been observed where the swallows gathered in
the evening, but at no other time were so
many seen at once. More frequently, only one,
or perhaps two, have put in an appearance.
What always seemed remarkable was that
with so great a number of swallows captures
were very infrequent. The latest note I
have of the hobby waiting on the swallows is
dated the 7th of September, 1893, when one
appeared near the mill on the Avon at Harv-
ington, where a small flight of swallows had
gathered. Now, however, the latter bird has
become too rare to attract the hobby. Lees
records, on the authority of Mr. Edwards, a
nest of a hobby at Mathon in 1868, and the
latter gentleman favours me with a note re-
cording that a nest with young was found at
Eastnor in 1897.

107. Merlin. Falco asalon, Tunstall.

The merlin is, strictly speaking, migratory
with us, appearing in the autumn, winter, or
very early spring. Years ago when the
swallow was abundant the merlin as well
as the hobby frequented the roosting places
of that bird in the osier and reed beds. But
the merlin did so very occasionally, being
indeed but rarely seen so early in the autumn.
November is the month when we most fre-
quently see the merlin, about the time when
the redwings make their appearance. Larks
appear to be a favourite food of this little
falcon, especially on the slopes of the hills.

108. Red-footed Falcon. Falco vespertinus,

Linn.
A bird of this species, which from its uni-
formly dark colour was certainly an adult
male, was seen and closely watched for some
time by Mr. W. H. Baylies while busily
engaged in hawking for cockchafFers in some
large elms near his house in June, 1870. As
Mr. Baylies is intimately acquainted with the
hobby and the merlin, he can certainly assert
that the bird he saw was not either of those
birds, but, indeed, there can be no doubt
from the colour as to the species.

109. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn.

A common and resident bird, locally known
as the mouse-hawk, nesting generally in an
old nest of a crow or magpie. During winter
the kestrel usually retires to the same places
to roost for some time, which is very often
on some small branch growing out on the
sheltered side of a large tree, quite close to
the bole, beneath which the castings may be
found in great quantity. They become dis-
integrated by the rains of winter, and all are

160

then seen to be made up of the bones and
fur of small mammals, with now and then
the bones and feathers of a small bird, and
the elytra of beetles.

no. Osprey. Pandlon ha Hai'tus {h\nn.).

According to Hastings, the osprey was,
when he wrote, in 1834, one of the birds
which were known to ' but very rarely occur,'
and in a note he records it as ' once seen fly-
ing over the River Teme.' I am unable to
add anything to its history as a Worcester-
shire bird, but I have a specimen which was
shot in January, 1864, in the Avon, between
the counties of Warwick and Gloucester, and
only a short distance from the point where
the stream comes into Worcestershire. I
have the record of several which have been
taken in the neighbouring county of Warwick.

111. Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carho (Linn.).
Hastings says : ' The cormorant, Phalacro-
corax carho, in time of floods often visits the
interior of the country.' I can endorse that
statement. It is also sometimes driven inland
by storms and high winds ; all the specimens
which I have seen have been in immature or
in winter plumage. A few years ago one
was found after a storm in the head of a
pollard withy tree by the side of the Avon.

112. Shag or Green Cormorant. Phalacro-

corax graculus (Linn.).
Like the last species, and indeed like so
many other sea birds, this is now usually a
a storm-scattered wanderer, and seldom seen
unless driven by wind and storm out of its
proper habitats, or during a succession of
floods ; but specimens are not very infre-
quently found in a state of exhaustion.

113. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana

(Linn.).

' This singular straggler was met with
flying over an arable field at Alfrick, in this
county, in the winter of 1833, and is now in
our museum ' [Hastings, p. 70). A specimen
in the Worcester Museum, which is in adult
plumage, was taken at Norton, and an im-
mature one in the same collection at Cleve-
load-on-the-Severn, in the county of Wor-
cester. On several occasions gannets have
been found in a state of exhaustion in the
neighbouring counties of Oxford, Gloucester
and Warwick. Lundy Island is their nearest
residence.

A tropic bird, Phteton aethereus, it is said
was picked up dead near Malvern in the
fifties. It is believed on the Herefordshire
side of the hill at Cradley.

BIRDS

114. Common Heron. Ardea cinerea, Linn.
' The Heron, Jrdea cinerea, is of frequent

occurrence, although no heronry now exists
in the county, and the nearest is in the
park adjacent to Warwick Castle.' So
wrote Hastings in 1834, but since that date
there has been a heronry in the park at
Ragley, and a few breed there at the present
time. In Worcestershire the only heronry
now (1901) is in Shrawley Wood. The
authority above quoted adds in a note : ' A
heronry existed some years ago at Croome,
but the birds being troublesome, and making
too free with the fish of the ponds, it was
destroyed.'

115. Night-Heron. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.).
Mr. Willis Bund includes the night-heron

in his list of Worcestershire birds, referring to
the following instance of its occurrence. A
few years since an adult night-heron was
flushed from amongst the aquatic herbage of
a small pool at Bradley Green, near Fecken-
ham, and was shot. It was afterwards
brought to Alcester for preservation, where
it was seen by the writer.

116. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.).
An adult little bittern was shot more than

thirty years since on a brook between the
villages of Aldington and Badsey, and in close
proximity to the latter place. I have no
knowledge of any other specimen having
been met with in Worcestershire, but an
immature one was shot in Warwickshire,
and brought to Stratford-on-Avon for preser-
vation.

117. Bittern. Botaurus stellaris {h'mn.).
Hastings records the bittern as having been

often shot on the banks of the Severn. Mr.
Willis Bund, including it in his Worcester-
shire list, adds : ' Formerly resident, now only
a straggler,' which applies to it as a British
as well as a Worcestershire bird. I can now
only speak of it as a rare species in this
county. Lees says that one was shot on the
pool before Hopton Court in the parish of
Leigh ; and Mr. W. Edwards, of Malvern,
records one shot at Eastnor in 1876. A few
years since a bittern was shot on the Avon
near Pershore, and the occurrence recorded in
the Field newspaper.

118. White Stork. Ciconia alba, Bechstein.
Sir Charles Hastings, on page 68 of his

Illustrations, mentions the occurrence of this
bird near Fladbury, and adds the following
note : ' Mrs. Charles L. E. Perrott, on whose
authority this information is given, says that
" the crane and Ciconia were both shot by

the late Mr. Perrott's keeper, but I should be
inclined to think that they had escaped from
some private collection." ' Lees records one
which was shot on the Severn near Tewkes-
bury many years since. Most likely it was
the same bird to which Mrs. Perrott alluded.

1 1 9. Spoonbill. Platalea leucorodia, Linn.
The spoonbill has been shot from the large

sheet of water in the park at Westwood on
two occasions, but I have not the date, and
the specimens are preserved in the collection
of British birds of Mr. Martin Curtler, of
Worcester. A spoonbill is recorded by Lees
as having been shot on the Avon near
Tewkesbury several years previously to
1870 (the date of his list of Malvern birds),
which was at that time in the Worcester
Museum.

120. Grey Lag-Goose. Anser cinereus, Meyer.
The present species is recorded by Hastings

as being ' of frequent occurrence in the winter
season in our various rivers and pools.' It is
the Jnser palustris of which he was then
speaking, which is one of the names of the
grey lag-goose ; and that that species did in
former years pass over our county, and some-
times remain to rest, there is no doubt. The
larger size and lighter colour were quite suffi-
cient to distinguish this from the other species
of grey goose, even at a considerable distance
when passing over head.

121. White-fronted Goose. Anser alhifrons

(Scopoli).
As with the bean and pink-footed geese,
the present species travelled in considerable
numbers to and from the west in the autumn,
and an occasional one out of a gaggle, which
had stayed to rest, was shot, and the species
determined. On one occasion an adult in
full plumage was taken near the village of
OfFenham, and was preserved by the well-
known ornithologist, Mr. H. Doubleday of
Epping, who happened to be there at that
time, and was placed in his fine collection of
British birds. It still is found in considerable
numbers in the Severn estuary, especially near
Berkeley, and specimens occasionally in hard
weather make their way further up the Severn
to Worcestershire borders.

122. Bean-Goose. Anser segetum {GmeWn).
The late Mr. John Cordeaux in a history

of British Anseres, which appeared in a re-
cently published History of British Birds, gives
a very interesting account of the bean-goose,
and explains the reason of its present scarcity,
which is undoubtedly due to the enclosure of
open lands in the marsh districts of Lincoln-

161

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

shire, and the abandonment of the extensive
growth of beans on which the geese fed, and
which gave the name to the present species.
It was to and from that locah'ty that the
several kinds of grey geese made their annual
autumn migration to and from the low-lying
lands near the mouth of the Severn, as men-
tioned by Yarrell. The present writer well
remembers the large flights of geese of more
than one species which annually passed over
on their way westward or on their return
eastward ; and an old inhabitant of South
Littleton, whose diary contains many curious
and interesting entries, made the following
record relating to wild geese : —

'1839, Nov. 9th. A flock of 200 wild
geese fled over Littleton in a north-east direc-
tion in 4 separate flocks about 20 yards apart :
this was the biggest lot together I ever saw ;
there had been many small flocks seen flying
that way a few weeks before at diiferent
times.'

To that the writer added the following : —

'Additional note. The 3 Geese seen on
the 1 6th of December were flying westward
instead of towards the north-east as stated
above.'

Gaggles of geese are now very rarely seen
travelling, but on December 15th, 1898,
about fifty grey geese passed over Littleton
in a north-east direction, and on the follow-
ing day three similar birds were seen pursuing
the same line.

[23. Pink-footed Goose. An
chus, Baillon.

brachyrhyn-

Like the last species, the pink-footed goose
was formerly fairly common in the Severn
district. The large gaggles of wild geese
which were seen journeying westward about
Michaelmas were either of this species, the
bean-goose, or the white-fronted goose. The
writer has examined individuals of all three
which have been shot, and has satisfactorily
determined the species.

124. Barnacle - Goose. Bernicla leucopsis

(Bechstein).
The barnacle is included by Hastings in
his list of Worcestershire birds, but he does
not give any indication of its frequency or
locality. That it has, however, occasionally
frequented the Avon the writer can from per-
sonal observation aflirm. It must, however,
be regarded as a rare bird in the county.

125. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta {PzWss).
This can only be mentioned as another

irregular visitor to Worcestershire. It has
never, like the grey geese, made periodical

moves in large flights, but has appeared in
an erratic manner, and generally singly,
during the winter.

126. Whooper Swan. Cygnus musicus, Bech-

stein.
According to Sir Charles Hastings, the
whooper has occurred in Worcestershire on
several occasions, chiefly in the Severn and
Teme, namely, at Powick Weir on the Teme
in February, 1830 ; one in the Severn be-
tween Severn Stoke Church and the Rhydd
in the same month of that year ; and another
at Diglis, also in the Severn, on February 11,
but the year not mentioned. Lees says that
it appears, though rarely in severe winters,
in the Severn and Teme. The present writer
has known a small flight of these fine birds
frequent the Avon near Harvington for several
days. That was in the winter of 1894—95.
It does not seem that any attempt has ever
been made to distinguish the swans that have
been killed, they have all been assumed to be
C. musicus although it is quite probable some
were C. bewicki.

127. Common Sheld-Duck. Tadorna cornuta

(S. G. Gmelin).
The present species is essentially a coast or
estuarine bird, and appears in our inland
streams only occasionally. It breeds in con-
siderable numbers in the Severn estuary where
it is known as the ' Borrow duck.' All
the Worcestershire specimens I have seen
have been immature. It is mentioned by
Hastings as a straggler.

128. Mallard or Wild Duck. Anas hoscas^

Linn.
A resident bird which breeds wherever
there are suitable and protected places. The
head of a pollard withy tree is not infrequently
chosen as a nesting-place.

129. Shoveler. Spatula clypeata (Linn.).

A winter visitor, appearing on our streams
very occasionally. I do not find any mention
of it as a Worcestershire bird in Hastings, but
Willis Bund includes it in the list of birds of
our county, and Lees mentions one which
was shot at Rosebery Rock on the Teme.
It appears occasionally in the Avon.

130. Pintail. Dafila acuta (Linn.).

This duck is mentioned by Hastings as of
' frequent occurrence in the winter season in
our various rivers and pools,' a statement that
does not by any means accord with my know-
ledge of the species. I have found it to be of
unusual appearance in our rivers.

BIRDS

131. Teal. Nettion crecca (Linn.).

An autumnal and winter visitor to our
streams, sometimes coming in considerable
flights ; but it does not generally remain long
in one place, and is now unknown in sum-
mer, although it is probable that formerly it
bred in the county.

132. Garganey. Querquedula circia (Linn.).
A rare spring visitor to the Severn, Avon

and Teme. Seen only in passage.

133. Wigeon. Mareca penelope {L\nn.).

A winter visitor which is found in most of
our streams, and appearing either singly or in
small companies.

134. Pochard. FuUgula ferlna (Linn.).
This also is a winter visitor, but some-
times common. There is no record of its
ever having been seen except in winter.

135. Tufted Duck. Fuligula cristata (Leach).
Occurs not unfrequently in the winter-
Most of those I have had the opportunity of
examining have been immature examples.

136. Scaup-Duck. Fuligula mania (Linn.).
The present species appears inland much

less frequently than the tufted duck, and in-
deed is very rarely seen in the rivers of the
county except in very severe weather, and
even then it is only a straggler. Immature
birds are, however, more frequently seen than
adults of either sex.

137. Goldeneye. Clangula glaucion (Linn.).
The goldeneye is not rare in our rivers and

ponds in the winter, but nearly all the speci-
mens met with are immature. Occasionally,
but very occasionally, an adult bird occurs in
the spring, apparently a passage bird.

138. Long-tailed Duck. Harelda glacialis

(Linn.).
According to Hastings it has appeared in
Worcestershire as a straggler.

139. Common Eider Duck. Somateria moll-

Issima (Linn.).
On the authority of Mrs. Perrott, quoted
by Hastings (p. 70), an eider duck is supposed
to have been killed near Evesham.

140. Common Scoter. CEdemia nigra (Linn.).
A coast bird, which but rarely appears on

our inland waters, and then only as a straggler.

141. Velvet-Scoter. CEdemia fusca (Linn.).
Admitted into the lists of the Worcester-
shire birds solely on the authority of Sir Charles
Hastings who, however, does not give either
time or place of its occurrence.

[Surf-Scoter. CEdemia perspicillata (Linn.).

Although I cannot strictly include the rare
surf-scoter in the list of Worcestershire birds,
I can record the occurrence of one on the
Avon, only a little way from the boundary of
our county, which I saw and examined in
Stratford, where it was brought for preserva-
tion.]

142. Goosander. Mergus merganser, Linn.
The present bird is recorded by Hastings

as of ' frequent occurrence ' in Worcestershire,
but no locality is mentioned, and although it
cannot now be said to be frequent, it is not
very rare in the winter on the principal rivers.

143. Red-breasted Merganser. Mergus serra-

tor, Linn.
This is another species which is given by
Hastings as frequent, but which is certainly
rare in Worcestershire, if indeed there is any
record of its occurrence. Mr. Willis Bund
does not include it, though Lees speaks of it
as making an occasional visit to the county.
The writer has not met with a Worcestershire
specimen, though he has one shot on the Avon
a few miles from the boundary.

144. Smew. Mergus albellus, Linn.

Two instances only of the appearance of
the smew in Worcestershire have come to the
knowledge of the writer. Lees mentions one
which was killed in the Severn above Wor-
cester in the spring of 1855 ; and another
which was shot at Ombersley in January,
1 89 1, was brought by Mrs. Croft of that
place to Mr. Jones, of Worcester, for preser-
vation.

145. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. Columba

palumbuSy Linn.
Locally, Quice.
A common resident and yearly increasing
in numbers. Towards the spring, when the
usual food of the quice has become scarce,
the osier beds of the Avon are frequented by
it for the sake of the bulbous roots of the
pilewort {ranunculus), which have been laid
bare by the winter floods, and on which it
feeds. So long however as the more ordin-
ary food can be found the quice will not be
seen amongst the osiers, nor indeed on the
river bank.

146. Stock-Dove. Columba aenas, Linn.
Though a common bird the stock-dove is

by no means so abundant as the ring-dove.
Besides the holes of trees, the head of a pollard
ash or withy is sometimes chosen as a nesting-
place, and on the Cotteswold range the face
of an abandoned quarry affords suitable accom-
modation for the nests.

163

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

147. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby.
This is now a common summer visitor to

Worcestershire, and distributed all over the
county, but seems to prefer the alluvial tracts
bordering the streams to the clay districts.
Half a century ago it was by no means
common, and was not mentioned as a Wor-
cestershire bird by Hastings in 1834, and
several years subsequently to the date the
author remembers one being shot in the vale
of the Avon, which was regarded as a great
curiosity. It was found by a sportsman in a
stubble field, and as the tail was spread when
the bird rose, the white band at the end was
conspicuous, and in default of a more accurate
name the bird was designated a ' ringtail.'
The increase in numbers took place gradually,
and not by the influx of flights, or by a sudden
addition to the number of pairs.

148. Pallas's Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes para-

doxus (Pallas).
Mr. Willis Bund inserts this bird in the
Worcestershire list from one, and one only,
having been seen by the present writer and
his brother at Littleton, on May i8th,
1888. I transcribe the note I made at the
time, verbatim : ' A sand-grouse flew past my
brother, W. B. Tomes, and myself, as we
were walking along the line of the Liassic
escarpment, near North Littleton, and so near
that we could readily determine the sex to be
a male. The flight was remarkably straight
and swift, and in a south-easterly direction,
directly towards the Cotteswold Hills. The
pointed tail was very conspicuous, and a short,
sharp monosyllabic note, something resembling
" check, check, check " was uttered the whole
time the bird was within hearing.' There
does not appear to be any other notice of the
appearance of the sand-grouse in Worcester-
shire.

149. Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix, Linn.

' Wyre Forest, near Bewdley,' and * is also
found on the Clee Hills, and in the woods
upon the banks of the Teme, near Eastham '
{Hastings, p. 64). It is still found in some
numbers in the Forest.

1 50. Red Grouse. Lagopus scoticus (Latham).
' Inhabits Wyre Forest, near Bewdley '

[Hastings, p. 63). This is most doubtful.
The Brown Clee in Shropshire is the nearest
place where it regularly occurs, but an occa-
sional straggler may be found in the north-
west corner of the county.

151. Pheasant. Phasianus cokhicus, Linn.
Plentiful in preserves but its continued

existence as a Worcestershire bird depends

mainly upon its preservation for sporting pur

152. Partridge. Perdix cinerea, 'L?iX.\\?im.

Is plentiful or the reverse according as it is
protected.

153. Red-legged Partridge. Caccahis rufa

(Linn.).
The same may be said of this as the two
preceding birds. So far as I have been able to
observe the present species continues to hold
about the same numerical proportion to the
common partridge as for some years past. It
is more common in the south than in the
other parts of the county, but it is nowhere
very numerous.

154. Quail. Coturnix communis, Bonnaterre.
Hastings says that a few quails are met

with at Spring Hill. It may however be said
to occur over the greater part of the county,
though perhaps irregularly. It is not how-
ever known except as a summer visitor ; in-
stances of its having bred in Worcestershire
are recorded. The writer has met with a
nest at Littleton, and Lees mentions it as
breeding at Malvern.

155. Corn-Crake or Landrail. Crex praten-

sis, Bechstein.
The abundance, or the reverse, of this bird
is easily determined by its loud raking note,
which there is no danger of confounding with
that of any other bird. There can be no doubt
that it is much less numerous than formerly,
for where one might at one time have found
several, one does not now hear more than one
or two, or perhaps none at all. The people
in the villages where the Cotteswolds break
into the vale of the Severn and Avon, believe
that as they hear the corn-crake on the hill
or in the vale, so they will have wet or dry
weather : if on the hills, wet ; if in the vale,
dry. In the disastrous season of 1879, when
the lowlands were in a more or less condition
of flood through the whole summer, the corn-
crakes were heard only on the higher ground.

156. Spotted Crake. Porzana maruetta

(Leach).
This can hardly be mentioned as being
rare, though it is only occasionally met with,
and generally in the summer. Mr. Willis
Bund speaks of it as becoming scarcer. Lees
mentions it as occasionally appearing around
Malvern. I have seen and examined several
specimens which were killed in the county,
and one which was shot by the side of the
Avon, near to the county boundary, at the
very unusual time of mid-winter.

164

BIRDS

157. Water-Rail. Ra //us aguaticus, hinn.
Although the water-rail is a resident bird

in Great Britain, it is certainly to a consider-
able extent migratory in Worcestershire, there
being a great addition to its numbers late in
the autumn, mostly in November. Indeed,
as there is not up to the present time any re-
corded instance of its breeding in the county,
the question is whether it is not wholly mi-
gratory with us.

158. Moor-Hen. Ga//inu/a ch/oropus {Linn.).
A common and resident bird, found in all

our streams and ponds, where it breeds. It is
not generally known that the moor-hen will
feed freely on apples. A brook which passes
near South Littleton, and has orcharding on
its banks, is frequented by moor-hens, where
the writer has repeatedly seen them feeding
on the fallen fruit. Sometimes nearly a dozen
have been seen so engaged at one place.

159. Coot. Fu/ica aira, Linn.

The coot is common, but seems to need
some protection, being found in great num-
bers on ornamental water, rather than on
rivers on which there are pleasure boats, while
it is rarely seen on streams having a public
navigation.

160. Crane. Grus communis, Bechstein.
The admission of the crane into this list

rests solely on a statement made by Mrs.
Perrott, which is quoted by Hastings (p. 68),
and given verbatim when speaking of the
white stork. The heron {/i. cinerea) is locally
called the crane, and this probably gave rise
to the occurrence of the crane as a Worces-
tershire bird.

161. Great Bustard. Otis tarda, Linn.

'A straggler of the great bustard, Otis
tarda, was killed near Worcester a few
years ago' [Hastings, p. 70).

162. Stone-Curlew. (Edicnemus sco/opax (S.

G. Gmelin).
This bird is stated by Sir Charles Hastings
to extend ' its range just within the southern
limits of our county, a few breeding among
the stony barren parts of the Broadway and
Bredon Hills.' In a note he adds : ' A young
bird of this species was caught alive in the
summer of 1832, near Twining, and brought
to Worcester, where it was identified by the
curator of our museum.' The Worcester
Museum contains two specimens of the stone-
curlew which were killed at Eardiston. In
the near part of Warwickshire, in the vale of
the Avon, two specimens have been shot, both
of which came into the hands of the present
writer when freshly killed.

163. Dotterel. Eudromias morine//us (Linn.).
The dotterel is so rare in Worcestershire

that its occurrence is confined to a single in-
stance. A female or immature male was killed
at Welland, and presented to the Worces-
ter Museum by Mr. Turner, on September
6th, 1 861. A male in mature plumage was
shot some years since in the Avon valley,
in the near part of Gloucestershire, which
came into the hands of the writer.

164. Ringed Plover. JEgia/itis /liaticu/a

(Linn.).

It is very seldom that this bird is seen in-
land, and is certainly rare in Worcestershire.
Neither Hastings nor Lees mentions it, but
the writer has seen one which was shot by
the side of the Avon at Offenham, and
several others on the same river in the near
parts of Gloucestershire.

165. Golden Plover. Charadrius p/uvia/is,

Linn.

No single instance of the breeding of the
golden plover in Worcestershire has come to
the knowledge of the writer, but there is a
male which has partially assumed the black
breast of summer in the Worcester Museum,
which was killed near Droitwich. It appears
not uncommonly during the winter in flights,
generally associating with lapwings.

166. Lapwing. Vane//us vu/garis, Bechstein.
A common and indeed an abundant resi-
dent, though not breeding very numerously.
After the disastrous floods on the Avon in
1879, which carried away so much of the
hay from the low - lying meadows and left
them in the condition of mud-flats, vast num-
bers of lapwings came upon them to feed, and
a perfect babble of their voices could be heard
all through the night. Towards morning they
left the meadows and rested for the day in the
open fields.

[67. Oyster-Catcher.
Linn.

Htematopus ostra/egus,

Hastings did not include the oyster -
catcher in his list of Worcestershire birds,
but observed that it had been shot on the
Teme, near Ludlow. It has, however, been
killed more than once since that date (1834),
at several places in the county, but it can only
be recorded as a very occasional straggler. Ac-
cording to Lees it has been shot on the Teme,
and was seen flying about the Severn in Janu-
ary, i860. I have seen several which were
shot in the vale of the Avon, though not in
the county.

165

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

1 68. Avocet. Recurvlrostra avocetta, Linn.
Hastings gave the following, in 1832, re-
specting this bird : ' The avocet, Recurvlrostra
avocetta, was shot a few years ago close to
Worcester bridge.' Another avocet (unless
it was the one above mentioned) was shot
near Worcester a good many years ago, and
when mounted by Mr. H. Holloway of that
city, went into the collection of the late Mr.
R. Berkeley, of Spetchley Park. Pennant
{British Zoology, p. 400) gives as a locality
for the occurrence of the avocet, the Severn's
mouth, and he also says that it is found
' sometimes on the lakes of Shropshire.' It
was probably not very rare at one time on
the Severn.

169. Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus fulicarius

(Linn.).
This is an occasional visitor to our county
in considerable numbers in certain seasons,
but only occasionally, years passing without
the occurrence of a solitary one. The most
recent dates of its appearance are 1 89 1 and
1896, when a considerable number were ob-
served, as I learn from Mr. Edwards, the
curator of the Worcester Museum. He in-
formed me that they frequented the meadows
near Powick.

170. Woodcock. Scolopax rusticula, Linn.
The woodcock is common as an autumn

visitor, and is generally distributed in the
county, though not anywhere very abundant.
It requires places suited to its particular habits,
which do not correspond with those of other
Scolopacidts. Old sportsmen assert that the
woodcock, besides frequenting wet places, is
partial to dry bottoms in woods where there
is underwood, and where the leaves in winter
lie thick. These the woodcock is reported to
turn over in the search for food, which is said
to be insects ; and, furthermore, they say that
they can determine whether it was a wood-
cock or a blackbird which had been feeding.
The latter bird, we know, flings the leaves ofF
right and left, and leaves them scattered
about ; but the woodcock, we are informed,
merely turns them over. The woodcock breeds
sparingly in Wyre Forest, and it is believed
in some other of the large woods in Wor-
cestershire ; Lees mentions Martley, Acton
Beauchamp and Lulsley as localities where it
has nested, and other localities could be given.

171. Great Snipe. Ga//inago major {Gmelin).
I include this in the Worcestershire list

wholly on the authority of Sir Charles Hast-
ings ; but at most it is only a very casual
straggler on the autumn migration.

172. Common Snipe. Ga/iinago ca^kstis {Fren-

zel).

It would be useless to say that the snipe is
not much less abundant than formerly. Many
places at one time suitable to its habits have
been drained, and are no longer frequented.
The snipe is very rarely seen with us in the
summer, and I have never heard of a nest
having been discovered. Occasionally, how-
ever, one appears in the end of the summer
or the early autumn.

In July, 1 849, my brother, W. B. Tomes,
flushed a snipe on several consecutive days
from the dry and shingly bed of a brook in
connection with the Avon, and, as the date as
well as the spot was remarkable, he shot the
bird on the 29th of that month. It came
into my hands the same day, and when
proceeding to preserve it, I observed what had
the appearance of a flesh maggot in its mouth ;
and such it proved to be. An examination of
the spot revealed the presence in an overhang-
ing withy tree of some parts of a dead sheep,
which had been hung there by a shepherd,
and from which had fallen the unusual food
above mentioned, and on which the snipe had
doubtless been feeding for several days. It
was probably a distant straggler, and certainly
a very remarkable one, all the upper parts
being very richly and thickly pencilled with
bright rufous, the usual light-coloured longitu-
dinal markings being reduced to little more
than mere lines. In the nature of the mark-
ings on the back this bird bore some resem-
blance to Sabine's snipe, though not in colour.

173. Jack Snipe. Gal/inago gal/inula (Linn.).
This is essentially a solitary species, more

than one being very seldom seen at the same
spot except on migration. It is a skulking
little bird, requiring more cover than the
common snipe, but nevertheless is easily ac-
commodated ; almost any dirty puddle by the
side of a stream will do, but there must be
some herbage amongst which it can hide, for
it seldom appears on an open mud flat.
About the middle of October is the date
when we expect to notice some evidences of
its first appearance.

174. Dunlin. Tringa a /piria, hinn.
Although so abundant on the coast, it is

remarkable how seldom the dunlin is seen in-
land. It can indeed be mentioned only as a
rare straggler. Lees says it is a wanderer
from the coast, not more than four speci-
mens have come within the observation of the
writer during a period of half a century, one
of which was killed by flying against the tele-
graph wires of the railway near Evesham, and

BIRDS

the others were shot in the valley of the Avon
in Gloucestershire.

175. Curlew-Sandpiper. Tringa iubar quota

(Guldenstadt).
A flight of curlew-sandpipers appeared on
the Cofton reservoir in September, 1885,
some of which were shot, and, having been
taken into Birmingham to be mounted, came
into the hands of the present writer. This
appears to be the only record of the occurrence
of this bird in the county.

176. Sanderling. Calidris arenaria (Linn.).
Hastings mentions the sanderling as having

been shot on the Teme in December, 1826 ;
and Lees gives Longdon Marsh as a locality
where it has been seen. A specimen in the
Worcester Museum is labelled ' Salwarp ' ;
and that is all the information to hand of the
sanderling as a Worcestershire bird.

177. Common Sandpiper. Tetanus hypoleucus

(Linn.).
This is a very regular spring visitor to our
streams, but only as a passage bird on its way
to its breeding places on the moors in the
western country. About the first week in
May it appears, but soon departs, coming again
in the early part of September, at which time
the greater number are young birds.

178. Green Sandpiper. Totanus ochropm

(Linn.).
The green sandpiper can only be mentioned
as an irregular and rare visitor to our county,
appearing in spring and autumn, and never
nesting with us. It is usually, perhaps always,
found singly, and not unfrequently in some
quiet pool or brook, and more rarely in the
larger rivers. I remember on one occasion
seeing a bird of this species resting in a very
upright posture on a dead branch projecting
from the stagnant water of a pool by the side
of the Midland Railway between Evesham
and Ashchurch, as I was passing in the train.
That was in the autumn of 1880. Nearly all
the specimens which have come into my hands
have been shot from pools in little-frequented
pasture fields.

179. Spotted Redshank. Totanus fuscus {Lmn.).
Only once have I met with the present

species in Worcestershire. In the village of
Cleeve Prior there was originally a village
green, now enclosed and converted into gar-
dens, in the middle of which was a consider-
able sized horsepond, and in that pond a
spotted redshank was shot on August 15 th,
1848, which at once came into my hands,
and is now in my collection.

1 80. Greenshank. Totanus canescens (Gmelin;.
As a Worcestershire bird, this rests on the

authority of Hastings and on Lees, who state
that one was shot on the Teme as long ago as
1826. I have a specimen which was shot out
of a flight in the adjoining part of Gloucester-
shire, but it is a not unlikely bird to be met
with on migration.

181. Common Curlew. Nmnenius arquata

(Linn.).
The curlew can only be mentioned as an
occasional visitor to Worcestershire, and in-
deed is more frequently seen passing over, or
resting for a time on some hill-top on its way.
The well-known whistle is often heard in the
night ; and as the barred quills are sometimes
picked up and mistaken for those of falcons, it
is not unlikely that our fields and meadows are
more often frequented by the curlew than is
supposed. Lees says that it appears occasion-
ally on the Severn and the Teme.

[Whimbrel. Numenius phaopus (Linn.).

Hastings says that the whimbrel has been
met with on the Severn and Teme, but the
writer has seen no Worcestershire specimen,
nor any confirmatory record of its appearance
in the county.]

182. Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra (Linn.).
An occasional black tern appears on our

rivers in the spring, that is in April or early
in May, but only at long intervals. As the
species is becoming scarce in Great Britain, it
may not be amiss to note a few instances of
its occurrences in Worcestershire. Lees
mentions one killed in 1855, but gives no
locality, and he also speaks of its appearing on
the Severn. An adult male was shot on the
Avon, where it divides the counties of Wor-
cester and Warwick, on April 5th, 1853.
Another was seen on the Avon on May 9th,
1884, near Harvington ; and an adult female
was shot on the same stream, and very near
the same place, on April 24th, 1891. Others
have been seen of which I have heard, but of
which I have no note ; and an occasional im-
mature bird of this species has appeared in the
autumn.

[White-winged Black Tern. Hydrocheli-
don leucoptera (Schinz).

There is no record of this rare and remark-
able-looking bird having been certainly seen
in Worcestershire, though there is no reason-
able doubt that one shot on the Avon at
Welford, on May 8th, 1884, had passed
through the county on its course up the
Avon. And that it did pass up the Avon
to the place where it was shot is well known,

167

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

as it was observed doing so. Arrived at
Welford, it was seen and shot by Mr. W.
H. Baylies on the day above mentioned, and
is now in the writer's collection. The
plumage is that of an adult, but the sex
could not be determined, as the internal parts
were destroyed by shot.]

183. Gull-billed Tern. Sterna ang/ica, Mon-

tagu.
I can only record a single undoubted oc-
currence of the gull-billed tern in Worcester-
shire, and I have no note either of the date of
appearance or sex. It was shot while flying
over the reservoir at Cofton, near Barnt
Green, Bromsgrove, and taken to Birming-
ham for preservation. A specimen has also
been met with in Warwickshire, quite near to
the boundary of Worcestershire.

184. Common Tern. Sterna fluviatHis,

Naumann.
So far as I know, the common tern is a rare
bird in the county, and indeed in the valleys
of the Severn and Avon ; at any rate, I have
seen but few specimens either in the hands of
local bird stuffers or in collections. Speci-
mens of terns, both adult and immature, sup-
posed to be of this species, have nearly always
proved on examination to be Arctic terns. A
pair, however, of common terns were shot
while flying over the Avon on August 1 8th,
1 84 1, which proved on examination to be
male and female in full plumage. The
date is rather early in the autumn for the
appearance of any species of tern in passage.

185. Arctic Tern. Sterna macrura^'HaMmdinn.
This is by far the most common tern seen

in our inland county, and has been known to
appear in extraordinary numbers during the
spring migration. In 1842 an immense flight
came ' in and about the estuary of the Severn,
and up the line of its course.' So wrote
Yarrell in his History of British Birds. He
might have added that their flight extended
up the tributaries of the Severn. A full
account of that remarkable appearance of
Arctic terns was published in the Annals and
Magazine of Natural History, by Mr. H. E.
Strickland, then residing at Cracombe near
Evesham. As many as forty which had been
shot on the 8th and 9th of May of the year
above mentioned, were taken, as we learn from
that account, to one bird stuffer in that town.
The present writer well remembers that flight
of unusual birds appearing over and about the
Avon. Every man who could command a
gun of any description, large or small, sallied
forth intent on slaughter ; and there was no
need to wait long for the chances of a shot,

for the birds were by no means wary, but
came freely within range. From any station
by the side of the stream twenty or thirty
could be seen at once. Since that date a few
have appeared taking the same course up
stream, but only as single stragglers. Im-
mature specimens are common in local collec-
tions, all of which have been taken at the time
of the autumn migration.

186. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn.

A rare straggler, but has appeared on the
Severn and the Avon. Hastings records it as
a Worcestershire bird, on the authority of
Mrs. Perrott, it having been observ'ed, accord-
ing to that lady, on the Avon. Lees says
that the one mentioned by her was seen a
little above Tewkesbury. The present writer
has specimens which were shot on the Avon.

187. Little Gull. Larus minutus, Pallas.
According to Lees, one was shot at Upton-

on-Severn ; and I saw one some years ago
which was shot on the Avon and taken to
Stratford to be stuffed. On enquiry I was
told that it had been killed a little lower down
the stream than Bidford, and probably there-
fore in the county of Worcester, or, if not, in
very close contiguity to it.

188. Black-headed Gull. Larus ridibundus,

Linn.
Like all other gulls which have been met
with in Worcestershire, this species is only a
straggler, though it cannot be said to be rare.
There is a large breeding colony in Stafford-
shire.

189. Common Gull. Larus canus, Linn.
An occasional individual of this species

appears in our cultivated fields, and stays for
awhile, taking up its quarters in the large open
parts, and feeding on worms and insects. I
have known one frequent a ploughed field for
more than a week, following the plough,
always however at a respectful distance, and
devouring the worms which were brought up.

190. Herring-Gull. Larus argentatus, GmeVm.
An occasional bird of this species may be

noted in Worcestershire, most frequently in
mottled immature plumage. It cannot, how-
ever, at any age be considered as any other
than a waif and stray, and is really much more
often seen passing over the county than actually
frequenting it.

191. Great Black-backed Gull. Larus mari-

nus, Linn.
Hastings mentions the appearance of this
gull in Worcestershire on several occasions,
and gives the following in a note on page 7 1 :

168

BIRDS

' Mr. Flinn, of Worcester, killed a very fine
specimen, after a desperate resistance, in a
field near the Dog and Duck, at Henwick,
where it had flown out of the Severn, in
January, 1833. This specimen is now in
the Society's Museum.' The same authority
mentions the Teme and the Avon as rivers on
which the bird has been met with. Nothing
additional is given by Lees, though it is in-
cluded by him in the Malvern list. My own
knowledge of this as a Worcestershire bird is
confined to such as I have seen pass over. It
regularly frequents Lundy Island, and may
generally be seen in the Severn estuary where
it is known as the salmon gull.

192. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Larus fuscm,

Linn.
In the winter when the low-lying lands ad-
joining the Severn are flooded, small flocks of
gulls generally come up from the Severn es-
tuary. Among them are often specimens of
this gull. Mr. Willis Bund informs me he
has on one or two occasions shot examples.

193. Kittiwake. Rissa tridactyla (Linn.).
The kittiwake is an occasional visitor to

our county, frequenting our rivers or other
waters, and never, so far as my observation
has gone, having recourse to the open fields.

194. Arctic or Richardson's Skua. Stercora-

rius crepidatus (Gmelin).
Three instances of the occurrence of this
bird in Worcestershire may be mentioned.
Morris, in his work on British birds, records
one which was met with on the Severn, near
Worcester, early in November, 1 846 ; and I
have seen and examined a preserved specimen
of one shot while resting in the middle of a
field at a place called Hoden, in the parish of
Cleeve Prior, during the partridge shooting
some years since. The third was killed on
September 28th, 1899, at Hampton, near
Evesham, as I am informed by Mr. T. E.
Doeg of Evesham, to whom the specimen
was brought when killed. It was an immature
bird, as was also the one shot near Cleeve
Prior.

195. Little Auk. Mergulm alle (Linn.).
This small sea bird has not unfrequently

been taken up in Worcestershire and the
adjoining counties in a state of exhaustion or
dead, chiefly after heavy gales from the south-
west. All the specimens examined have been
in winter plumage, excepting one in breeding
plumage taken up dead at Great Alne near
Alcester, Warwickshire, of which I have not
the date.

196. Puffin. Fratercula arctica (Linn.).
Like the last species the puffin appears only

as a storm-driven victim, and is rarely found
in Worcestershire excepting dead or exhausted.
All those which I have had the opportunity
of examining have been in immature plumage,
and with the beak not fully developed. It
breeds in numbers on Lundy Island.

197. Great Northern Diver. Colymbus

glacialis, Linn.
Hastings records two occurrences of this
fine bird in the county of Worcester, namely,
one on the large sheet of water in Westwood
Park in 1821, and another which was shot
on the Severn in December, 1827. There is a
specimen in the Worcester Museum which is
labelled as having been killed on the Severn
in close proximity to that city, which may be
the one killed in 1827. I have known one
shot on the Avon near Stratford.

198. Red-throated Diver. Colymbus septen-

triona/is, Linn.
This species has occurred in Worcestershire
too frequently to require a detailed statement
of each appearance. In nearly every instance
it has been a visitor to the Severn or its
tributaries, and in immature plumage. Once
only has it been known to occur in adult dress
in the valley of the Avon, namely, in Novem-
ber, 1858, when one was found in a state of
exhaustion by the side of the road between
Stratford-on-Avon and the village of Loxley.

199. Great-crested Grebe. Podicipes cristatus

(Linn.).
There are but few recorded instances of the
appearance of this bird in the county. A
specimen in full summer plumage in the
Worcester Museum is recorded as having been
taken at the Camp, near Worcester ; and an-
other in the same collection, also in summer
plumage, was shot at Woodhampton. A third,
in similar plumage, was killed on the Severn
at Kempsey, and is now in the writer's col-
lection. About 1870 an immature bird of
this species was taken on the Cofton reservoir,
near Barnt Green.

200. Red-necked Grebe. Podicipes griseigena

(Boddaert).
Hastings records two specimens of the red-
necked grebe, on the authority of Mrs. Perrott,
one being shot on the Severn, and the other
on the Avon. Both were in the collection of
H. E. Strickland, Esq., then living at Cra-
combe, near Fladbury. A bird of this species
was shot on the Severn, at the Pitchcroft,
Worcester, in the winter of 1886-87 or
1887-88, and was brought to Mr. HoUoway

169

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

of that city, for preservation. It is now in the
collection of the writer. Several other occur-
rences of this grebe on the Avon are on
record, all of which are in winter plumage.

201. Slavonian Grebe. Podicipes auritus

(Linn.).

This, as an autumn and winter visitor to
our streams, is rather more frequent than either
the crested or red-necked grebe. I have seen
and examined specimens in winter plumage
from the Severn, the Avon and the Arrow ;
but it is not mentioned by Hastings.

In its highly-ornamental and richly-coloured
summer dress it is very rare, but two, male
and female, in perfect breeding plumage, were
ruthlessly shot at Wootton Warren some years
ago, after they had commenced building a
nest. They were sent for preservation to
John Spicer of Warwick, where I saw them.
Wootton Warren I would observe, though in
Warwickshire, is only a mile from Oldberrow
in Worcestershire.

202. Eared Grebe. Podicipes nigricollii

(Brehm).
A few instances of the occurrences of this
grebe on the Avon in winter plumage have
come to my knowledge ; and a most beautiful
specimen in full summer dress was killed some
years since at Wootton Warren, and sent to
John Spicer of Warwick to be stuffed, in
whose hands I saw it.

203. Little Grebe or Dabchick. Podicipes

fluviatilis (Tunstall).
From the frequent appearance of this almost
everywhere common bird in the Worcester-
shire streams and other waters, it might be
expected that the nest would be often seen.
Yet it is not so, for indeed it is but rarely
found. I have never seen or heard of a nest
on the Avon or its feeders, though I have an
immature but full-grown young one which
was taken in a net on the Arrow near Alces-
ter. Mr. W. Edwards, of Malvern, has been
more fortunate, and reports of the little grebe
that it is 'common on New Pool, where it
breeds.'

204. Storm-Petrel. Procellaria pelagica, Linn.
This is another storm-driven straggler with

us, and is of very rare occurrence. Three

times only has it come within the knowledge
of the writer during a period of more than
fifty years. One was taken in the streets of
Worcester, where it appeared on the wing.
Another near Alcester, Warwickshire, also on
the wing ; and the third was in the same
county at Wormleighton, where it was first
observed flying about. In no instance has it
been found dead.

205. Leach's Fork-tailed Petrel. Oceanodroma

leucorrhoa (Vieillot).
Unlike the last-named species, the present
bird has occurred not very infrequently in
Worcestershire and in the adjoining counties,
and in every instance has been found dead,
generally after heavy gales from the south-
west. I have the records of more than a
dozen specimens which have been picked up
dead in or near the valley of the Avon. The
latest county record is of one at Alfrick in
November, 1899.

206. Manx Shearwater. Puffinus anglorum

(Temminck).
This is one of the storm-driven castaways
which are sometimes picked up exhausted after
high winds in the autumn. Several are on
record in the valley of the Avon. One was
taken alive and unhurt in a field of wheat
which was in stook (locally ' shuck ') at Lit-
tleton, on August 27th, 1 89 1. Another
had been similarly taken, also in a field of
wheat in shuck, in the same month, August,
1888, near Stratford-on-Avon. It was sup-
posed that in both these instances the birds
had been driven forcibly against the shucks of
wheat, and had fallen to the ground. Some
other occurrences of this seafaring bird having
been found exhausted either in or near our
county are on record.

207. Fulmar. Fulmarus glacialis (Linn.)
Hastings in a note gives the following

respecting the fulmar : 'The fulmar,' says
Mrs. Perrott, in a communication to our
society, ' was found near the village of Hill,
much exhausted, but from the kindness of a
neighbour was kept alive to be forwarded to
me. Unfortunately, the lad to whom it was
entrusted, on receiving a bite from the bird,
killed it. I however made a sketch.'

MAMMALS

As the mammals indigenous to the British Islands are neither nu-
merous as species nor yet of very varied natural affinities, and as a certain
percentage of these are marine forms, which are only most casual visitors
to the non-tidal parts of the Severn, it follows that Worcestershire has but
a short list of indigenous species. The number and description of the
mammals of a county, unlike the birds, depend to a large extent on its
climate or, in other words, its geographical position. For example,
the greater horse-shoe bat, the serotine bat, and the dormouse, which
frequent the southern counties, are very rarely met with so far north as
Worcestershire.

The Cervidce, or deer, have become extinct in the county since the
seventeenth century. The disafforestation of Malvern Chase and Fecken-
ham Forest under Charles I. must have largely reduced their number. The
Session's records contain evidence, an indictment for killing them, of the
existence of wild deer in Malvern Chase in 1614. These were most
likely red deer {Cervus elaphus) ; probably the Civil War led to their prac-
tical extermination here, they continued for some time longer in Wyre
Forest. The deer remained in the Gloucestershire Forest of Dean until
living memory, and an occasional straggler found its way into the old
limits of Malvern Chase in Worcestershire. But practically the wild
red deer became extinct in the county about the middle of the seven-
teenth century. From that date the only deer have been the fallow deer
[Cervus dama) in the different parks.

Worcestershire has not like its neighbour Staffordshire been for-
tunate in retaining the British wild cattle {Bos taurus) on its list. No
doubt these animals at one time, up to what date is uncertain, wandered
over Cannock Chase, Pensnett Chase, and the north of the county, but the
development of the minerals in north Worcestershire must have been
fatal to the wild cattle, and the county was not sufficiently lucky to pos-
sess such a park as Chartley to shelter and protect them. The modern
improvements that have in the last sixty years been made in the Severn
have effectively prevented any of the marine mammals from now visit-
ing the county, even if the reason which brought them to it was not
disappearing. It is well known that both seals and porpoises are much
addicted to salmon and if salmon are numerous will follow that fish some
way up a river. The appearance of a seal, probably the common seal
[Phoca vitii/ina), has been recorded on one or two occasions in the early part
of the nineteenth century, while a casual porpoise {Phocana communis)
has been recorded within living memory as appearing in the Severn
within the county. The theory of the fishermen that when a shoal of

171

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

salmon are ascending a stream the porpoises try to get between them
and the narrow part of the river if true would account for this, even if
the more obvious reason, the porpoises following the salmon as far as they
could up the river, did not do so. Since the erection of the Navigation
Weirs at Gloucester and Tewkesbury the appearance of a porpoise in
Worcestershire is almost unknown. The result is that the ordinary
Worcestershire mammals are confined to the bats {Cheiroptera), insect
eaters {Insectivord) moles and shrews, the small carnivora and the rodents,
which give a total of thirty-two.

The only list of the county mammals which has yet been published
was that in 1834 by Sir Charles Hastings in his Illustrations of the Natural
History of Worcestershire, which is not and did not claim to be exhaus-
tive and was in some cases compiled on insufficient observations. It is
believed that the present is the first attempt that has been made to
give a complete list. From the varied nature of different parts of the
county it is quite possible that some species with a very local range may
be omitted, but it is believed all are included. Those mentioned have
been strictly verified, while some, Uke the greater horse-shoe bat {Rhino-
lophus ferrum-equinuni) which Sir Charles Hastings mentions as having
been found in Worcestershire, but of which no verified recorded appear-
ance exists, and is not usually found so far north, are omitted.

CHEIROPTERA

1. Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. Rhinolophus h'lppo-

siderus, Bechstein.

The lesser horse-shoe bat is by no means rare
in this county as well as in the adjoining ones.
It is generally found singly, though sometimes
in considerable numbers. Many years ago it
frequented the roof of Ragley Hall, the seat
of the Marquis of Hertford, from which place
the author took a considerable number, some
of which were kept alive for two or three
weeks. They were remarkably shy and re-
tiring in their habits, but particularly quiet
and gentle. In the large open space in the
roof of the mansion some of these small bats
might be seen flitting about in the gloom at
any time of the day, but they shunned observ-
ation, and retreated to some cranny or joint
in the timber when approached. Although
numerous there, they were always found
hidden away singly. Of the flight of this
bat or of its habits when abroad in the night
I can say nothing, not a single example hav-
ing ever in my experience been obtained by
the use of the gun.

2. Long-eared Bat. Plecotus auritus, Linn.
The comparatively enormous size of the

ears of this bat will at once distinguish it
from all other British species. Each ear is

almost as long as the body and head of the
animal. If you could imagine a horse with
ears five or six feet long, you would have
some idea of the relative size of those parts
in this remarkable species. Though not by
any means abundant, the long-eared bat is
not local in Worcestershire, but inhabits the
whole of the county. Old buildings and
churches are its favourite places of retire-
ment, but so far as has at present been
observed, preference is shown to certain
spots, where they congregate, though they
are not properly speaking gregarious.

3. Barbastelle. Barhastella barbastellus, Schre-
ber.

Bell — Barbastellus daubentonii.
This is a very solitary species, and by no
means common in the county. All sorts of
odd places are chosen by the barbastelle in
which to repose during the day. Any crev-
ice will serve its turn, and it would seem
that the same place is not frequented on con-
secutive days, as bats of this species have
more than once been found in places which
could only be temporary. I remember to
have seen one taken from a stack of boards
in a timber yard at Arrow near Alcester,
which stack had only been put there the day

172

MAMMALS

before. Another one was taken from behind
the shutter of a cottage window in the village
of Weston-on-Avon, which shutter was daily
opened and shut. On the wing the barba-
stelle is readily distinguished from every other
British bat by its dark colour, broad wings,
and by its slow, irregular and owl-like flight,
which is sometimes quite close to the ob-
server, perhaps only three or four feet from
his face. But as it comes abroad quite late
in the evening, it can only be observed for a
very short time. No particular situation is
chosen for its nocturnal flight, which may be
among buildings or in the open fields ; but
wherever it may be, when once seen it is
speedily lost sight of.

4. Great or White's Bat (Noctule). Pipis-

trellus noctula, Schreber.
Bell — Scotophilus noctula.
This, the largest bat inhabiting Worcester-
shire, is pretty generally distributed, and may
be recognized on the wing by its high,
straight and rapid flight, which is fre-
quently over some stream. It was the
high and vigorous flight of this species
which induced Gilbert White, in the His-
tory of Selborne, to designate it Vespertilio
altivolans, the high-flying bat. It retires to
rest during the day, and to hibernate through
the winter to holes in trees, but very rarely if
ever to buildings. The hole made by the
green woodpecker in an aged elm has been
found to be literally filled by these bats.

5. The Hairy-armed Bat. Pipistrellus leisleri,

Kuhl.

Bell — Scotophilus leisleri.
Not very inferior in size to the last species,
the hairy-armed bat is rare in all parts of
England, not many instances of its occur-
rence having been recorded. One was shot
while on the wing in the vicinity of the
ancient manor house at Cleeve Prior early
in the summer of 1853, when two were ob-
served. Afterwards one was shot (by a party
of rook-shooters ; probably therefore about
the middle of May) the other took flight
and did not return. Since that time others
have been seen, but only very occasionally,
whole summers passing without one being
observed. It may be easily recognized by
its exceedingly erratic and zig-zag flight,
which may be high or low, in the open
fields or in sheltered places. Instead of
pursuing a pretty regular beat, as does the
noctule, the present bat is here and there,
and almost as soon as you see it, it is gone,
and does not reappear. Of the diurnal re-
treat of this species I can say nothing.

6. Pipistrelle. Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Sichreher.

Bell — Scotophilus pipistrellus.
This bat is common and distributed all
over the county, and may be found repos-
ing singly during the day in all sorts of
places — holes in trees, crannies in old walls
or buildings — and the author remembers once
taking one out of a mortise-hole in a gate-
post. It is equally general in its choice of
feeding ground, being observable either singly
or in pairs in some sheltered corner between
buildings or amongst the stems of trees, al-
most always low down, and taking the same
short beats, backward and forward. When
Shakespeare spoke of the cloistered flight of
the bat, he probably referred to this bat as it
describes that of the pipistrelle with great
accuracy, and this bat is common in the Avon
valley and round Stratford.

7. Natterer's Bat. Myotis nattereri, Kuhl.

Bell — Vespertilio nattereri.
This is of somewhat greater size than the
little bat which is most commonly observed,
and is lighter in colour than any other Wor-
cestershire species, excepting the lesser horse-
shoe bat before mentioned. In its place of
retreat it is strictly gregarious, crowding
together in masses of sometimes hundreds.
Yet it is not of frequent occurrence, and of
its habits during the hours of the night very
little is known, but there is reason to believe
that it feeds in companies. There was formerly
quite a colony of Natterer's bats in the roof of
Arrow Church near Alcester, between the
ceiling and the tiles, which was visited on more
than one occasion many years since by the
late Sir W. H. Flower and the present writer.
Some of the bats captured there on one
occasion were taken home by the author
and turned loose in a room, and the win-
dow opened to allow them to depart. At
first one or two passed through the win-
dow, but would not leave without their
companions, returning into the room again,
and this was repeated until all became
aware of the open window, when they de-
parted in a body. They proved when taken
in hand to be very gentle creatures, evincing
no disposition to bite, and their gregarious or
sociable nature was well shown by their re-
fusal to escape except in company.

8. Daubenton's Bat. Myotis dauhentoni,

Leisler.

Bel 1 — Vespertilio daubentonii.
This might almost be designated an aqua-
tic bat, so much does it aflFect streams and

[73

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

ponds, appearing to feed by preference on
insects close over still water. It comes
abroad quite late in the evening, some time
after the pipistrelle has made its appearance,
and may then be seen so close to the surface
of the water of some pond or still reach of
the river Avon that the reflection is undistin-
guishable from the creature itself. The diurnal
place of retirement is some old building, holes
in trees so far as I know never being chosen.
The belfry of the church at Stratford-on-
Avon was formerly much frequented by
this bat, and the late Sir W. H. Flower
and the present writer obtained specimens
there by swinging the bell ropes about just
when the bats came out of crevices and were
flying round the belfry. They were struck
by the ropes and came to the floor. Dau-
benton's bat may be distinguished from its
allies, Natterer's bat and the whiskered bat,
by its having the feet less fully enclosed in
the wing-membrane.

9. Whiskered Bat. Myotis mystacinus, Leisler.
Bell — FespertUio mystacinuj.
There is no English bat which can more
properly be styled an arboreal species than the
present one, notwithstanding that it reposes
during the day in buildings. At the present
moment there is quite a large colony of whis-
kered bats in the roof of the house of the writer
at Littleton, from which place more than a
hundred were seen to emerge one evening in
July, I 899. They dropped out of a hole under
the slates either singly or in twos or threes, and
lost no time in getting into the top of a large
walnut tree, through which they passed, and
scattered oflF to other trees to feed amongst the
branches. The flight of this bat may be de-
scribed as quivering through and through the
branches and amongst the leaves. You rarely,
perhaps never, see a whiskered bat taking a
backward and forward beat in a sheltered cor-
ner, like the pipistrelle, the flight being almost
always in trees and generally high up.

INSECTIVORA

10. Hedgehog. Erinaceus europeeus, Linn.
The hedgehog is so well known in the

county as to demand little notice. It is how-
ever becoming scarce in some parts of the
county, partly because it is killed wherever it
is met with, by labourers because it is supposed
to suck cows, by keepers because it is known
to suck eggs, and partly because under the
conditions of modern farming the old wide
hedges that used to furnish it with shelter are
being swept away. It has its regular hunting
ground and may be seen night after night to
go out along a particular track, occasionally it
travels a considerable distance.

11. Mole. Talpa europcea, Linn.

The abundance or the reverse of the mole
in any district depends entirely on the assi-
duity of the mole-catcher, for when trapping
is carried on industriously the creature is
soon quickly reduced in numbers. It is the
custom in some places in Worcestershire to
pay the mole-catcher a specified sum per acre
for its destruction. In the neighbourhood of
Bengworth two varieties of this animal were
at one time not infrequent, one of a pale
cream colour and the other, which was much
the rarer, of a dark ash colour. In the Vic-
toria Museum, Worcester, are specimens of
moles of various colours which have from
time to time been caught in different parts of
the county.
12. Common Shrew. Sorex aranem, Linn.

A common and regularly distributed species
over the whole of the county.

13. Pigmy Shrew. Sorex mtnutusy Pallas.

Bell — Sorex pygmaui.
This very small creature is much less abun-
dant than the common shrew, to which it bears
considerable resemblance except in size. It
would be correct to say that for one instance
of its occurrence twenty of the common shrew
would be seen. It is found in the same sort
of situations which are frequented by the
common shrew.

14. Water Shrew. Neomys fodiens, Pallas.

Bell — Crossopus fodiens.
As its name implies, this is an aquatic
creature, and is almost always found in the
vicinity of water. The low-lying meadows
by the side of the Avon, Severn and Teme
are much frequented by the water shrew, and
they are sometimes discovered when the scythe
comes into use. Shallow rippling ditches and
rills as well as brooks are favourite haunts,
more especially such as have a gravelly bottom.
It is said, and with truth, to eat the spawn of
fish that it finds in such places, but it also
finds beneath the stones the small crustacean
Gammarus pulex, and the water shrew makes
use of its long snout to turn over the stones
and capture it. But such small creatures are
not the exclusive diet of the water shrew, the
present writer having once seen one escape from
the dried-up body of a barn-door fowl lying in
an outhouse. The shrew had eaten its way
into the interior through the abdomen. On
another occasion a common rat which had
been caught and killed by the jaws of a

174

MAMMALS

steel trap was attacked by a water shrew, The so-called oared shrew, Sorex ci/iatus, is

which was discovered making violent attempts nothing more than a dark-coloured variety of

to get a hole through the tough skin of the water shrew, which is not infrequently

the rat. met with in the summer.

CARNIVORA

15. Fox. Vulpes vulpes, Linn.

Bell — Vulpes vulgaris.
An animal wholly dependent for existence
in our county upon the sport which he affords.
Were foxhunting to go out the fox would
speedily go out with it.

16. Pine Marten. Mustela martes, Linn.

Bell — Maries abietum.
' Rarely to be found even in places formerly
known as his usual haunts,' were the words
made use of in 1834 by Sir Charles Hastings,
but whether they were intended to apply to
the yellow-breasted or white-breasted marten
as a Worcestershire mammal I am unable to
determine. It is doubtful if the white-breasted
marten has been found in the county for many
years if at all, no record of it exists; but I
can however speak of the yellow-breasted
as having been killed more than half a
century since at Falke Mill near Evesham.
The animal was taken to a bird stufFer in
that town, and when preserved remained for
many years in the possession of the party who
killed it ; but finally, when faded, dirty and
dilapidated, it came into the hands of the
present writer. That is the latest recorded
occurrence of this marten in Worcestershire,
but it may possibly still exist in some of the
large woods.

17. Polecat. Putorius putorlus, Linn.

Bell — Mustela putorius.
Formerly not rare in Worcestershire, but
now only known in a few favoured localities,
in the large woodlands and remote wooded
districts, but it is nearly if not quite extinct
in the county.

18. Stoat. Putorius ermineus, Linn.
Bell — Mustela erminea.
Like the weasel the stoat is distributed over
the whole of the county. It is a wild and
fearless animal, and not easy of observation,
but the occasional assumption of the white or
ermine fur in the winter renders it a conspicu-
ous object, and as it may be seen at a con-
siderable distance, some idea of the range of
its operations may be arrived at. One which
the author repeatedly observed had a beat of
fiilly two miles in extent — rather a wide

manor for so small an animal. Another stoat,
also white, was seen by the author to hurry
into a hedge, where it might have been ex-
pected to conceal itself ; but it passed straight
through, across a lane, into a coppice of several
acres in extent on a steep slope, up which it
took a straight course and out at the top, with-
out so much as a check. The distance
traversed in a nearly straight line was fully
a quarter of a mile in what might be termed
a cross-country run, and how much further
could not be ascertained. It is the habit of
the stoat to get clear away, and not to skulk,
when there is danger.

19. Weasel. Putorius nivalis., Linn.

Bell — Mustela vulgaris.
This animal is too generally distributed and
too well known to need more than a brief
notice and to observe that its food appears to
consist chiefly of field mice and field voles. A
family of three-fourths grown weasels which
the author had the opportunity of observing
were wholly fed by the parent on these small
rodents. Nothing could exceed the restless
activity and playfulness of the young ones,
clinging to each other and rolling over and
over like a family of kittens, but much quicker,
and they seemed never to tire of the amuse-
ment. The weasel seems to take a regular
and circumscribed beat, if we may judge from
the habits of one which frequented the hut of
an old crossing-keeper on the Great Western
Railway near Bretforton, where it was daily
seen by the old man, who never molested
it, as it destroyed the mice, which before
its appearance were in considerable abun-
dance.

20. Badger. Meles meles, Linn.

Bell — Meles taxus.
The badger is a creature whose very exist-
ence is due to its fossorial capabilities, for were
it not a skilful excavator and able to make a
safe retreat for itself, its size and consequent
inability to escape observation would most
surely lead to its extinction. The badger still
remains in some of the wooded localities in
Worcestershire and if not in increased certainly
not in reduced numbers. It is frequent in
some of the detached parts of the county, as
at Bleckley and Daylsford, and it is by no

[75

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

means rare on the near parts of the Cottes-
wolds, where it finds safe harbourage in the
fissures in the oolite quarries, of which there
are many, as well as in the adjoining parts of
Oxfordshire.

21. Otter. Lutra lutra^ Linn.
Bell — Lutra vulgaris.
In 1834 Sir Charles Hastings mentioned
the otter as occurring in the Teme and some
other small streams in Worcestershire, but not
in the Severn. It still haunts the Teme and
its tributaries, probably in increased numbers,
and since the Avon has ceased to be a navi-
gable river has become comparatively com-
mon in that stream. In streams of the size

and depth of the Avon otter hunting is not
practicable, and it is not likely therefore
that the animal will be exterminated, or
indeed much reduced in numbers. In the
tributaries, where the otter is not rare, there
would be a much greater chance of successful
pursuit. One of these feeders of the Avon,
the Stour, falling into that stream near Strat-
ford, passes through the outlying part of
Worcestershire at Shipston, where it is fre-
quented by the otter. The otter by no means
confines itself to fish and has been on several
occasions killed when it has left the river and
sought out poultry. It is said that a favourite
article of its diet are eels, but while it doubt-
less takes them when it can catch them it
seems to be generally carnivorous.

RODENTIA

22. Squirrel. Sciurus leucourm, Kerr.

Bell — Sciurus vulgaris.
Of this pretty denizen of the woods and
coppices I need only say that it is still common.

23. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas.
Nothing more need be said of this omni-
vorous and cannibal species than to observe
that it is only too plentiful, is a thorough pest
and appears to be increasing.

24. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn.

Some years since a number of rats of this
species were taken at several places more or
less near to the Worcestershire Avon at a
time when that stream was navigable ; the
supposition being that they were brought from
the docks in Gloucester in barges laden with
corn. That supposition gains support by the
disappearance of the black rat from the same
places since the navigation of the Avon has
ceased. Sir Charles Hastings mentions this
animal as occurring at Wick near Worcester
and a few farmhouses in the county. It
however seems of recent years to be almost
if not quite exterminated by the brown rat,
no specimens having been taken at Upper
Wick for some years.

25. House Mouse. Mus muscu/us, Linn.
Too troublesome as well as too abundant to

be dwelt upon.

26. Wood Mouse or Long-tailed Field Mouse.

Mus sylvaticus, Linn.
A very pretty creature with large black eyes,
large rounded ears and a long tail. It is com-
mon in the fields and gardens, sometimes doing
in the latter place considerable damage by

consuming the early planted peas. Occasion-
ally this mouse will enter buildings and even
dwellings, and has been captured in the cellar
of a farmhouse, where it had eaten nearly the
whole of the inside of a cheese. The nest
for the reception of the young, as well as for
winter quarters, is usually a burrow of its own
construction, and as it is by no means in-
frequently turned up by the plough, it may
probably be the mouse which has been im-
mortalized by Burns, if indeed it is an Ayr-
shire creature. The present species is very
easily tamed, and when kept in confinement
is very gentle, evincing no disposition to bite
when handled, as I can affirm from personal
observation.

27. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas.
Formerly more abundant in the valley of

the Worcestershire Avon than at present. It
is most commonly found in cornfields, more
especially wheatfields, in which its symmetrical
and beautiful nest is occasionally seen sus-
pended amongst the stems of wheat. When
reaping machines were unknown, the long
stubble after han'est was cut by the scythe
and put into small heaps called cocks, and
beneath them the little harvest mouse was
often found, as well as sundry shrews, long-
tailed field mice and voles. A harvest-mouse
which was kept in captivity for some time by
the author and fed principally on hempseed,
changed from the usual yellow to a deep rich
chestnut colour.

28. Water Vole. Microtus amphihius., Linn.

Bell — Arvicola amphihius.
It is common in all our streams, streamlets

176

MAMMALS

and ponds, feeding freely on water plants, the
bulrush and duckweed being preferred, and
sometimes doing considerable damage to the
former of these two plants. In the winter
and during floods it is driven to consume the
bark of young trees and bushes, the maple
and osier being most frequently selected, and
I have seen whole bushes of maple with the
branches completely barked by the water vole
when hard driven for food.

29. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn.
Bell — Ai-vicola agrestis.
A common obese and stupid-looking crea-
ture, having small eyes almost hidden in the
long fur, and with a very short tail. When
low-lying meadows are mown the nest of this
vole is often discovered, and so far as my ob-
servation has gone, is always in some depres-
sion and not in a burrow. In confinement it
is stupid and uninteresting, but soon becomes
tame. It is becoming scarcer on account of
its nests and young being constantly destroyed
by the mowing machine.

30. Bank Vole. Evoiomys glareolus, Schreber.

Bell — Arvicoh glareolus.
Though not uncommon the present is less
abundant than the last species, from which it
may readily be distinguished by its less obese
form, longer tail and more rufous upper parts.
In habits it does not differ from the last
species.

31. Common Hare. Lepus europaus, Pallas.

Bell — Lepus timidus.
It is unnecessary that I should further re-
mark of the hare than that except for preser-
vation it would speedily become extinct.
Under the operation of the Ground Game
Act it is even questionable whether preserva-
tion will prevent its extinction.

32. Rabbit. Lepus cunicu/us, Linn.

The great fertility of the rabbit, added to
its burrowing habits, operate to prevent its
becoming scarce.

llISTOm OF WOKCFSTERSHIRE

PRE-HIST(

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THE VICTORIA HI STOR t

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HE COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND

EARLY MAN

THE imagined paucity of material is probably the reason why so
far no one has thought it worth while attempting to work out
the history of Prehistoric man in the county. All that has yet
been done is to chronicle the finds of certain implements and
weapons. The accounts of these finds are scattered through various
books and the proceedings of various societies. No attempt has been
made to utilize the evidence which they furnish as to the presence of
the successive races, or the struggles among the primitive peoples who
occupied the tract of forest which now forms Worcestershire. It is
unfortunate that this should be so, as the county has a story of its
own, quite distinct from its neighbours. Its southern border, the
Avon valley, was the route that invaders from central England would
naturally follow on their way to the west, while the valley of the Severn
was a frontier, possibly the frontier of the Iberians against the Goidels
and of the Goidels against the Brythons, as in historic times it became
the frontier between the English and Welsh. It is not without interest
to note that most of the finds in the county are either in these river
valleys or on the hills overlooking them. The northern and eastern
parts of the county have so far yielded practically nothing towards its
early history. Everything that has been found comes from the part
south and south-west of the Lickey Hills.

It is proposed here (a) to give some account of the earliest history of
the county as evidenced by the finds, and {6) a list of the finds and other
traces of pre-Roman times which have occurred within the county. In
dealing with the first point the general proposition will have to be stated
and the finds utilized to apply it to Worcestershire. Much is and must
of necessity remain matter of inference. As the area of the county is but
small all that can be done is to state what was presumably taking place
within it, and to rely upon the presumptive evidence which the presence
of weapons and implements affords to show that the races of men who
used those weapons and had those implements inhabited the county. In
the present condition of things it is impossible to do more. At the outset
it may be stated that so far no trace of Palaeolithic man has been found
in the county, possibly because a thorough scientific search has never
been made for such traces.

The Prehistoric period as defined by Professor Boyd Dawkins com-
prises 'the period which covers all the events which took place between
the Pleistocene age on the one hand and the beginning of the Historic

179

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

on the other.' ^ It commences with the time when by a great submer-
gence Britain was separated from the continent on the east and from
Ireland on the west — when this subsidence of the land made the large
estuaries of the Severn and Avon. This subsidence and its results must
have produced a profound change in the general conditions of the country.
It was no longer part of the regular continental system. It had become
an isolated sea-girt region ; the great beasts, being no longer recruited by
wanderers from the continent, soon became extinct. The inhabitants
were no longer nomadic tribes, having the whole continent of Europe
to wander over ; they were confined to a narrow locality, and this con-
finement must have deeply affected their modes of life, especially when
in all probability it was accompanied by considerable climatic changes,
necessitating an alteration in the people's habits. It is impossible to fix
the period during which these great changes were brought about, or to
give anything like dates for their beginning or their end. All that can be
said is that the Prehistoric period extends from the time of the separation
of Britain from the continent to the time of Caesar's invasion. Between
these two limits the inhabitants of these islands passed from the stage of
the Paleolithic man to the civilization which they possessed when the
earliest historic record of them is reached. During this interval their
development was enormous and must have occupied long series of years,
how many it is impossible to say. A modern writer puts it at somewhere
about 270,000 years,^ this, it is needless to say, is only his guess.

The interval between the separation from the continent and historic
times is divisible into three distinct periods, called either after the weapons
(a) Neolithic, (i) Bronze and (c) Iron, or after the people using those
weapons (a) Iberian, {l>) Goidelic and (c) Brythonic.

Traces of each of these periods, mostly consisting of finds of the
weapons, have been discovered in the southern and western parts of
Worcestershire, but so far in the north and east of the county nothing
has been found.

The present height of the Severn at Worcester and of the Avon at
Evesham, under 100 feet above sea-level, proves that one great feature
in the history of the county since the subsidence has been the silting up
of the estuaries. In this silt remains have been found which can be
ascribed to each of the three periods of the Prehistoric age.

The men of the Neolithic times, so far as our present evidence goes,
were mostly herdsmen and flockmasters. When they advanced into
Worcestershire, they settled on the highlands which overlook the rich
pastures of the river valleys. In Worcestershire these highlands were (a)
the Lickey Hills, that ridge of hills running across the county from Alve-
church to Stourbridge ; {i) the Malvern Hills, the ridge running north
and south and forming the western county boundary ; and (c) Bredon
Hill, the great detached outlier of the Cotswolds on the south. Each
of these three groups of hills has furnished evidence of the presence of
Neolithic settlers in the shape of weapons and implements.

' Ear/y Man, p. 247. * Hackel, The Last Link, 149.

180

EARLY MAN

On the Lickey Hills, at Tutnall near Tardebigge, on the east side
of the range on the highlands overlooking the Avon and Severn, consider-
able numbers of flint implements have from time to time been found,
mostly on some fields there known as 'Nine Lands,' 'Orgates,' 'Long
Close' and 'Lone Fields,' A collection of these implements was exhibited
to the Society of Antiquaries in March, 1897. It consisted of ' a
rough axehead, a bored water-worn pebble, two spindle wheels, part
of a whetstone, a rubber, a sling-stone, a fragment of a broken axehead
with partly bored hole for its reverse, and a number of flake-borers,
scrapers and arrowheads, all of flint.' ^ On the opposite side of the
Severn estuary, on the Malvern Hills, but the precise spots are not
known, a number of flakes have been found. These are now in the
Victoria Museum at Worcester, In the south, on Bredon Hill, flint
flakes have also occurred from time to time, but here again unfortu-
nately the precise localities are unknown. These flakes also are in
the Worcester Museum,

The highlands, overlooking the rich pastures of the plains, are the
places where most probably the NeoHthic men settled. Had the finds
been only at one of the places they would not have possessed any great
importance, but occurring as they do all round the estuary they strongly
support the view that the south part of the county was settled by Neo-
lithic men. Taken separately the implements prove little or nothing ;
indeed it may be doubted whether some of them do not belong to a later
period, which might prove that the same localities were occupied by
successive races. But taken in conjunction with all the places where they
have been found, and the fact that in the low ground below other Neo-
lithic implements have been discovered, they go far to establish even if
they do not prove the presence of Neolithic man in Worcestershire. In
the Avon valley a stone axe was unearthed, and other Neolithic imple-
ments have been found on Bevington Waste, on the borders of Worces-
tershire and Warwickshire, and lower down the Avon valley at OfFenham,
Sedgeberrow and DefFord. In the Severn valley a basalt double-edged
celt was found in the drift near Bewdley, and in the Teme valley stone
implements have been found at Lindridge and at Broadwas.

The cumulative testimony of these finds therefore tends to prove
that on the highlands there were settlements, that the lowlands were
traversed by the settlers, who one and all, whether on the highlands or
in the valleys, used stone implements. These stone implements are recog-
nized as belonging to the Neolithic period. Therefore it seems to be
established that Worcestershire during the whole or some part of the
Neolithic period was a district inhabited by Neolithic men.

This is all that can be said with any certainty. To what extent
the county was populated, for what period, whether permanently or only
temporarily, as the tribes wandered from district to district, on these
points there is no evidence. It is quite possible that further research may

1 Proceedings Society of Antiquaries, xvi. 319.
181

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

throw more light on the state of the county at this time. In other
counties, in addition to finds of axes, adzes and flakes such as have been
found in Worcestershire, a systematic search has been rewarded by the
finding of bone instruments, rude fragments of pottery and the remains
of domestic animals. In some counties traces of the clusters of huts
which formed the tribal dwellings have also been discovered, in others
remains of the mounds which formed the places of interment of the
Neolithic men. None of these details have as yet been found in Worces-
tershire, possibly because they have not been properly looked for. After
an exhaustive search has been made it may be possible for some future
writer to do more than merely state the fact of the existence of Neo-
lithic man in the county.

Fig. A gives a rough sketch of the county showing the places where
the Neolithic remains have up till now been found. A glance at it
shows the position of the hills and the river valleys where the traces
of this race of men have been discovered in the county.

The Bronze Age

The Neolithic dwellers in Britain devoted their attention to agricul-
ture. They were rudely disturbed in their occupation of the island by a
race of invaders who having the advantage of better weapons succeeded in
dispossessing the inhabitants from their English settlements and driving
them first to the west of the Severn and afterwards to remote corners of
Wales.

It is in this period that the importance of Worcestershire com-
mences, for in it probably began that series of conflicts that was con-
tinuous until Wales became part of England. Successive invaders drove
the previous occupants of the county to the districts west of the Severn.
The row of forts on the western boundaries of Worcestershire bears
evidence to this fact. The forts on this line mark either the limits of
the invasion, or the advance line of defence of the old inhabitants against
further aggression, or the advance line of the invaders' outposts to pre-
vent raids from the old inhabitants of the district from which they had
been dispossessed. This feature remains to the present day along the
hills to the west of the Severn from Abberley to Malvern, and from
Malvern to Redmarley. Most of the hills that command any of the
passes to the west show traces of earthworks, such as Woodbury and
the Berrow at Martley, which command the passes into the Teme
valley ; on the Malvern Hills the Camp Hill and Midsummer Hill
command the roads over these hills. Probably all these camps in their
present form have few if any remains of the work of the early invaders
or defenders of the country ; but other traces of earthworks remain to
point out the then state of things — the invaders pushing on, the dwellers
in the county resisting the invasion.

There is considerable evidence of the occupation of Worcestershire
by the Goidels, as the invaders who dispossessed the Neolithic men are
called. Here the evidence does not only consist of finding weapons and

182

Fig. a.

rojacc pag. 182.

EARLY MAN

implements, but is of a twofold character. There is evidence (i) as to
their weapons and implements, (2) and also as to their customs.

(i) The finds of weapons indicate that the Goidel invaders followed
the line of the Avon from Warwickshire to the Severn. All along its
course from where it enters the county to about the middle of its passage
through Worcestershire traces of the Goidels have been found. From
Harvington comes a bronze celt, from Church Lench a bronze palstave,
from Aldington a stone bracer, from Evesham, Sedgeberrow, Cropthorne
and Defford bronze celts. All these places are on or near the Avon,
and show that the Goidels occupied the upper part of the Avon valley.
In the Severn valley implements of the Bronze age have been found at
various places, mostly at spots near where some of the old tracks are
supposed to have crossed the river. At Dowles above Bewdley a bronze
axe was found in 1899 when excavating the river drift for the Birming-
ham waterworks. Other finds are at Bewdley, three looped bronze
palstaves and a socketed bronze gouge. At Astley a bronze looped
palstave. At Holt a looped bronze celt. At Ombersley a ringed pal-
stave. At Worcester a socketed and looped celt ; a bronze spearhead at
Kempsey. Another spearhead near the old ford at Pixham. It is curious
that nothing so far as is known has been found in the Severn below
Pixham, but it may be because the tracks that crossed the river lower
down were fewer and less frequented than those that crossed higher up ;
at all events further evidence is required on the point how it is that all the
implements that had been found both in the Avon and the Severn have
been discovered in the upper and middle parts of the courses of those
rivers and not in the lower portions. It may possibly be that at this
date the lower portion had not silted up, but remained large tidal streams
practically unfordable. So far as the Severn goes it might have been
expected that more things would have been found in the lower reaches
of the river because they have been dredged out to a uniform depth for
navigation purposes in recent years.

(2) When the Goidels invaded the country they had reached that
stage of civilization at which their dead were disposed of by burning.
After burning, the charred bones were placed in an urn or vessel which
was buried, sometimes with and sometimes without other articles. Two
interments said to be of the Bronze age have been found in the county,
one in the Avon valley in a gravel pit at Charlton near Cropthorne,
where an urn containing charred bones was found some 6 feet below
the surface. A bronze celt is said to have been found near it. The
other on the summit of the Worcestershire Beacon, the highest point of
the Malvern range, where in 1849 the engineers engaged on the ordnance
survey found in the ground an urn containing half-charred bones. This
would probably be the grave of some great chief placed in a spot from
which it was believed he could watch the movements of his inveterate
foes.

The inferences from the finds confirm the evidence derived from
the interments, that for some time a portion of the county certainly was

183

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

occupied by Goidels. There is however so far nothing to show either
the extent or the duration of that occupation. Fig. b shows how large
an area of the county has as yet given no sign of Goidel occupation,
as well as how closely the Goidel followed in the lines of the Neolithic
settlement.

The Iron Age

The Goidels in their turn were displaced and driven over the Severn
by a new set of invaders. As the Goidels expelled the Neolithic men, so
the Brythons, as the new comers were called, expelled the Goidels.
They had the advantage over the Goidels that they used iron for their
implements and weapons, and it was probably due to this superiority of
their weapons that they drove out the Goidels, as the latter by their
better weapons had driven out their predecessors. The Brythons have
left very clear traces of their occupation of the county, which, whatever
may have been the date of its commencement, lasted to the time of
the Roman Conquest. They were probably a far more civilized race
than any of those who preceded them ; not only had they weapons and
implements, but also personal ornaments. One of these, a bronze torque,
was found at a depth of about 2 feet in a gravel pit at Perdeswell near
Worcester. ' It is curved, forming nearly a semicircle, and composed of
twenty small pieces of bronze curiously twisted and tooled, each alter-
nating with pieces finished like a small pulley strung upon a small iron
wire ; the whole strongly encrusted with highly polished patina.' ^ Another
ornament, an armlet, said to be of this period, was found at Stoke Prior,
which is of interest as showing that the finds of this age are not confined
to the river valleys and the overlooking hills. Stoke Prior being in
the centre of the county. Broadway, almost in Gloucestershire, also
supplies a sword of this period ; in fact in this age the finds become of
less importance for the occupation of the district is better evidenced by
the earthworks (see fig. c).

Earthworks

The earthworks are not numerous, the majority being camps or
forts. There is considerable doubt as to the precise period to which
they belong. None of them has ever, as far as is known, been properly
investigated, nor have discoveries of weapons or implements furnishing
evidence of the time of their construction been found in connection
with them. The following accounts must therefore be taken as only
provisional.

(i) Wychbury (fig. i), in the north of the county on an outlying
hill above Pedmore and Hagley, overlooking the Stour valley and what
was afterwards Pensett Chase, is a large fort, heart shaped in outline,
with a double rampart on the south and an entrance to the south-east.
It has been called a Danish camp and a Roman camp, but it seems more
probable that it was originally of the British period. Except Bredon,
Wychbury is the only camp now known to the east of the Severn ; it

* Archceologia, xxx. 554.
184

1o fact page 184.

To face page 184.

EARLY MAN

forms the north-western end of the Lickey range, here called the Clent
Hills, of which Tutnall, where the Neolithic implements were found,
is the south-western end. This range of hills is the dividing line
between the watersheds of the Trent and the Severn, and probably
therefore research would show traces of forts on some of them, as they
must have formed the eastern line of defence to the Severn valley.

kJ^cc^b 6 Jnc/tGS ^ ct-J/hztu^ /f/eYe.

Crossing to the west bank of the Severn, earthworks become more
numerous. It is probable that some traces might be found on the
hills above Ribbesford and on the Abberley range, but there can be no
doubt as to the entrenchment of the height above Witley which over-
looks not only the west bank of the Severn valley but also guards the
entrance into the Teme valley.

185

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

(2) On this height, known as Woodbury Hill (fig. 2), is an exten-
sive camp of an irregular oval shape v^ith a single rampart enclosing a
space of some 30 acres. No relics of any kind are recorded as having
been found here. To w^hat period the original camp belonged is most
difficult to say, for this hill has been occupied so often, and its position
rendered its occupation so necessary whenever any military movements
were going on in the district, that probably it has been a camp in every
contest in the Severn valley. It was according to local tradition occupied
by Owen Glendower in 1405, and by the duke of Buckingham in his
ill-starred expedition of 1483 ; but it is obviously of a far remoter
antiquity, and in all probability the original camp was made by one of

yj^ci^e GJncAcs ^ cl ^yhzti^te. Mi^4 — —

Fig. a.

the occupying races in the Severn valley who were being pressed west-
ward by some one of the different bands of invaders.

(3) Following the range of hills to the west, traces of earthworks
are to be found on an isolated hill above Martley known as the Berrow.
Its western base adjoins the river Teme, and on its eastern side it is crossed
by the road into Herefordshire from Worcester. This post would guard
the passage of the river and the way from Worcestershire to Hereford-
shire. The traces of earthworks are plain, but it is not easy to deter-
mine what they were ; so far no relics of any kind are recorded as having
been found on or near it.

A little beyond the Berrow to the west, the Teme passes through
this range of hills. On most of the hilltops traces of what are probably

186

i N

Ft-omLedbury

Fio. 3.

Tc face fagi 1 86.

EARLY MAN

remains of forts erected to guard the passage of the river are to be
found. It is however quite possible that these traces of what on a cursory
examination look like remains of entrenchments may only be the survivals
of the ancient common cultivation that occur so often on the Welsh
hills. Their presence is only another reason for a thorough and search-
ing examination of all the hills not only along this range, but also of
the range of hills from Clifton-on-Teme to Tenbury, for until this is done
it will be impossible to say with any accuracy what are the camps or
other earthworks in this part of the county.

This range of hills joins the Malverns near Cradley ; the Malvern
range runs nearly north and south. The first recognized work on the
Malvern Hills is the cutting in the rock at the Wych, which is said to
have been made by the Romans. As it does not appear to have been on
the line of any Roman road it is difficult to see why it should have been
then made ; possibly it is of earlier date. Further to the south the first
of the Malvern camps occurs.

(4) There are two great camps (fig. 3) on the Malvern Hills, one
above Little Malvern, known as the Herefordshire Beacon, on one side
of which the road leading into Herefordshire from Worcestershire passes.
Although it has been the subject of a good deal of literature it has never
yet been really or properly explored. It consists of a triple entrenchment
enclosing altogether a considerable area, though that of the citadel or
central portion is quite small. Its form will be better understood from
the following rough plan than from a verbal description.

The origin of this camp has been ascribed to Caractacus, Dr. Card
a former vicar of Malvern in 1822 published a book to prove this,^ But
the connection of Caractacus with the camp is pure conjecture, there is
absolutely no evidence whatever to support it. Two rather remarkable
finds have been made near it: one in 1647, when an urn containing
some 300 Roman coins was discovered near the camp ; the other in 1650
of a gold armlet set with precious stones, which was broken up and the
stones sold separately.

(5) Following the hne of the hills, about two miles to the south is
another camp ; the boundary between the counties of Hereford and
Worcester passes through it. The hill on which it is situated is known
as Midsummer Hill, it has two peaks, both of which are included in the
works which form the camp. There is a double Hne of entrenchments,
a double fosse and vallum. No relics are recorded as having been found
at or near this camp. It must have been a strong position, and guarded
the road which led from the hill to the camp next described, which
is situated in the vale. This road crossed the hills near this point.
The camp is almost at the end of the Malvern range, with it the
western forts of the county terminate.

To complete the defence of the district there are two isolated hills
in the plain that lies between the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds,

1 A Dissertation on the Worcestershire Beacon, by the Rev. H. Card.
187

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

both of them are fortified. The first is of such low elevation as hardly
to deserve the name of a hill — it is rather a tump ; the second is the
great outlying detached hill of the Cotsvi^olds — Bredon.

(6) The tump or hill is called Gadbury Bank near Eldersfield (fig.
4), Although of a very low elevation, only some 186 feet, yet as it is
the only spot rising above the dead level of the river, from its isolated
position really occupies a commanding situation, and there is a very ex-
tensive view from its summit. The earthworks are an irregular oval.

U^cUe, 6 <^ncAes to cl UftcUlcte y^ile,

following the shape of the summit of the hill which it encloses. There
is an oblique entrance on the north-east side, and another but smaller one
on the north-west corner. Its greatest length is said to be 390 yards and
its width across the centre 1 1 2 yards. No objects are mentioned as having
been found here, nor is there any record or tradition regarding it. From
its position it would seem that advantage was taken of the only suitable
place for a fort in the river valley between Malvern and Bredon.
Formerly it must have been a very strong position, as it was in the

188

EARLY MAN

midst of marshes which were barely passable and were on the banks
of a tidal river. The tide was blocked out and the marshes only drained
within the last half-century.

Bredon Hill, the next elevation to the east, was the great defensive
post in the south of the county, it commanded both the Severn and
Avon valleys and probably was more or less fortified from the earliest
times. The division of the counties of Worcester and Gloucester passes
across the hill, so it is not always easy to say which earthworks are in
which. They all however formed part of one defensive system. The
two most important are the camps of Conderton and Kemerton.

(7) Conderton is an irregular oval entrenchment measuring 163
by 7 1 yards with a single rampart. The entrance is from the north-east.
This has been called a Danish camp — why it is not easy to say, except
that pirates usually called Danes came up the estuary on various occa-
sions. Some Roman coins are said to have been found in the neighbour-
hood. It is probable that this camp or fort is but a part of the series
of forts on this hill.

(8) Kemerton is in Gloucestershire (fig. 5). It is an entrenchment
of a triangular shape well defended on the north and western sides by
the very steep escarpment of the hill. On the south and east the line of
entrenchment is double. Nash, writing at the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury, states that ' it was ploughed two or three years ago, and several iron
weapons found of so rude and bad workmanship as bespoke them rather
Danish or Saxon than Roman.' No description of these weapons exists.
A landslip occurred early in the nineteenth century, when a quantity of
wheat of a burnt appearance was found in this camp. These grains were
black or nearly so ; a slight pressure between the fingers reduced them to
powder. As the chasm caused by the landslip opened, it exposed a vein
of black earth about 4 or 5 inches thick immediately under the soil,
which in some places was not more than 6 inches deep, but varied to 1 8
inches or 2 feet. Quantities of perfect grains of wheat were found in it ;
there was no appearance of straw or ears of corn.

In this camp is a remarkable mass of rock. It is formed of the
oolite of which the hill is composed, and has been made by excavating
all round the mass. It is near the side of the camp facing Malvern
and not far from the edge of the escarpment. It is locally called the
Bambury Stone.

Bredon completes the list of camps in the district at present known.
A glance at the map will show that they form a defensive line on the
west and south of the county, while the east is entirely unprotected ; that
at the south-eastern corner there was a strong fort guarding both the Avon
and Severn, which was connected with the Malvern line by Eldersfield.
The absence of forts on the east and north, assuming that after careful
search none are found, would seem to indicate that it was not from those
quarters the dwellers in the county apprehended danger. It was down the
Avon valley the invaders came, and Bredon was fortified to close that line
of approach. This may seem to explain why it is no finds have been

189

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

made in the lower parts of the Severn and Avon valleys. Bredon did
the w^ork for which it was designed and turned the invaders from the
lower Avon valley across the county. It is however impossible to do
more than conjecture until a thorough examination has been made, and
it is seen whether or not there is anything to be taken into account
which will tend to modify the story that on the existing evidence is told
by the forts, of the early county history.

y ^

J(^/ri/)ilj

O^oucestershire.

^-^ca^e (f^ncAes ^ a ^yhztM.fe Mt^e

Fig. 5.

Of earthworks other than camps there are but few in Worcester-
shire.

(i) Crookbarrow or Cruckbarrow Hill is an elevation almost ad-
joining the Norton Barracks at Worcester. A portion of the lower part
is clearly natural, while the top part, it is believed, is partly artificial.
Like everything else it is said to be Roman, and Roman coins are said

190

EARLY MAN

to have been found near it. In shape it is elliptical, and at the base is
512 yards in circumference. It has been said to be a British broad bar-
row, but there is no evidence of any kind that the mound is sepulchral
or as to its character in any way.

(2) In the parish of Kidderminster Foreign near the Severn, a little
above the place where the Birmingham aqueduct crosses the river, is a
small tumulus, but there is not even a tradition as to it or what it is.
From its situation and size it is probably sepulchral, but there is nothing
to furnish any clue as to it.

(3) The Devil's Spadeful. Adjoining the railway from Kidder-
minster to Bewdley on the sandy ground near Spring Grove, is a tumulus
called by the above name. It is said the devil was going to dam up the
Severn, and carried the earth forming this tumulus on his spade for the
purpose, but losing his way he dropped it down here. There is no record
of any examination having ever been made of it. Probably it is sepulchral.

(4) Towards the end of the last century there was a group of five
barrows on the Clent Hills ; these were opened and examined by Nash.
All contained remains of burnt bones and charred wood. In one was an
urn which was broken by the spade of the workman who was excavating
the mound ; it appeared to be of very ill-burnt clay. Probably they
were a group of British barrows.

This account of the earthworks in the county is meagre in the
extreme, and it is much to be regretted that a better list cannot be
furnished. It however comprises all the known earthworks that have
up till now been recorded.

Trackways

No account of Prehistoric Worcestershire should omit some allusion
to the ancient roads or trackways in the county. Some writers have
recognized a large number of these leading from the different camps to
other places in the county ; the existence of most of them has however
to be proved. That there were tracks crossing the Severn at different
places seems clear, the survival of the name ' Rhydd ' as a place on
the Severn would seem to locate a ford where one of these tracks crossed
the river. There were probably others that crossed at Worcester and
at Bewdley, while the names of Bransford, Knightsford and Stanford on
the Teme point to tracks crossing that river at those places. The tracks
seem to have been of two kinds : —

(a) The ordinary trackway from camp to camp or from place to
place. These often kept the high ground and ran along the ridge of the
hills.

(6) The trackways leading to the saltsprings at Droitwich.

Of the first kind there seem to have been at least three : —

(i) A track from the Midsummer Hill camp on the Malvern Hills
to the east, crossing the Severn at the Rhydd, and then probably turning
to the left and running parallel to the Severn to Worcester and on to
Droitwich, and thence to the Staffordshire border.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

(2) A track starting also from Midsummer Hill camp went
north to the camp at the Herefordshire Beacon, thence along the
ridge of the hills to Storridge, thence turning to the right went across
the Teme at Knightsford and along the ridge past Martley to Wood-
bury.

(3) A third track appears to have run from Worcester to the
Hundred House and Stanford, where it crossed the Teme ; then mount-
ing the high ground near Clifton ran along the hilltops till it reached
Kyre, thence downhill into Tenbury.

[b) The tracks leading to and from the saltsprings at Droitwich.

It is often stated that there were two saltways running from Droit-
wich — the upper and the lower. The upper is said to be easily traced
from Birmingham over the Lickey to Droitwich, but although there
may have been such a road it certainly cannot be easily traced and no
one in the locality is able to point it out. It is however most likely that
some such track existed.

The lower saltway would probably be the track already mentioned
that passes from the Rhydd to Worcester and so on to Droitwich, run-
ning parallel to the Severn. As regards both these saltways the evidence
is most uncertain, or rather there is no evidence only tradition that they
existed.

The accompanying map (fig. d) indicates the course of the tracks
that have been mentioned.

All these trackways however are most difficult to trace with any
accuracy or authority ; they rest far more on conjecture than on evidence.
It is assumed and possibly rightly that there must have been tracks across
the forest between the camps and between the different settlements.
Acting on this assumption, by the aid of field names and conjecture the
route where it is supposed the track ought to have gone has been laid
out. This process gives rise to two difficulties. While it is quite possible
that the route marked out might be a trackway, was it one in fact ? and
even if it is proved to have been in fact a trackway, was it a pre-Roman
one ? It is difficult to get a satisfactory answer to either of the ques-
tions, hardly possible to get one to both.

It is much to be regretted that a fuller account cannot be given of
Prehistoric Worcestershire. But until the various localities in the
county are fully explored by competent persons it is quite impossible to
do this. Without a proper examination the earthworks cannot be dealt
with, and until this is done no real progress can be made. All that is at
present possible is to do what has been attempted here. It is believed it is
the first attempt to arrange such evidence as there is in something like
order and let it speak for itself. It is hoped it may be the means by
indicating what is required to be done to induce some one to undertake
the task.

The above remarks relating to earthworks and trackways have
been prepared by Professor Windle, F.R.S., who has made out the
following list of Worcestershire finds, which will be of the greatest

192

Fig. D.

To face ^a^. 192.

EARLY MAN

service to any one who undertakes the business of a thorough examina-
tion of Prehistoric Worcestershire.

The finds of Prehistoric implements and weapons that have been
recorded are here grouped under the locaHties in which they have been
found. No attempt is made to distinguish between the ages NeoHthic,
Bronze and Iron to which the articles belong. The localities are divided
into four groups : —
(a) Avon Valley.
(^) Severn Valley.
(c) Teme Valley.
(J) Mid-Worcestershire.
(a) Avon Valley.

i. Bevington Waste. A rough stone axe was found here by a
workman and placed on a rockery in his garden, from whence it
was obtained by the late Canon Winington Ingram. It is now in
the Victoria Museum, Worcester.

ii. Harvington. A bronze celt, socketed, ringed and reeded,
evidently cast in a mould consisting of two halves, for the mark
where the two parts met is very clearly shown on the implement,
was found in a deep watery ditch between Harvington and Salford,
this ditch forms the boundary between the counties of Worcester
and Warwick. It has a total length of 4I inches and was in
the possession of the late Mr. E. Bomford of Spring Hill, Flad-
bury.

iii. Church Lench. A bronze palstave found at Church Lench
forms part of the Winington Ingram collection in the 'Victoria
Museum, Worcester.

iv. Offenham. A celt of black stone was dug up in a ditch in
this parish and is now in the possession of the Rev. F. 8. Taylor.
It is 3 inches in length, 2 inches in width at one end, i| inches at
the other, and has been sharpened at both ends.

v. Aldington. A rectangular piece of chlorite slate 5I inches
long, 1 1 inches broad, and \ of an inch thick, slightly convex on
one surface and with a corresponding concavity on the other was
found in a gravel pit at Aldington. It has four holes through
it, one at each corner, just low enough on the convex face for a
small cord to pass through it. The hole is countersunk on the
concave face. This implement has been described as a bracer
(Evans, p. 381 ; Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. x. (1867), pi. vi.).

vi. Evesham. A bronze palstave found near Evesham, now in
the possession of Mr. R. F. Tomes of Littleton.

vii. Sedgeberrow. In deepening the channel of the brook at
this place the sharpened half of a basalt celt was found, together
with the portion of another (May's History of Evesham, ed. 2, p.
365 ; Allies, Antiquities, p. 85).

viii. At the same time, about 1827, and in the same place,
while deepening the brook two oval-shaped spearheads of bronze of
I 193 o

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

most perfect workmanship with portions of their staves attached
were found stuck into the bank at a depth of several feet ; pieces
of defensive armour were likewise found, and part of a steel band,
apparently for the shoulder retaining the bronze rivets that attached
it to the cuirass. Several very large antlers were dug up at the
same time (May's History of Evesham, ed. 2, p. 365).

ix. Cropthorne. A bronze celt of early type was found in a
gravel pit here, it is now in the Victoria Museum, Worcester.

X. Charlton. An urn now in the Victoria Museum was found
here in 1863 in a gravel pit 6 feet below the surface at the
ballast hole. The gravel had been moved to let it in. It contained
burnt bones. A bronze celt was found near it.

xi. Defford. A stone celt was found here near the Avon while
excavations were being made for railway purposes. It measured
6| inches by 2| by i^ inches. A portion of a human skeleton
was discovered near it and most unfortunately destroyed before
being examined by any competent person. This celt has been re-
moved from the county by the contractor for the works.

This completes the list of finds in the Avon valley itself

xii. On Bredon Hill overlooking the valley there have been
found from time to time various flint flakes. These are now in the
Worcester Museum, there is nothing known as to or what precise
part of the hill or under what circumstances they were found.

xiii. Broadway. A bronze sword was found on Broadway
Hill near the tower, and therefore near the line of the so-called old
trackway — the Buckle Street. It is z\\ inches in length ; it has
nine rivet holes, three in the tang and three in each of the wings
(Evans, p. 280).
{b) Severn Valley.

i. Dowles. A bronze celt was found in the gravel in the Severn
in 1899 while excavating for the aqueduct of the Birmingham
Corporation. It was exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries,
December, 1900. It is now in the possession of Mrs. Robert
Woodward of Arley Castle.

ii. Bewdley. A double-edged celt of basalt was found in the
river gravel at Bewdley {Proceedings of the Worcestershire Naturalists'
Club, i. 194).

iii. Three looped bronze palstaves were found near Bewdley.

iv. A socketed bronze gouge was also found near Bewdley.

v. Ribbesford. A holed celt of greenish stone found at Rib-
besford in the bed of the Severn while digging for gravel. It
weighs 16 ounces, is 5 inches long, 2| inches broad, 2 inches wide
at one end and i| inches at the other. One end is sharp, the other
blunt. It is now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries
(Evans, p. 188 ; Allies, p. 146, pi. iv. fig. 5 ; Wright's Celt, Roman
and Saxon, p. 70, fig. 2).

vi. Astley. In the year i 843 a bronze palstave was found in the

IQ4

EARLY MAN

cleft of a rock 21 feet 6 inches below the alluvium and about 45
yards from the bank of the river Severn at Lincombe in Astley
parish. It w^eighed nearly i^ pounds, w^as about 6 inches long, 3
inches broad at one end and i inch at the other (Allies, p. 112,
pi, iv. ; Evans, p. 81).

vii. Ho/t. A looped bronze celt was found in the year 1844
in the middle of the bed of the river Severn near Holt, about 3 feet
6 inches under the gravel, as the workmen were dredging midway
between the bridge and the entrance of the cutting from the lock for
the purpose of the Severn navigation improvements. This celt was
4^ inches in length (Allies, p. 149, pi. iv. No. 6; Evans, p, 129).

viii. A bronze pin 4I inches in length found about 18 feet
below the surface and about 200 feet distant from the Severn in the
cutting outside the south gates of the lock near Holt. It has a
small cross formed of five knobs attached to the front of the ring.
Sir John Evans says it belongs to quite the close of the Bronze
period if not to the late Celtic (Allies, p. 1 49, pi. iv. No. 7 ;
Evans, p. 381).

ix. Ombersley. A glass ball alternately deep amber colour and
white, an oblate 1 spheroid in shape and measuring a little over
1 1 inches by little more than i inch, found at Chatley near Ombers-
ley, and is now in the Victoria Museum, Worcester.

X. Ombersley. A ringed palstave b\ inches long, weighing
17I ounces, was dug up in a field about 9 inches below the sur-
face which was formerly part of Lynal (Linnal or Lyneholt) Com-
mon by Boreley in Ombersley. It is in the Worcester Museum.

xi. Grimley Ham. A holed celt of basalt found 14 feet deep
in the alluvial soil at a distance of about 127 yards from the Severn.
It weighed 8 pounds 5I ounces, was 9 inches long, 3 inches broad,
4 inches thick at the blunt end and 3I inches broad at the sharp
end. The hole for the handle was i| inches in diameter (Evans,
Ancient Stone Implements, p. 180 ; Allies, p. 150).

xii. Grimley. A holed celt found at Ball Mill in a gravel bed
several feet beneath the surface. The bed where it was found lay
on some rather elevated ground on the western side of the Severn
nearly opposite to Bevere Island and within a short distance of it.
This celt was 5 inches long, 2 inches broad at one end, i| inches
at the other, i^ inches broad and i| inches thick in the middle.
It weighed 9I ounces, was edged at both ends, but the one end had
been rather blunted and lessened by use (Evans, p. 166 ; Allies, p. 150).

xiii. Bevere. At this place on the opposite bank of the Severn
to Grimley about the year 1809 a bronze celt was dug up in the
island between it and Grimley. It was 4^ inches long, 2| inches
broad at the widest end, if inches at the middle, | of an inch
broad at the narrowest, ^ of an inch thick in the centre. It
weighed 6| ounces, and was rather sharp at both ends, but most so
at the smaller (Allies, p. 151, pi. iv. No. 11 ; Evans p. 42).
195

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

xiv. Worcester. A socketed and looped celt was found in the
black soil within the base of the Earth Hill, Worcester, when it
was being excavated. A great part of the socket and ring is
broken away from the specimen, which is in the Victoria Museum
at Worcester. It has four parallel indented tapering grooves on
each side (Allies, p. i8, pi. i. No. i ; Evans, p. 120).

XV. Worcester. A bronze spearhead found at Diglis near
Worcester and thus described by Allies : —

In the year 1844 about i^ miles below Worcester and \ a mile below the
Diglis Lock a bronze spearhead of very unusual shape was dredged up by some work-
men employed in the improvement of the navigation of the Severn. It is 10^ inches
long, 2f inches broad and weighs 8 ounces.

It is figured in Archaological Journal., ii. p. 87 {Proceedings of
the Archaeological Institute at York., 1846, p. 39, pi. v. fig. 4, and
noticed in p. 34 of that work). It was also exhibited at a meet-
ing of the Society of Antiquaries of London, May 29, 1851, when
a paper was read by Mr. Akerman ' On some of the Weapons of
the Celtic and Teutonic Races.'

xvi. Worcester. A fragment of a torque was found in 1840
at Perdeswell, about 2 miles from Worcester, in a gravel pit about
2 feet deep. It was rather more than a third of a circle, 8 inches
long in the curve, and weighed \ a pound. An iron rod ran
through its centre connecting the bronze pieces or vertebras, which
are twenty in number and are curiously twisted and tooled. Be-
tween each piece there is a thick ring shaped like a pulley and
the whole is fitted close together. The circumference of the perfect
torque must have been about 18 inches. At the date of the publi-
cation of his book, 1852, this torque was in the possession of Mr.
Allies. It is figured in Archaologia, xxx. p. 564 ; The Archceo-
logical Journal., iii. p. 34 ; and in Allies, p. 230, pi. vi. ; Evans,
p. 381.

xvii. Kempsey. A spearhead with loops at the base of the
blade which connect it with the socket was dredged out of the
Severn between Kempsey and Pixham Ferry by some workmen
employed in the navigation works. It measures io| inches in
length. There were also found at the same spot in the bed on the
west, the Powick side of the river, the remains of oak piles and of
planking which had been fastened to the piles. These extended
about half way across the river (Allies, p. 60 ; Evans, p. 330 ;
Journal Archaeological Institute, iii. p. 354).

xviii. Malvern Link. It is stated in Nash's Worcestershire (circa
178 I ), vol. ii. p. 139 : 'In the Link in the parish of Malvern was
lately found, many feet underground, a celt weighing 10 ounces,
about 5I inches long, of a mixed metal between brass and copper,
with a small ring or loop. It has a beautiful patina upon it.'
Nothing further is known of this except that Allies, at p. 167,
reproduced the account with a figure.
196

Fragment of a Torque found at Perdeswell.

To Jaie page 196.

EARLY MAN

xix. Malvern. Some flakes are in the Victoria Museum,
Worcester, which are said to have been found upon the Malvern
Hills, but neither the place of finding nor the date at which any
of them were found seems to be known.

XX. Malvern. Further flakes have recently been found on
this range and are in private hands.

xxi. Malvern. On the summit of the highest point of the
Malvern range — the Worcestershire Beacon, 1,390 feet — in Novem-
ber, 1849, the late Mr. Edwin Lees met with some of the Royal
Engineers who were engaged on the ordnance survey. They
showed him part of a human skull found three days before in
excavating on the summit of the Beacon to find the marks made as
a datum during the former survey. On uncovering the rock about
9 inches below the surface, on the outer edge towards the south
of the pile of loose stones, a small urn was found in a cavity of
the rock with some bones and ashes. The urn was placed in an
inverted position covering part of the ashes, and the half-burnt
bones lay near and around it. Its height is 2| inches, breadth at
the top 3 inches. The bottom is nearly | of an inch in thickness.
The impressed markings are very deficient in regularity. They
consist of a zigzag corded line both externally and within the lip
impressed on the surface. The urn is figured by Allies, p. 165.
On the north side of the same heap of stones another deposit of
bones was found, but no pottery. Both the bones in the urn and
the other deposit were examined with a microscope and found to
be adult human bones which had been partly burnt,
(c) Teme Valley.

i. Lindridge. A greenish-coloured stone about 4I inches in
length by i inch in width and \ of an inch thick, perforated at
one end only with countersunk holes at each of the two corners, a
third hole between them being only partly drilled. The other end
is sharper and undrilled. Was found in a gravel pit at Lindridge.
It is now in the Victoria Museum, Worcester.

ii. Broadwas. A holed celt is reported in the Proceedings of the
Worcestershire Naturalists' Club, i. p. 194, to have been found at the
Devil's Leap near Broadwas.
{ci) Mid-Worcestershire.

i. Stoke Prior. Two armlets — one of large diameter with flat
broad ends and ornamented with punctured markings, the other
with a smaller diameter but more massive, broader and plain — were
found with the remains of a skeleton near Stoke Prior. The larger
one is now in the British Museum (Evans, p. 383, fig. 476).

ii. Tutnall.

[a) An early celt of felsite roughly shaped measuring 4I
inches in length, 2 inches in breadth at its wider end and
1 1 inches at its narrower. It is | of an inch thick.

{b) A holed stone hammer formed of a brownish water-
197

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

worn quartzite pebble 4I inches in length and 3I inches in
breadth. It has had a large piece chipped off one end, and has
since it was found been broken across and mended.

(c) A piece of grit with a cavity of about | of an inch deep in
it. Probably half a stone hammerhead which has been broken in
two. A fresh hole has been begun to be bored in the larger half.
(a) Two stone spindle wheels.

(e) A small sub-cyhndrical piece of the local new red sand-
stone about 1 1 inches in length and | of an inch in diameter.
{/) A small ball of limestone about i inch in diameter.
(g) Arrowheads of different kinds.

i. Leaf-shaped. One of them is worked in white flint,
another of a quartzite stone, one side with a smooth rounded
surface, the other with a rough fractured surface.
ii. Triangular,
iii. Tanged,
iv. Tanged and barbed.
V. Single-barbed.
(/6) Borers or awls.

(/) Scrapers, both of the varieties known as thumb and
finger flints.

(k) Flakes of various shapes and sizes.
All these have been collected on his farm there by Mr. John
Moore of Tutnall, Tardebigge, at various times and are now in his
possession. They have been described and figured in the Proceedings of
the Birmingham Archceological Association, 1896, and in Froc. Soc. Atitiq.,
March, 1897.

This completes the Worcestershire list of Prehistoric implements so
far as is known. There are doubtless more which have not been re-
corded ; perhaps the publication of this list may bring some of them
to light. Should this be the case, as individual specimens have little if
any value to the possessor, while their collective value as part of a series
is considerable, it may be hoped that the owners will at least deposit
them for a time in the Victoria Museum at Worcester, so that the list
of county implements may be made as complete as possible.
At present it stands as follows : —

Avon Valley 13

Severn Valley 20

Teme Valley 2

Mid-Worcestershire il

Of these only 1 1 are available for study — 9 in the Victoria Museum
at Worcester, i in the British Museum and i in the Museum of the
Society of Antiquaries. Of the remainder 15 are known to be in the
possession of individuals, while the localities of the remaining 20 are
unknown.

198

HISTOKV OF WOKCESTEKSHIRE

ROMAI

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THE VICTORIA HISTORY

ItEMAINS

E BOUNTIES OF ENGLANL

ROMANO-BRITISH
WORCESTERSHIRE'

I. Introductory. 2. Places of Settled Occupation: Worcester. 3. Other Settled Sites:
Droitwich, etc. 4. Roads. 5. Miscellaneous : the Cleeve Prior Hoard. 6. Index.

1. Introductory Sketch

THE expression Romano-British Worcestershire is, speaking
strictly, a contradiction in terms. When the Romans ruled
our island, neither Worcestershire nor any other of our counties
was yet in existence, nor was the province of Britain divided
up into any districts geographically coinciding with them. Neither the
boundaries of the Celtic tribes nor those of the Roman administrative
areas, so far as we know them, agree with our existing county boundaries,
and students of the Roman remains found in any one county have to deal
with a division of land which for their purposes is accidental and arbitrary.
Worcestershire therefore, to the archsologist concerned with the Roman
period, is merely a meaningless area devoid of unity. He can describe
it but he must not attempt, and he is not able to write anything like a
real history of it. This fact makes it desirable in the following paragraphs
to diverge a little from the plan followed by most county historians in
dealing with the Roman antiquities of the county described. Hitherto
it has been customary to give a narrative of the chief events recorded by
ancient writers as having occurred in Britain, and to point out which of
these events took place, or may be imagined to have taken place, within
the county. The result is always to give an impression that somehow
the county had in Roman times some sort of local individuality and local
history. We shall here adopt a different plan, suggested by the recent
developments of topographical research. Utilizing the abundant archaeo-
logical evidence, which is now far better known and appreciated than it
was a hundred years ago, we shall try first to sketch briefly the general
character of the Roman province in Britain, its military, social and
economic features. We shall then point out in some detail how far the

1 For the following article I have searched most of the literature and, so far as I could, have visited
the chief museums and sites. I am especially indebted to a volume on the Antiquilies of Worcestershire,
by Mr. Jabez Allies (ed. 2, 1852) though I cannot invariably accept his conclusions. I have also to
thank various helpers : Mr. W. H. Stevenson, Mr. R. P. L. Booker, Mr. John Amphlett of Clent,
Mr. R. F. Tomes, the Rev. J. H. Bloom of Whitchurch, Dr. Cuthbertson of Droitwich, Mr. W. H.
Edwards of Worcester Museum, Mr. J. W. Willis-Bund, and others named below. I have further
consulted Prattinton's MSS. preserved by the Society of Antiquaries in London, but without much profit

199

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

antiquities of Worcestershire illustrate this general sketch ; that is how
far the district now called Worcestershire was an ordinary and average
bit of Roman Britain.

The Roman occupation was undertaken by the Emperor Claudius
and commenced in a.d. 43. At first its progress was rapid. Within
three or four years the Romans overran all the south and midlands as far
as Exeter, Shrewsbury and Lincoln : part was annexed, part left to
' protected ' native princes. Then came a pause : some thirty years
were spent in reducing the hill tribes of Wales and Yorkshire, and
during this period the ' protected ' principalities were gradually absorbed.
About A.D. 80 the advance into Scotland was attempted : in 124
Hadrian built his Wall from Newcastle to Carlisle, and thereafter the
Roman frontier was sometimes to the north, never to the south of this
line. The ' province ' thus gained fell practically though not officially
into two marked divisions, which coincide roughly with the lowlands
occupied in the first years of the conquest and the hills which were
tamed later. The former were the regions of settled civil life, and
among these we have to include the district now called Worcestershire.
The troops appear to have been very soon withdrawn from them, and
with a few definite exceptions there was probably not a fort or fortress
or military post throughout this part of our island. On the other hand
the Welsh and northern hills formed a purely miUtary district, with forts
and fortresses and roads, but with no towns or ordinary civiHan life. It
was the Roman practice, at least in the European provinces of the
Empire, to mass the troops almost exclusively along the frontiers, and
Britain was no exception. The army which garrisoned this military
district was perhaps forty thousand men. It ranked as one of the chief
among provincial armies, and constituted the most important element in
Roman Britain. With the military district however we are not now
concerned. For our present purpose it suffices to note its existence,
in order to explain why traces of military occupation are absent in
Worcestershire. But we may pause to examine the chief features of the
non-military districts within which Worcestershire is included. These
features are not sensational. Britain was a small province, remote from
Rome and by no means wealthy. It did not reach the higher develop-
ments of city hfe, of culture or of commerce, which we meet in more
favoured lands — Gaul or Spain or Africa. Nevertheless it had a character
of its own.

In the first place, Britain like all the provinces of the Western
Empire became Romanized. Perhaps it became Romanized later and
less perfectly than these, but in the end the Britons adopted generally
the Roman speech and civilization, and in our island, as in all western
Europe, the difference between Roman and provincial practically vanished.
When the Roman rule in Britain ended (about a.d. 410), the so-called
departure of the Romans did not mean what the end of English rule in
India or French rule in Algeria would mean. It was not an emigration
of alien officials, soldiers and traders ; it was more administrative than

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

racial. Probably the country folk in the remoter parts of Britain
continued to speak Celtic during the Roman period : thus much we
may infer from various continental analogies and from the revival of the
Celtic language in the sixth century. But the townspeople and the
educated seem to have used Latin, and on the side of material civilization
the Roman element reigns supreme. Before the Roman period there
was a Late Celtic art of considerable merit, best known for its metal
work and earthenware, and distinguished for its fantastic use of plant and
animal forms, its employment of the 'returning spiral ' (fig. i), and its
enamelling. This art and the culture which went
with it vanished before the Roman. In a few
places, as in the New Forest, its products survived
as local curiosities ; in general it met the fate of
every picturesque but semi-civilized art when con-
fronted by an organized coherent culture. Almost
every feature in Romano-British life was Roman.
The commonest good pottery, the so-called Samian
or Terra Sigillata, was copied directly from an Fig. i. Late Celtic
Italian original and shows no trace of native influ- O'^'^ament illustrating

. ° .11 . . ,, . , r 1""^ Returning Spiral.

ences ; it was mdeed prmcipally imported from

abroad. The mosaic pavements and painted stuccoes which adorned the
houses, the hypocausts which warmed them, and the bathrooms which
increased their luxury, were equally borrowed from Italy. Nor were
these features confined to the mansions of the wealthy. Samian bowls
and coarsely coloured plaster and makeshift hypocausts occur even in
outlying hamlets. The material civilization of Roman Britain comprised
few elements of splendour but it was definitely Roman.

Agreeably to this general character of the province we find town
life in it, but not much town life. The highest form of town life known
to the Romans is naturally rare. The colonice and municipia, the privileged
municipalities with constitutions on the Italian model which mark the
supreme development of Roman political civilization in the provinces,
were not common in Britain. We know only of five. Colchester,
Lincoln, Gloucester and York were colonice, Verulam probably a munici-
pium, and despite their legal rank none of these could count among the
greater cities of the Empire. Four of them indeed probably owe their
existence, not to any development of Britain, but to the need of provid-
ing for time-expired soldiers. On the other hand many smaller towns
reached some degree of municipal life, of which we cannot precisely
specify the character. Originally (as it seems) Celtic tribal centres, they
grew into towns just as the tribal centres of northern Gaul grew into
towns, under the influence of Roman civilization. They were often
small, but their sizes varied widely — from hardly twenty to more than
two hundred acres. Strong walls protected them from external assault ;
inside, at least in the larger towns a forum built on a Roman plan
provided accommodation for magistrates, traders and idlers. Instances
of such towns are Silchester and Winchester in Hampshire ; Canterbury

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

and Rochester in Kent ; Dorchester and Exeter, Cirencester, Leicester,
and far in the north Aldborough in the Vale of York.

Outside these towns the country seems to have been principally
divided up into estates usually called ' villas,' and in this respect again
Britain resembled northern Gaul. The ' villa ' was the property of a
large landowner who lived in the ' great house ' if there was one, cul-
tivated the land immediately round it (the demesne) by his slaves and let
the rest to half-serf coloni. The estates formed for the most part sheep
runs and corn land, and supplied the cloth and wheat which are occa-
sionally mentioned by ancient writers as products of the province during
the later Imperial period. The landowners may have been to some
extent immigrant Italians, but it can hardly be doubted that, as in Gaul,
they were mostly the Romanized upper classes of the natives. The
common assertion that they were Roman officers or officials may be set
aside as rarely if ever correct. The peasantry who worked on these
estates or were otherwise occupied in the country lived in rude hamlets,
sometimes in pit-dwellings, sometimes in huts, with few circumstances of
comfort or pleasure. Their civilization however, as we have said, was
Roman in all such matters as the better objects in common use or the
warming and decoration of the houses.

One feature, not a prominent one, remains to be noticed — trade and
industry. We should perhaps place first the agricultural industry,
which produced wheat and wool. Both were exported in the fourth
century, and the export of wheat to the towns of the lower Rhine is
mentioned by an ancient writer as considerable. Unfortunately the
details of this agriculture are almost unknown : perhaps we shall be able
to estimate it better when the Romano-British ' villas ' have been better
explored. Rather more traces have survived of the lead mining and
iron mining, which at least during the first two centuries of our era was
carried on with some vigour in half a dozen districts — lead on Mendip,
in Shropshire, Flintshire and Derbyshire ; iron in the Weald and the
Forest of Dean. Other minerals were less important. The gold men-
tioned by Tacitus proved very scanty, and the far-famed Cornish tin
seems (according to present evidence) to have been worked comparatively
little and late in the Roman occupation. The chief commercial town
was from the earliest times Londinium (London), a place of some size
and wealth, and perhaps the residence of the chief authorities who
controlled taxes and customs dues.

Finally let us sketch the roads. We may distinguish four groups
all commencing from one centre, London. One road ran south-east to
Canterbury and the Kentish ports. A second ran west and south-west
from London to Silchester, and thence by ramifications to Winchester,
Dorchester and Exeter, Bath, Gloucester and South Wales. A third,
Watling Street, ran north-west across the Midlands to Wroxeter, and
thence to the military districts of the north-west ; it also gave access to
Leicester and the north. A fourth ran to Colchester and the eastern
counties, and also to Lincoln and York and the mihtary districts of the

202

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

north-east. To these must be added a long single road, the only im-
portant one which had no connection with London. This is the Foss,
which cuts obliquely across the island from north-east to south-west,
joining Lincoln, Leicester, Bath and Exeter. These roads must be
understood as being only the main roads, divested for the sake of clear-
ness of many branches and intricacies ; and understood as such they
may be taken to represent a reasonable supply of internal communications
for the province. After the Roman occupation had ceased, they were
largely utilized by the English, but they do not resemble the roads of
medieval England in their grouping and economic significance. One
might rather compare them to the railways of to-day, which radiate
similarly from London. In Worcestershire we shall be concerned princi-
pally with branches and routes of lesser importance, but the preceding
sketch seemed desirable in order to fit these lesser routes into their
proper places.

Such in the main was that large part of Roman Britain in which
ordinary non-military civilized life prevailed. To that part Worcester-
shire belongs, and when we pass on to survey in detail the Roman
remains discovered in the county, we might expect to meet the features
which we have sketched in the preceding paragraphs. To a certain
extent our expectation will not be disappointed. There undoubtedly
existed in Worcestershire a Romano-British civilization of the normal
type, with town and villa and road. But though normal in type, that
civiUzation was by no means normal in amount. Towns and villas and
roads were very scarce ; industries were wholly or almost wholly absent,
and in general the remains with which we have to deal are few and
comparatively unimportant. Much of the county was doubtless forest ;
much must have needed draining, and the whole valley of the Severn
from Bewdley to Tewkesbury contained probably a small population.
It is not merely that Worcestershire possesses fewer Roman remains than
its southern neighbour of Gloucester, with its two great towns and its
crowd of villas large and small, and its numerous and important roads :
even Herefordshire in this respect excels Worcestershire. Some allow-
ance must perhaps be made for the absence of exploration, for Worcester-
shire is almost unique among the English counties in this, that no single
Roman remain within its borders has ever been excavated of set purpose.
But even so we must admit that the county is to be classed as one of the
thinner spaces (if we may use the phrase) in Roman Britain.

2. Places of Settled Occupation : Worcester.

Worcestershire, so far as it is at present known to us, contains no site
which can be described as being demonstrably the site of a large
Romano-British town. It has no Gloucester or Cirencester. But the
various remains found at Worcester, though they include no definite
traces of houses or other buildings, may nevertheless be accepted as
evidence of some little town or settlement.

203

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

The Romano-British name of the place is not known nor has any
probable conjecture ever been suggested concerning it. The earliest forms
of the English name as preserved in Saxon charters are Wigeran (or
Wiogeran) Ceaster, and the first half of this, Wigeran or Wiogeran,
which has certainly nothing to do with the Hwicii, and probably is not
English at all, may conceivably contain some vestige of a British name.
But no name occurs in the Itinerary of Antonine or in any other Roman
document about Britain which can be identified with Worcester. Some
sixteenth-century writers suggested the Bravonium of the Itinerary, a
station on the road from Viroconium (Wroxeter) to Isca (Caerleon), and
in sixteenth century fashion went so far as to dub old Senatus, prior of
Worcester in 1189 a.d., Senatus Bravonius.^ But the route from
Wroxeter to Caerleon unquestionably ran through Herefordshire, not
through Worcestershire, and Bravonium is probably Leintwardine.
Others identified Worcester with Brannogenium, which Ptolemy names
as chief town of the Ordovices. But this guess must also be rejected, for
the Ordovices lived in North Wales. We must be content not to know
the Roman name of the place.

Another ancient name has often been given to Worcester. This pro-
fesses to be a British and not a Roman name, and it is undoubtedly not
authentic, but its history is curious and worth a glance. It begins in or
about the seventh century when an unknown author compiled a list of
twenty-eight cities in Britain. The names of these cities are Celtic
with Caer prefixed ; most of them are entirely unknown and the value
of the whole list is extremely slight. However it contains a Caer
Guiragon, or perhaps Guoeirangon or Guoranegon (the manuscripts vary),
and with this name we are concerned. The list came into the hands of
a twelfth-century historian and antiquary, Henry of Huntingdon, who
altered it to his taste, inserted identifications apparently of his own
devising, and incorporated the result in his book. Among the identifica-
tions we find Caer Gorangon (so Henry spells it) equated with Wigornia,
that is Worcester. No reason is given ; and so far as one can see no
reason existed, beyond the obvious fact that Wigornia and Gorangon each
contains the letters gor and n. In this item, as indeed throughout the
list, Henry appears to have guessed in a manner which we should now
call most arbitrary, and no real value can be attached to his identifica-
tions. Unfortunately, having once been made they stuck. Medieval
chroniclers and modern antiquaries alike repeated them, connected other
names with them, and piled up spacious but baseless hypotheses. In the
case of Worcester, Caer Gorangon (respelt Caer Wrangon) was put
beside Bravonium and Brannogenium by sixteenth-century writers ;
Bravonium was rechristened Branonium and the three names fused into

1 Leland De Scriptoribus Britann. (ed. Hall) and Genethllacon Edwardi (ed. Hearne in the Itinerary, ix.
p. xxviii.). Valentine Green in his Survey (1764) and History of Worcester (1796) states that Senatus
called himself Bravonius, but this is wrong : the epithet does not occur till the sixteenth century. Its
earlier occurrence would indeed be very remarkable, since the name Bravonium is preserved solely in
the Itinerary, and that work was unknown till about 1500 a.d.

204

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

one — Branogena or Brangonia, which Humphrey Lhuyd and Leland and
many subsequent topographers have proclaimed to be the Roman name
of Worcester.* It is one long juggle with names — interesting as charac-
teristic of earlier antiquarian methods but wholly devoid of scientific
value. In dealing with ancient Worcester we shall do well to leave alone
Caer Guiragon or Gorangon and all names constructed out of it.

The Romano-British settlement at Worcester appears to have occu-
pied much the same site as the modern town, a long strip of high land
above the eastern bank of the Severn. But the recorded remains give no
real indication of its size or character. Roman coins have been found
at many points from Barbourne on the north to Diglis on the south, and
they comprise not only the usual third and fourth-century issues down
to the end of the Roman period, but also a considerable proportion of
first and second-century coins — one of Augustus, two of Tiberius, many
of Claudius and his successors.* Other objects have been found rather
less frequently over the same area. The following paragraphs contain the
principal discoveries and alleged discoveries arranged from north to south.

(i) At the White Ladies, the site of a medieval nunnery in the
Tything, somewhat north of St. Oswald's Hospital, many coins, mostly
but not wholly of the third and fourth centuries, were found in and
before 1842, and with them were associated a number of Greek coins,
some of pre-Roman date.' But these, both Greek and Roman, as Mr.
Willis-Bund informs me, were purposely buried by a lady who afterwards
admitted the act.

(2) A little west of this, under the house in the centre of Britannia
Square, some discoveries were made in 1829 — a circular foundation of
sandstone 30 feet in diameter, general debris and coins of the late third
and the fourth century. The foundations were explained as a fort built
by Ostorius Scapula about a.d. 50, but they are much too small for a
fort and their connection with Ostorius is a gratuitous fiction for which
no shred of evidence exists ; they do not seem indeed to have been
examined by any competent archsologists, and we possess no actual proof
that they are of Roman date at all.^

(3) West of Britannia Square in the low riverside area called Pitch-
croft, now occupied by the racecourse, a great quantity of scoria as from
iron-smeltings, and among them some pottery which was taken to be
Roman, were found in the eighteenth century. It was probably here that
the seventeenth-century engineer, Andrew Yarranton, noted ' the hearth
of a Roman footblast ' and a peck of Roman coins in an urn near it, and
scoria enough for him and his friends (as one of them asserts) to take
' many thousand tons or loads ' up the Severn to their iron-furnaces to be
resmelted. That these scoria date from the Roman period is a common

' Lhuyd, CommentarioR fragmentum ; Leland, refF. of preceding note.

* Allies, Antiquities of Worcestershire, ed. 2, 1852, pp. 1-32 ; Val. Green, Hist, of Worcester, i. 108 ;
Worcestershire 1882 Exhibition Catalogue, p. 50, mentions two coins (Vespasian and Constantine) found
in Barbourne. Coins are so easily shifted amidst rubbish or even found and lost again elsewhere, that it
is no use here to catalogue all the precise localities where individual specimens have been noted.

8 Allies, pp. 5-8. * Allies, pp. 1-3. Forty-nine of the coins are in the Worcester Museum.

205

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

view.^ But the coins and alleged pottery are hardly conclusive evidence,
and Mr. Willis-Bund informs me that iron ore was largely brought down
the river to be smelted with wood in the sixteenth century : similar
scoria, which can be dated by documents, appear to exist at Powick. A
gold coin of Tiberius (Cohen, No. 1 5) was lately found in the Severn
near Pitchcroft.

(4) Another object found in the northern part of the town is a
small and not ungraceful bronze vase from Sansome Fields, now in the
Worcester Museum.

(5) The centre of the town has yielded fewer remains. Drain-laying
in Broad Street in 1797 and in High Street in 1853 and 1896 revealed
more scoria, apparently concreted with pebbles to form what was con-
sidered by the discoverers a roadway running north and south, but again
we have no clear proof of Roman origin. Some walling and tiles
thought to be Roman have been found in Swithin Street, but their
age is doubtful.* A fibula was dug up in Copenhagen Street in 1857.

(6) An unquestionably Roman object from this quarter was found
in 1844, at a depth of 18 feet, under 12 High Street. It is a little bronze

statuette (fig. 2) 2| inches long, of an undraped female
figure, with one hand on her lips, the other behind her
and her feet crossed. Several more or less similar
figures are known to archaeologists. They were for-
merly explained as representations of an obscure Roman
goddess of silence, Angerona, but this view has long
been abandoned and they are now recognized to be
amulets against the evil eye, the hand being placed on
the lips to prevent evil influences entering thereby.
Some specimens have a small loop or hole by which
they could be suspended.'

(7) Roman remains are commonest at the south
end of the modern town. Noteworthy discoveries
were made about 1833 during the removal of the Castle
Mound, which used to occupy a site immediately south-
cJarm ^or Amulet. ^^^^ °^ *^^ Cathedral, near the river. This mound
was of Saxon or Norman origin, and at its base the
labourers found some eighty or ninety coins, including several of the
first century (seven of Claudius for instance), fibulas, bronze bells and
pottery, including Samian, and among the Samian one piece which might

1 Treadway Nash, Collections fir the Hist, of Worcestershire, Supplement (issued 1799), p. 97; Andrew
Yarranton, England's Improvement by Sea and Land, ii. (1698) p. 162, cited by Nash, ii. p. cviii. ; Val.
Green, Hist, of Worcester, i. 10 note. The 1698 issue of Yarranton's work, published posthumously, is not
in any library accessible to me, and I have cited it after Nash. The ' many thousand tons ' sounds an
exaggeration.

8 Nash, Supplement, p. 97 ; Allies, p. 2 ; Bozward, in Berrow's Worcester Journal, Oct. Nov. 1889 ;
piece of concrete in Worcester Museum ; information from Mr. Willis-Bund.

3 Allies, p. 13, with figure ; brief mentions, Archaological "Journal, ii. 74 ; Journal of the British
Archaol. Assoc, ii. 48. For the whole class of figures see Otto Jahn's paper IJeber den Aherglauhen des
bosen Blickes bei den Alten, in the Berichte iiber den Abh. des kon. sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften
Z.U Lei/>zig,vn. (1855) 47-49 ; and Wissowa, in Roscher's Lexikon der Mytholo^e, s.v. Angerona ; compare
Frazer's Golden Bough (ed. 2, 1901) i. 313.

206

Fig. 3. Fibula and other Objects found beneath the Castle Mound, Worcester (pp. 206, 207).

To face page 206

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

well belong to the first century. There were also some foundations and
a quoined well which, being beneath the mound, may be of Roman
date. A few Roman objects seem also to have occurred in the earth of
the mound itself, and were doubtless scraped up with that earth when
the mound was built.^ The accompanying illustration (fig. 3) shows
some of the remains.

(8) South of this but near it, 200 yards west of the Porcelain ■
Works and near the Severn bank in Diglis, Samian and other coarser
pottery, two bronze coins of Domitian, a bronze armilla, fluetiles, a
structure taken to be a kiln, and some burnt bones which were thought
not to be human, were found in i860. At the same date Samian and
other sherds, amphorae, pelves and the like, and some bits of glass were
noted in the course of some repairs at the Cathedral south of the Lady
chapel. Samian and other fragments have also been found at St. Alban's
Home in the same vicinity.^ Mr. AlHes also mentions an urn with thirty
coins of Carausius as found near this in Upper Deal.

(9) A little further south, Roman pottery, a coin of Marcus and
animals' bones were discovered at a depth of 30 feet, when the Severn
Navigation Canal lock was constructed at Diglis in 1843. Presumably
the spot had in Roman days been water or soft marsh and had since
silted up.^

(10) Finally a puzzling find was made on the south-east side of the
town, beside the London road and opposite Fort Royal, in 1843. This
was an underground chamber, roughly 10 feet square, dug out of solid
marl, faced or walled with bricks and tiles in alternate courses, and paved
with brick. The covering of the structure had fallen in long before it
was unearthed, and the interior was filled with tile and brick debris. The
walls and floor show distinct marks of heat and smoke, and the whole
was taken to be a hypocaust, but if one may judge from the accounts
which have been preserved, neither the age nor the character of the
remains is quite clear. A little way off a few coins of the third century
were found at the same time (Severus Alexander — Tetricus), and near by
though quite distinct a bronze coin of Domitian was found at Lark
Hill Crescent."

This is not altogether a satisfactory list. We cannot feel sure that
all its items date from the Roman period, and even if we assume that, we
cannot point out in it one single recognizable trace of any definite kind
of building public or private. Still the number and character of the
certain and probable items is significant, and we seem to be justified in
assuming that some small country town or village occupied the site of
Worcester in Roman times. The comparative frequency of first and
second-century coins suggests further that this town or village was

1 Allies, p. 15 ; Gentleman's Magazine, 1834, '• 9^ ; Dunkin's Re/iort of the British Anhaol. Assoc.
Meeting at Worcester, p. 35 ; remains in Worcester Museum.

2 R. W. Binns, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, i. (i860) 148, and A Century of
Potting in Worcester, p. 184 ; remains in the Porcelain Works Museum and from St. Alban's Home in
the Worcester Museum ; Catalogue of the Museum, Archasol. Institute Meeting at Worcester, 1 862, p. 7.

3 Allies, p. 28. * Allies, p. 23, and for the coin of Domitian, p. 5.

207

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

already in existence in the early part of the Roman occupation. If we
accept the Pitchcroft scorice as Roman, we could add to our conception
of Roman Worcester the notion of iron-smelting, though we should be
unable to explain why such an industry arose at a place then so unimportant.
But we cannot claim for ancient Worcester any reputation as a
centre of a potting industry. The kiln found in Diglis testifies only
to homely wares produced for casual local needs, such as we meet at
hundreds of other sites in Roman Britain, and, as no good potter's clay
exists in the neighbourhood of Worcester, we could expect nothing else.
The natural earthenware of the district is seen, for instance, in a reddish
ware, which is somewhat like modern flowerpot ware. Specimens have
been found freely at Diglis, Kempsey and elsewhere, both in and beyond
the bounds of Worcestershire.

3. Places of Settled Occupation : Droitwich, etc.

To this small town or village at Worcester we have to add a few
other instances of what we may suppose to be permanent civilian occu-
pation, although our knowledge is in no single case adequate to a proper
description.

(i) Droitwich. The Roman remains at Droitwich appear to lie
mostly on the north-western side of the town, near but on the north side
of the little river Salwarp, and close to the canal and the railway to
Stoke Prior ; they have indeed been found principally in the construc-
tion of either canal or railway (fig. 4). In 1847 when the railway was
made, definite traces of a dwelling-house were found in Bay's Meadow,
close to Bury Hill Farm and the junction of the Stoke Prior Hne with
the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton line, and on the north limb
of the former, now disused. These traces comprised two tessellated
pavements, foundations in red sandstone, tiles, pottery (including Samian),
fibulae and other bronze objects, iron nails, coins and so forth. Both
mosaics were much damaged, but a piece of one was secured for the
Worcester Museum and shows a geometrical pattern in red, white and
bluish grey (fig. 5). East of this site, at Ellin's Saltworks in the Vines,
pottery has been found. Coins have occurred at various places along
the Stoke Prior railway : they include a few of the first and second
centuries, more of the late third and fourth, and range from Vespasian
to Gratian.^ Coins of Claudius, Nero, Galba, Hadrian and others, are
said to have been found in High Street during the drainage works of
1878 ; and I have seen a gold coin of Galba, and a 'first brass' of
Claudius from these finds.^ It is also said that vases, coins and tiles were
found in making the canal, and that remains of Roman baths have been
unearthed with conduits for the supply of water;' but I am told that

1 Allies, Arch(rological Journal, iv. 73, 146; vi. 404; and Antiquities of Worcestershire, pp. 98, loi ;
Journal of the British Archaologtcal Association, iii. 119; vi. I 50; Wollaston Collection of Drawings of
Mosaics (South Kensington Museum), No. 72 ; Transactions of the Wore. 'Naturalists' Club, i. 97.

2 Transactions of the Wore. Naturalists'' Club, i. 282 ; Kelly's Directory. The coin of Galba is
Cohen, 286.

' Bainbrigge, Droitwich Salt Spring (Worcester, 1873), pp. 45, 46.
208

^^V4Co'

209

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

these statements are probably incorrect. On the whole the finds indicate
a ' villa ' rather than a town or village. We may suppose that some
wealthy Romano-Briton pitched here his dwelling in a sheltered place,
and it may be that he used the salt springs for which Droitwich has long
been famous. Or we might imagine instead a little spa, and perhaps the
existence of Roman roads which seem to lead towards Worcester and
Alcester and Birmingham,' might make the latter hypothesis the more
probable. But it is idle to guess.

(2) Kempsey. Here, 4I miles south of Worcester, various antiqui-
ties have been discovered between the village and the river, near the
church or a little north of it. The most striking of these is an inscrip-
tion found some years before 1818, lying in two pieces with other stones
4 feet deep in the west wall of the kitchen garden of the parsonage farm,
north-west of the church. Many of the other stones were cemented
together and formed some kind of ancient foundation ; whether the
inscription was one of these, is not recorded. It is itself a flat slab of
freestone, 33 inches high by 20 inches wide, and is now in the Worcester
Museum where I have examined it. It reads as follows : —

\A_C o NST

ANT, No

PE'IN

VICTO

AVG

Val[erio) Constantino P{io) fe(lici) invicto Jug{usto)
' To the Emperor Valerius Constantinus, pious, fortunate, unconquerable, Augustus.'

Probably the commencement of the inscription is lost ; it may have
begun IMP. CAES. fl. Imp{eratort) Cces{ari) Fl{avio). Flavins Valerius
Constantinus was Constantine the Great, and this stone was presumably
set up in his reign (a.d. 308-337). It appears to be a milestone, or rather
a road-stone, of the type common in the fourth century, in which the
mileage was often omitted — though here it might have been broken off.
But it might conceivably be no more than an honorary slab (see p. 213).
Near it were found Roman tiles indicating some building. A little
north, in a field called the Moors, gravel-diggers in 1835-9 found a
number of small pits containing ashes, the burnt bones and teeth of a
horse, a few fibula, a coin of Nero and many potsherds of various kinds,
including Samian and the ' red-earth ' ware noticed above (p. 208). Mr.
Allies, the chronicler of the finds, calls the pits cists or graves, but no
human remains seem to have been found, and the pits themselves which
measured 6 feet by 6 feet or 6 feet by 8 feet, are not shaped sepulchrally.
We may rather regard them as the rubbish-pits which regularly occur
near dwelling-houses. A ' camp,' now for the most part obliterated, is
stated to have been formerly traceable at this place, the church being
close to its southern end. According to the best measurements available,
those made by Mr. Allies fifty years ago, its east and west sides were each
200 yards long, its north side 180 yards, its south side 90 yards, so that
it formed an irregular quadrilateral of about 4 acres. It has usually been

> There is also a curiously straight road due north to Crutch Hill.
210

RESTORATION OF A MOSAIC PAVEMENT FOUND AT DROITWICH.

FROM A DRAWING MADE FOR DR. WOLLASTON.

This Restoration differs from that adopted in the treatment of the original fragments, now
preserved in a restored form in Worcester Museum.

Fig. 5<7. Fragment of Mosaic found at Droitwich, now in Worcester Museum (Restored).

Note. — It is well attested that the mosaic, as now preserved in Worcester Museum,
has been restored. An old drawing shown me by Mr. W. H. Edwards, makes me
suspect that only the central device and circle round it are original ; and that all the
rest, both here and in fig. ^i, is conjectural restoration of fragments found in broken
and detached disorder.

1o face page 210

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

styled a Roman camp, but its shape is not that of an ordinary Roman
fort or encampment, and no definite evidence really exists to assign it to
any age. The unquestionably Roman remains of Kempsey indicate a
dwelling or a village, and the earthwork, if Roman at all, may be the
enclosure round the one or the other/

(3) Eckington. Here at a spot some 200 yards north of the
village and three-quarters of a mile from the river Avon, the railway
constructors met with foundations of buildings in stone, bricks, drains,
three quoined wells or pits, many bones of men and animals, and much
Roman pottery, including a pelvis (or mortarium) now in the Worcester
Museum (fig. 6), and pieces of the red-earth ware noticed above.
These remains seem to indicate a dwelling-house or ' villa ' of some sort.

Fig. 6. Pelvis Found at Eckington.

To this brief list we may perhaps add some fainter traces of habita-
tion in the parishes of Aldington, Badsey and Littleton, a little east-
north-east of Evesham. Here Roman pottery and coins may still be
noticed in comparative abundance. The pottery is mostly very plain ;
the coins are late ' third brass ' ; foundations and traces of buildings
seem wholly unknown, and it would be rash to conjecture the existence
of anything so elaborate as a ' villa.' But it is at least noteworthy that
we meet in this district more distinct signs of Romano-British man than
in most parts of Worcestershire, and the comparative abundance of his
remains suggests that further search might not be unprofitable.^ The
same may possibly be true of the south slopes of Bredon Hill.

There is lastly one settlement which we shall not seek in Worces-
tershire nor indeed anywhere at all. ' Richard of Cirencester ' mentions
a station 'Ad Antonam,' as fifteen miles from Gloucester and fifteen from
Alauna. Various sites have been selected for it in Worcestershire —
Eckington, Evesham, Blackbank near Aldington, Overbury, Bengeworth
and so forth. But it is now well recognized that the treatise ascribed to
Richard of Cirencester is really an eighteenth-century forgery by one

1 Allies, pp. 54-59 ; Dunkin's Report of the British Archaol. Association Meeting at Worcester, p. 261 ;
E. M. Rudd, British Archaological Association Joumal, iv. 312 ; Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, vii.
1157 ; inscription and pottery in Worcester Museum. Mr. H. H. Lines (Berrow's Worcester Joumal,
Oct. 25, 1890) challenges Mr. Allies' measurements, but his own do not inspire confidence. As a
matter of fact the earthworks seem to have been faint as long ago as Aubrey's day (MS. 14, p. 180, in
the Bodleian). At present little is visible, except perhaps the north-east corner in an orchard north of
the church, and that is practically all that Prattinton saw (MS. vol. xxi.)

* References in the Index : information from Mr. R. F. Tomes and the Rev. F. S. Taylor, who
were kind enough to show me the chief sites.

211

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Bertram of Copenhagen. Alauna is Bertram's guess for Alcester, and
Ad Antonam a name which he invented from a misreading of Tacitus.
It occurs nowhere else, and we may dismiss it from further consideration.

4. The Roads

In a district such as we have hitherto described, where towns were
very few and small and country houses very rare, we should expect roads
also to be infrequent, and as a fact we can trace few Roman roads
within the bounds of Worcestershire. Even the evidence for deter-
mining Roman roads is scantier in Worcestershire than elsewhere. We
possess of course the usual archaeological evidence. We can point
occasionally to ancient metalling along a hne where we might look
reasonably for a Roman road, but the Worcestershire instances of such
metalling are few and unsatisfactory. We can point also to still-existing
tracks running with persistent straightness from one Roman site to
another, and in this point we are a little better provided. But our
written evidence is very scanty. A few charters and place names ^ and
boundaries help us, but we can make no use of what is in other counties
our chief aid, the Itinerarium Afitonim, since no route described in that
document passes through any part of Worcestershire.

The Roman roads of our county fall into two sections. There are
in the first place two local roads (as they seem to be) which serve
Worcester and Droitwich and one or two other sites, along with which
we must notice some conjectured but uncertain roads. And in the
second place there are in the extreme east of the county some traceable
portions of two more important roads, the so-called Rycknield Street
and the Fossway. These do not really belong to the area of the county :
they graze it as it were accidentally, but it may be none the less con-
venient to speak of them.

(i) Worcester, Droitwich, Birmingham. A road running almost
invariably straight for over twenty miles can be traced along the existing
roads from Worcester to Selly Oak outside Birmingham. The road
leaves Worcester by Rainbow Hill, and for a little while is represented
only by a part of the boundary between North Claines and Hindlip
parishes. From Martin Hussingtree onwards there is still a direct high-
way through Droitwich and Bromsgrove, swerving slightly to ascend the
Lickey, and thence running direct to Selly Oak and coming into the
line of Rycknield Street. The straightness of this road and its connec-
tion with Roman sites at the two ends and at Droitwich, mark it
out as in all probability a Roman road. It was recognized as such by
Bishop Lyttelton and is often called the Upper Saltway, though there
does not seem to be ancient authority for this term as applied to this road.*
Possibly it was known as an old road in the fourteenth century (p. 215).

(2) Droitwich, Alcester, Stratford-on-Avon. Here again we depend

* It is necessary to add a caution that ' Port Way ' does not denote a Roman road. The terra
' Street ' also, except in early pre-conquest documents, has often no special significance.

* Nash, ii. p. cvii. ; Ordnance Maps, xxii., xv., xvi., x. At Northfield there is a Street Farm.

212

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

on the line of the existing highway, and that line it must be confessed
is less clear than it is in the case of the Droitwich and Bromsgrove
route. It appears however not to be improbable ; and as Alcester is a
well ascertained Roman country town, we may accept it at least pro-
visionally. It is often called the Lower Saltway, but again there seems
to be no ancient authority for the appellation.

(3) Worcester to the north, up the Severn valley. Antiquaries have
generally agreed to trace a road from Worcester into Staffordshire, either
by Over Arley on the Severn, or by Clent, Hagley and Stourbridge. The
evidence for the former consists of a ' street ' mentioned in a late charter
at Over Arley ; for the second, a road-name, Kings Headland, near Hagley
and Clent.' Neither can be called adequate. Likely as it may seem
that there should have been a direct road along or near the Severn from
the large town of Glevum (Gloucester) to the large town of Viroconium
(Wroxeter), we must admit that it is as yet a mere supposition.

(4) Worcester to the west, Herefordshire and the Romano-British
town at Kenchester. An unquestionable Roman road can be traced
from Kenchester twelve miles eastward to Stretton Grandison, and it has
often been conjectured to have gone on, through the Wyche Pass in the
Malvern Hills, to Worcester. No trace however of this continuation
exists. It is probable that, if the road was continued from Stretton
Grandison, it ran south-east by Newent to Gloucester, and there are
some faint indications of it as far as Newent.

(5) Worcester to the south, Kempsey, Tewkesbury and Gloucester.
An ancient paved way, described as ' generally four feet wide, and made
of blocks of Has stone set edgewise against each other,' has been traced,
and is said to be still traceable, between Ripple and Tewkesbury, and
this, combined with the Kempsey inscription (p. 210), and some theories
such as Stukeley's idea that Upton was a Romano-British town Ypocessa,
produced the suggestion of a Roman road along this line. But Stukeley's
idea is a wild fancy, and the paved way, so far as one may judge by the
description, resembles far more a medieval path to Tewkesbury Abbey
than a Roman road. If we are to look for a Roman road in this part of
the county, I would suggest excavation along the line traceable from
Worcester by St. Peter's, Timberdine Farm (footpath and hedge), Naple-
ton near Kempsey, Earl's Croome, Green Street and Stratford Bridge.
But this must be sought by the spade, or otherwise proved by fresh
evidence. On our present knowledge we can only say that the Kempsey
inscription suggests, though it does not absolutely prove, the presence of
a road near that village.^

From these real or supposed roads of local communications we turn

1 Lyttelton, quoted by Nash ; Amphlett and Duignan Midland Jntijuary, ii. 53, loi. The charter
mentioning the Over Arley ' street,' is the well-known Wolverhampton charter (Dugdale's Monasticon, vi.
1443), which, though professing to date from a.d. 916, is in reality quite late. A charter mentioning
a ' micide street ' at Wolverley {Cartularium Sax., 513) is also quite late. Both belong to an age when
the word ' street ' had ceased to denote especially Roman roads.

2 For the localities see the Ordnance Maps of Worcestershire (6-inch), xxxiii., xl., xlvii., xlviii. ;
for the probably medieval paving, Allies, pp. 63-67.

213

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

to the two unquestionably Roman roads which, as we mentioned above,
graze the eastern edges of the county. These are the so-called Rycknield
Street and the Foss Way, the former the more important for a Worcester-
shire topographer, the latter barely entering the county, but by far the
more important as a road of Roman Britain. Both roads have one
interesting feature, in that they are almost the only two Roman roads in
the Midlands which do not run towards London. And first, Rycknield
Street.

(6) By Rycknield Street we mean a road from the Roman 'station'
outside Derby to Wall, the Romano-British Letocetum near Lichfield;
and thence past Birmingham to Alcester, also a Romano-British town or
village ; and finally to the Foss Way at Bourton-on-the- Water. This
road is easily traceable, and indeed largely still in use ; and its unswerv-
ing straightness and connection with Roman sites justify us in calling it
a Roman road. Its course needs no long discussion. Entering Worces-
tershire close to Birmingham, where it seems to meet a Roman road
from Worcester and Droitwich (No. i), it runs as a road in present use
past Stirchley Street, Weatheroak Hill near Alvechurch, and Beoley ;
then it enters Warwickshire, and passes Studley, Alcester, Bidford and
the two Honeybournes ; at Bidford it begins to be called Buckle
Street. A little further south, at Weston Subedge, it mounts the range
of Broadway Down, and its course is less clear. The map-makers — on
what authority I do not know — give the name of Buckle Street to a
ridgeway which runs along the hill-top above Cutsdean and Temple
Guiting, and descends ultimately to Bourton. This may represent the
Roman line, which in that case diverged from its hitherto straightness
and made a westward curve. But it may instead have continued nearly
straight, and we may think to see its traces in the parish boundary be-
tween Weston and Saintbury and in the Worcestershire county boundary,
which forms the eastern limit of Broadway parish. A road following
this line would, if produced straight on, coincide with the four miles of
absolutely straight road called Condicote Lane, and thus reach Bourton
by a route which would be a direct continuation of the northern part of
the road between Birmingham and Weston Subedge. In either case it
will be observed the road runs into the Foss Way at Bourton.^

Unfortunately the name of the road is much more obscure than its
course. We have called it Rycknield Street, but we have done so simply
for convenience, because that name is now usually applied to the road,
and for the same reason we have adopted the usual spelling of a variously
written word. But in reality the name is an old and famous puzzle, and
deserves some notice here. The story appears to start with the Icknield
Street. That road, under the title Icenhylt or Icenhilde Street, is a
trackway through Berkshire and Oxfordshire, of which the course is still
traceable and the name attested by Anglo-Saxon documents earlier than
the Conquest : it is not a Roman but possibly a British road, and so far we

1 Ordnance Survey Maps (6-inch) : Worcestershire, v., x., xvi., xxiii., xxiv., xliii., Ivii. ; Warwick,
XXXI., xlix. ; Gloucestershire, xii., vii., xiv.

214

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

have no concern with it. But antiquaries of the twelfth and following
centuries, Henry of Huntingdon (p. 204), Ranulf Higden of Chester and
others, got hold of the name and made use of it, obviously without
knowing exactly what it meant. Hence one of them said that Icknield
Street ran from east to west — which is the truth, somewhat exaggerated
— and another that it ran from north to south. The views of the anti-
quaries spread, and two Icknield Streets arose into use as names, the one
for the real Berkshire and Oxfordshire street somewhat extended, and
the other for the road which we have been describing from Derby to
Wall, Alcester and the Foss Way. Hence we meet, in a deed dating from
Henry III., a Henry de Ikenyld Street, and in another deed, dating from
Henry "VIII., an Ikneld Street, both at or near Alvechurch, close to
which our road runs.^

Now it is precisely this intrusion of Icknield Street into the west
that is in all probability responsible for the name Rycknield Street.
For the conjecture of old Thorpe is by no means unlikely, that Ryck-
nield is merely a misreading of Icknield, spelt as it sometimes is with
a prefixed H. The name Rycknield does not appear in any form
till the fourteenth century, while Icknield Street, as we have just seen,
is attested near Alvechurch in the thirteenth century. The first mention
of Rycknield seems to be in the works of Ranulf Higden of Chester,
who, like most medieval chroniclers, mentions the ' four great roads ' of
Britain. These roads are, he says, the Foss Way, Watling Street,
Ermine Street and ' Rykeneld Strete ' ; and it will be noticed that
' Rykeneld Strete ' here occupies the place which is given to Icknield
Street by all Higden's predecessors, and indeed by very many subsequent
writers. It is difficult not to suppose that Rykeneld is not a mere
clerical misreading of Hikeneld, that is Icknield. But the matter does
not altogether end here. Higden describes the course of ' Rykeneld
Strete ' as running from Mavonia (St. David's) through Worcester,
Wich (that is Droitwich) and Birmingham to Lichfield, Derby and
beyond. Whether he knew anything of the route which we have
noticed as No. i in our list must remain doubtful, and does not much
matter : his remarks were interpreted to refer to the road which we
have described, and which before him was called Icknield, the road
which runs through Alcester. Gradually, as the medieval writers
became more clear and critical, they recognized the inconsistency of two
Icknield Streets, one of which was apparently Rycknield also, and they
called the Worcestershire road Rycknield Street alone, though traces of
the other name survived in some abundance in local names and deeds.
And later writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, influenced
by Higden in another way, tried to trace Rycknield Street turning to-
wards Wales. Somewhat perversely neglecting the Worcester and
Droitwich road (No. i above), they imagined various other routes.
Such is, for instance, a road turning off from the real Roman road at
Bidford and running south-west along the terrace of Cleeve Hill, for

1 Allies, pp. 332. 339-
215

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

which, as a Roman road, there seems to be no proper evidence. The
conclusion of the whole matter is that the road by Birmingham and
Alcester to Bourton and the Foss is a genuine Roman road, but that its
titles Icknield or Rycknield Street are in all probability the invention
of medieval antiquaries.^

Part of the road had however a genuine Anglo-Saxon name,
Buggilde Straet or Bucgan Straet, which appears to be older than the
Norman Conquest. This name was used between Bidford and Weston
Subedge, and seems to be derived from an English personal name of the
feminine gender.^ It is of course English, and concerns us merely as
showing that the road was recognized as an old one very early in English
history. It is still in use, as I am assured, between Bidford and Weston,
in the form of ' Buckle Street.'

(7) It remains briefly to notice the Foss Way. This traverses only
two outlying portions of south-eastern Worcestershire, the parishes of
Tredington near Shipston-on-Stour and of Blockley. It forms a modern
high-road and its course its unmistakable. At Dorn, in Blockley, some
noteworthy remains have been found close to its course (see Index).

ISCELLANEOUS

Towns, villas, roads indicate some form or other of settled occupa-
tion. We pass on to notice scattered finds, coins, pottery and the like,
which we cannot refer to any definite place in the civilization of Roman
Worcestershire. Some of these probably are so imperfectly known to us
that we fail to catch their significance ; others certainly seem to be due
to chance, and neither class can be used to assist materially our ideas of
the Romano-British life in our county. We shall therefore summarize
such sporadic discoveries in the alphabetical list with which our article
concludes, without wasting words in what must be idle speculation.
There is however one of these scattered finds which, though most in-
adequately recorded, nevertheless deserves the compliment of a special
mention. This is the large hoard of gold and silver coins, principally of
the late fourth century, which was found at Cleeve Prior in 181 1.

In October, 181 1, a workman named Thomas Sheppey, while dig-
ging stone in a quarry, found two urns of ' red earthenware ' which had
been carefully buried in a stratum of clay and protected by stones laid
above and below them. One of these urns contained gold coins and the
other silver coins. Unfortunately the hoard was rapidly dispersed. The
finder utilized some of the coins as current money, and sold the rest or
most of the rest in small parcels to residents in the neighbourhood and
others, and the coins were thus scattered among many owners. Some
details have however been preserved concerning them. The bulk of

* See the references in Allies, pp. 340-53 ; Guest, Origines Celtics, ii. 220. The Rykeneld
Street which Gale, Allies and others find in a deed of a.d. 1223 near Stoke-upon-Trent seems, accord-
ing to Guest, to be due to a misreading. Guest tries to defend the antiquity of the name Rycknield
against Thorpe, but without meeting the real points of the case.

2 A. S. Napier and W. H. Stevenson, Crawford Charters (Oxford, 1895), p. 56.
216

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

them belonged to the close of the fourth century, about which time the
hoard was obviously deposited in its hiding-place. The gold coins in-
cluded issues of Valentinian I and II, Valens, Gratian, Theodosius and
Arcadius. The finder declared that in total they weighed 6 lb., and,
if we assume they resembled the ordinary gold coins of the period,
they must have numbered between 550 and 600 if the man reckoned by
avoirdupois, as a labourer would probably do, or between 450 and 500
if he reckoned by the troy weight usually employed for precious metals.
Canon Digby of OfFenham gave Mr. Allies an account of 255 of
these, but it has not survived. The gold coins are said to have been
in singularly good preservation and for the most part to have consisted
of very pure gold, but some were only plated copper. This last statement
may however be an error, for the gold coinage of the fourth century
was almost uniformly pure, and as its value depended largely on its
weight, forgeries were necessarily difficult. The silver coins of the hoard
included issues of Constantius II, Julian, Valens, Valentinian I, Gratian,
Magnus Maximus, Theodosius, and Honorius, with, according to Mr.
Allies, one coin of Vespasian. They were stated by the finder to
number about 3,000 ; of 832 Canon Digby gave Mr. Allies an account.
The silver coins were, it is said, much more worn than the gold, as
indeed one might expect. Mr. Allies and Mr. May add that the hoard
also comprised coins of Gordian, Valerian, Constantine, Valens and
Flavius Victor, but they do not mention the metals.^ Let me further
point out that at the Worcestershire Exhibition of 1882 the late Canon
A. H. Winnington Ingram, rector of Harvington near Cleeve Prior,
exhibited coins from the hoard and an object described in the 'Cata-
logue' (p. 53) as 'a Roman lady's bronze chatelaine found at Cleeve
Prior.' I do not know whether this had anything to do with the
hoard, nor can I discover what has since become either of the coins or
the ' chatelaine.'

It would be unwise to speculate either on the former owner of
these coins or the cause of their burial. I will say only that it does
not seem to me absolutely necessary to refer even so large a hoard as
this to a lost public treasure or army chest. For the rest, the troubles
which fell upon Britain at the end of the fourth and beginning of the
fifth century afford not one but several possible reasons for the burial
and loss of hoards. To the numismatist, as distinct from the historian,
the interest of this hoard lies rather in its silver than its gold. Hoards
of the silver coins minted in the last half of the fourth century are
by no means common : only two or three instances are known in
Britain and hardly any on the continent. And if with these siliquce
(as they were called) of the late fourth century there were combined
silver coins of Vespasian and perhaps of Gordian and Valerian (if such

* Berrow's Wore. Jountal, Oct. 31, 1811 ; Anhaoh^a, xviii. 329 ; Gentleman's Magazine, 1811
(ii.), 506 ; G. May, Hist, of Evesham (ed. 2), p. 244 ; Allies, p. 91 ; R. F. Tomes, Berrow's Wore.
Journal, June 27, 1891 ; Prattinton's MS. (vol. vii.) contains notes of fifty silver coins. I have made
extensive private inquiries, with little result. The site of the find is duly marked in the 6-inch
Ordnance Map (xliii. N.W.) half a mile due west of the village.

217

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

can be called silver), the interest and perhaps also the problems of the
hoard increase.^ In any case it is one of the most striking, and in
bullion value one of the most precious, of the hoards yet found in the
Roman provinces of w^estern Europe, and one can only regret that the
neglect of antiquaries has suffered it to remain so little known.

6, INDEX

The following is an alphabetical list of the principal places where Roman remains have
been found in Worcestershire. For discoveries noticed in the preceding pages I have simply
referred to the descriptions there given ; for the others I have briefly indicated the nature of
the discoveries and the chief printed or other authorities.

Alderminster . . At Goldicote, fibula [J. H. Bloom].

Aldington . . . Small Roman coins dug up in front of the manor house ; coins, etc.
' in a field on the left as you ascend the road from the bridge
over the brook towards the railway,' on the route from South
Littleton to Bengeworth [R. F. Tomes, Berrow's Wore. Journal,
June 20, 1891].

Remains at Blackbanks, near Blackminster Farm, west of road from
South Littleton to Badsey and south of the brook ; fragments
of pottery (including Samian), a fibula, spindlewhorl, coins mostly
of the fourth century [R. F. Tomes, Berrow's Wore. Journal,
June 20, 1891] ; information from Mr. Tomes and Mr. A. H.
Savory.

Rude pottery, human and animal bones, slabs of stone marked by
fire, 'third brass' of Constantine, at Foxhill, a mile east of Badsey
church [G. May, Hist, of Evesham (ed. 2), p. 244 ; Allies, p.
88].'

Urn with over 100 coins of Hadrian, Marcus, Pius, Gordian, Philip
and others, found 1833 near Farfield [Allies, p. 135].

Coins, but doubtful [Allies, p. 151].

See Appendix IL

Urn of red earthenware with 140 'third brass.' Among 62 ex-
amined there were 7 Gallienus, i Salonina, i Postumus, 9
Victorinus, 24 Tetricus, 1 1 Claudius Gothicus, i Probus, 4
Carausius. Found 1839 in making Gloucester and Birming-
ham railway [Allies, p. 95]. Some of the coins are in the
Worcester Museum.

Silver earring, coins of Quintillus, AUectus, Constans, fibula found
in ' Nettlebed ' on south slope of Bredon Hill. Coins of Ves-
pasian, Severus, Gallienus, Constantine found sporadically in
ploughing [Arehaotogical Journal, iii. 267 ; May, Evesham, p.
365 ; Allies, p. 83]. Fragments of pottery and coins of
Victorinus, Tetricus, Claudius II, Maxentius, Constantine I and
II, Valens, picked up during a number of years on the arable
fields near Conderton and Overbury, on the south side of Bredon
Hill, are in possession of Mr. W. Bruton [W. H. Edwards].
Mr. Bloom tells me of Samian and other potsherds, three cir-
cular fibulae and coins (one Hadrian, others third and fourth
century), found partly in and partly near Overbury camp.
There may have been a dwelling of some sort hereabouts.
Broadway . . . A few coins on Middle Hill [J. H. Bloom].

Bromsgrove At north end, Pigeonhouse Hill, 17 coins of Claudius Gothicus,

LiCKEY Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius, Constantine, etc. [Allies,

pp. 102, 312].

Badsey

Belbroughton

Bevere Island .
Blockley .
Bredicot . .

Bredon Hill

* Mommsen-Blacas, Histoire de la Monnate Romaine, iii. pp. 68 note, 133.
218

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

BusHLEY .... Coin of Constantine I dug up in churchyard, and fibula [Associated
Architectural Societies' Reports, xxiv. 214].

Cleeve Prior . . Hoard : p. 216.

Clent .... Jar with gold coins found 1790 on Clent Heath; silver coins found
1792 at Old Mill ; jar of gold and jar of silver found in a
meadow east of Old Mill [Allies, pp. 135, 136, on the autho-
rity of William Timings, resident at Clent and author of a rather
uncritical Guide to the Clent Hills (ed. 2, Halesowen 1826). But
Timings only vaguely mentions 'jars containing coins of the
Roman Emperors,' found on Clent Heath (p. 87), and there may
be some mistake].

CoMBERTON Glass bottle found in a pond, 1893 [Worcestershire Chronicle, Feb-

(Little) ruary 24th, 1894]. Late coins, including Julian, and pottery

in the churchyard [Kelly's Directory].

CoNDERTON . . See Bredon Hill.

Cruckbarrow Earthwork, doubtless pre-Roman ; Roman coins alleged [Allies, p.

Hill 216].

Droitwich . . . Villa or spa : p. 208.

EcKiNGTON . . . Perhaps a villa : p. 211.

Eldersfield . . Roman coins vaguely asserted at Gadbury Camp [Archeeological
Journal, xxviii. 237].

Hagley .... Urn full of coins of the Lower Empire, in fields near Wichbury,
found in the eighteenth century : perhaps other coins [Nash, i.
485 (hence Gough, Add. to Camden, ii. 501 ; Brewer, Beauties of
England, xv. ; Timings, p. 86 ; Allies, p. 137)].

Hanbury . . . Coins alleged, but very doubtful [Nash, i. 547 ; Allies, p. 320].

Hartlebury . . Bronze coin of Alex. Severus, at Lincomb [Allies, p. 113].

Himbleton . . . Pottery, including Samian, horns of deer, etc. [Transactions of the
Wore. Naturalists'" Club, i. 97].

Hindlip . . . . Bronze coin, in rectory grounds, 1840 [Allies, p. 295].

Inkberrow . . . Coin (bronze medallion) of Hadrian, found about 1 8 1 0, in possession
of Mr. G. L. Eades of Evesham.

Kempsey . . . Dwellings: p. 210.

Littleton Pottery and coins strewn about the fields on Cleeve Hill, on north

side of the road from North Littleton to the Fish and Anchor
Inn ; the coins third and fourth century ' third brass ' [R. F.
Tomes, Berrow's Wore. Journal, June 20, 1891 ; information
from him and the Rev. F. S. Taylor].
Coin of Vespasian, near St. Ann's Well [Allies, p. 62].
Rude pottery, found by Malvern Crystal Ice Co. [Worcester
Museum]. Also much mostly rude pottery, thought to indi-
cate a kiln, found in 1887 in the Knapfield, Howsell, north of
Malvern Link ; and in 1899 in the same locality [Malvern and
Worcester Museums].
Hoard found 1847 on the west side of the Ledbury Road, opposite
Little Malvern Grove and half a mile from the foot of the
Herefordshire Beacon : urn, about 300 coins (some inside,
some apparently loose), 'second brass,' well preserved, of
Maximian, Diocletian, Chlorus, Galerius Max. and Maximinus
Daza (a.d. 286-311) [Gentleman's Magazine, 1848, i. 526 ;
Vaux, Numismatic Chronicle, xi. (1849), 3 2 j Allies, Archaological
Journal, iv, 356, and Antiq. of Wore, p. 160 ; Mommsen-Blacas,
iii. 137].

Mamble . . .See Soddington.

Offenham . . . Coin of Faustina junior at Court Farm House [Allies, p. 90].

Coins, etc., at Faulke Mill [R. F. Tomes, Berrow's Wore. Journal,

June 20, 1891].
Coins of Tetricus, Licinius, Constantine I, Constantius II, one each
[J. H. Bloom].

219

(North)

Malvern . .
Malvern Link

Malvern (Little)

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Ombersley . . . On Hadley Heath Common in levelling two mounds in 1815, 'red
earth ' ware and Samian [Allies, p. 106].

OvERBURY . . . See Bredon.

PowiCK .... Two sepulchral urns found 1832 between junction of Upton and
Malvern roads; two more found 1833 west of village: coin
of Claudius Gothius, coin of Constantine junior [Worcester
Museum ; Allies, p. 73].

RiBBESFORD . . . Gold coin of Tiberius found in Wyre Forest about 1770, according
to Nash (ii..277; followed by Gough, Add. to Camden, ii. 476;
Allies, p. 146). I suspect this must be the same as the gold
coin of Tiberius (PONTIF MAXIMVS, seated figure with spear
and olive = Cohen, 15) said by J. R. Burton, History of Bewdley,
p. xlix. (London, 1883), to have been found ' 100 years ago' at
Button Oak. But that is over the Shropshire border in the north
of the Forest.

Ripple .... Pottery, stratum of black ashes, at Bow Farm, near the Severn
[Allies, pp. 62-68]. For the supposed road see p. 213.

Severn Stoke . . Coin of Magnentius [Allies, p. 291]. Fibula [Bozward, IVorc.
Journal, 1889].

SoDDiNGTON-iN- In 1807, when the old mansion of the Blounts was demolished,
Mamble there was found below it a pavement of thin bricks and many

earthenware tubes as if for an aqueduct, and a quarter of a mile
away a buried brick-kiln with 10,000 unused bricks in it [Gentle-
mans Magazine, 1807, ii. 1 009 ; Allies, p. 147]. But no pot-
tery or coins or other Roman objects are recorded ; the bricks
and tubes were not seen by any competent authority, and Allies
and others are perhaps rash in calling this the remains of a Roman
villa.

Tredington . . At Talton 5 coins, Julian (2), Valentinian I, Flavius Victor,
Valentinian III (votis. xxx. mult, xxxx.) found 1861 [J. H.
Bloom].
At Newbold-on-Stour, pottery and horns of red deer, found 1838
[Way, Catalogue of Gloucester Museum, Archaol. Institute Meeting,
i860, p. 12].

Upton-on-Severn . Coins, vaguely recorded [Gough, Camden, ii. 47 1 ; hence Allies,
p. 60, and others]. ;Stukeley, Itinerarium Curiosum, p. 69,
put Ypocessa here, a place named in the list of the Ravenna
Geographen. But he had no better reason than that one name
begins with Up and the other with Yp. The name Ypocessa
itself is probably misspelt, and the situation of the place wholly
unknown.
A fibula found here is in the Malvern Museum [Catalogue of Archaol.
Institute Museum at Worcester, 1862, p. 9 ; private information].

Wichenford . . Two coins (Victorinus, Constans) [Allies, p. 149].

Worcester . . . Town : p. 203.

„ near . Coin said to be of Julia, dau. of Augustus [Shrewsbury Chronicle,

April, 18 15].

APPENDIX I : THE WORCESTERSHIRE CAMPS

I have said nothing in the preceding pages about the earthen camps in Worcestershire.
A good deal has been written about these camps, notably by the late Mr. H. H. Lines in the
Birmingham and Midland Institute (Archaeological Section), 1877, pp. 11-22, in Berrow's
Worcester Journal, October, 1890-January, 1891, and elsewhere, and attempts have been
made to connect them with the operations of Ostorius Scapula against Caratacus about a.d.
50. But no kind of remains appears ever to have been found such as would justify these and
similar speculations, and until remains are found the student of Roman Worcestershire must
leave the camps alone. It is however extremely probable that they are for the most part far
older than either Caratacus or the Romans.

220

ROMANO-BRITISH WORCESTERSHIRE

APPENDIX II : DORN

Dorn is a hamlet of Blockley, situated on the west side of the Foss Way, in one of those
detached south-eastern fragments of Worcestershire which belong geographically rather to
Gloucestershire or Warwickshire. As it thus lies apart from the bulk of the county, I have
preferred to describe its Roman remains in an appendix which is itself somewhat of a detached
fragment. These remains are of some interest and extent, and appear to denote a village, or
'villa,' or some other form of permanent occupation close to the Roman road now represented
by the Foss Way. The site has long been recognized as Roman. Nash, writing in the
eighteenth century, was able to mention ancient foundations of uncertain age and Roman
coins of the third and fourth centuries : Severus (silver), Etruscilla, Carausius, AUectus, Crispus
(bronze). Much more has been left unpublished. The present farmer of Dorn Farm tells
me that he has noticed evidences of stone foundations about 300 yards south-east of his house,
in a large arable field lying between that and the Foss Way, and the spot, which he pointed out
to me, is still strewn with fragments of Roman pottery (including Samian), stones showing the
action of fire, a few bits of tile, and so forth ; coins have also been picked up here — mostly
third and fourth century — and the soil is richer and blacker than elsewhere in the field. West
of this, on the line of the Great Western Railway, various Roman remains were found in the
construction of a deep cutting : in particular, a number of wells or rubbish-pits, tradition-
ally given as eighteen or nineteen, and two very similar sculptured stones which are now
preserved at Dorn Farm, where I have been able to examine them. They are altar-shaped,
except at the top, with a sunk panel on the face and in it a small figure in relief. One of
them measures 44 inches in height, and 15-18 inches in width : the figure on it is that of a
Genius, draped with a pallium wrapped round the waist and falling to the knees, booted with
cothurni and covered on the head in some not now distinguishable fashion ; the left hand holds
a patera over a low altar, the right arm uplifts a Horn of Plenty. The other stone is slightly
smaller (42 inches high) ; the figure on it seems to resemble that just described, but is much
worn and indistinct. West of the railway again pottery can still be picked up in an arable
field. Numerous coins have been found at one spot or another. At Dorn Farm I was
shown about 170 — three silver, of Nerva, Julia Maesa, Septimius Severus ; two 'second brass'
of Pius, and many 'third brass' and minims. I am informed that Mr. T. S. Potter has over
100 coins, ranging from a.d. 250-400, and the Rev. J. H. Bloom has a few 'third brass'
of the same period. Without excavation we can hardly decide whether a villa with out-
buildings stood here or some wayside village connected with the Foss.^

1 Nash i. p. loi, ii. postscript p. 20 ; hence Gough's Additions to Camden, ii. 489, and Allies, p. 87.
I am especially indebted to the Rev. J. H. Bloom for help with this site.

HISTORY OF WOKIKSTERSHIRE

ANGLO-S^

f/-i

>;i

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7 /

1 U,^H

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THE VICTORIA HISTORY

)N REMAINS.

IHE COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND

ANGLO-SAXON
REMAINS

THOUGH poor in relics of the earliest Teutonic settlers, the
county of Worcester has yet a history that can be traced in
outline throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, for there are notices
that throw some light upon the early pagan times which in so
many districts are a blank or else are filled with fabulous events. To
raise the veil that still obscures the county's past before the era of
St. Augustine, discoveries in three localities would not in any case
suffice, and that is perhaps the total number recorded in Worcestershire.
Even these excavations were prosecuted with insufficient care and not
recorded in enough detail to give them more than average importance ;
but on the other hand the scarcity of finds is itself a factor in deter-
mining the probable course of events before written history begins, and
Bede in his Ecclesiastical History ^ has given us historic facts with which
to co-ordinate the results of archaeology.

A people called the Hwiccii or Hwiccans are known to have
occupied a region in the west of England which included the vales of
Berkeley and Evesham, and appear to have maintained their boundaries
as a political unit for the space of two and a half centuries, while greater
states around them rose and fell in turn. The old pre-Reformation
diocese of Worcester roughly marks the bounds of their dominion, of
which the county town was throughout the recognized metropolis.^ It
was about the year 679 that Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, conse-
crated Bosel the first English bishop of the Hwiccans ; and it may be
reasonably inferred, from the extent of the diocese, that the kingdom or
sub-kingdom comprised the whole of Worcestershire with the exception
of the north-west corner beyond the Abberley Hills, all Gloucestershire
east of the Severn, the township of Bristol and the southern half of
Warwickshire. At some period it seems to have further included part
of the lower Severn valley west of the river, and the township of Bath.
These limits were not fortuitous, but were set by nature and by conquest
in such a way that the part played by each can be suggested with some
degree of probability.

The first mention of events in this part of the country is in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 577, when 'Cuthwine and Ceawlin

1 Bk. ii. chap. 2 ; bk. iv. chaps. 13, 23. ^ Kerable, Codex Diplomatkus, No. xci.

223

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

fought against the Britons and slew three kings at Deorham.' The site
of the battle is generally allowed to be Dyrham, a village on the turnpike
road between Bath and Gloucester ; and the victory of the West Saxons
naturally led to the reduction of these two towns as well as of Cirencester.
These important stations of the Roman province dominated the lower
valley of the Severn as well as the head waters of the Thames ; and the
fall of Corinium especially must have been of primary importance to
the victors, as the town lay at the junction of British and Roman high-
ways to the north, to Gloucester and the Mendip Hills, to Speen and
Winchester, and across to the eastern counties. That such a position
was willingly surrendered is most improbable, but later events go to
show that the prize was not long in the hands of Wessex. The historical
records of the time are meagre, but have been amplified by conjectures
that lay bare the hidden springs of diplomacy in those remote times.
After the death of Cutha at Feathanleah, the Hwiccans are supposed '
to have chosen Ceol or Ceolric, Ceawlin's nephew, as their king ; and
the few words of Florence of Worcester under the year 597 have
been interpreted* as recording a rebellion raised against Ceawlin by his
successor at the instigation of iEthelbert of Kent, who was the next
' bretwalda.' William of Malmesbury,^ who may certainly have per-
petuated a local tradition of the fight, but wrote five centuries after the
event, is quoted as the authority for an alliance between Britons and
Angles (presumably Hwiccans) against the West Saxon conqueror, who
had incurred the odium of his own kinsmen by unheard-of enormities.
This explanation of the events that led to a separate West Saxon king-
dom in the Severn valley is supposed to receive support from a passage
in a monkish compilation of the fourteenth century * which associates
the Scots in the victory over Ceawlin at Woddesbeorg in 591. This
evidence is however rejected by the latest editor of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle^ and the only hope of showing the survival of British influence
within the Hwiccan kingdom lies in arch^ological investigation.

Whether the overthrow of Ceawlin was effected by Hwiccan or
British arms, it is almost certain that the key of the west was put into
Mercian hands by the understanding with Penda in 628, and that the
supremacy of Wessex in the Severn valley lasted no more than half a
century.

While Worcester was the centre, Cirencester was in the south of
the Hwiccan territory;® and in order to facilitate comparison of Anglo-
Saxon relics in these parts, we may here inquire what were the natural
boundaries of the kingdom of the Hwiccans ; for in early times dominion
and intercourse were to a great extent limited by the physical features of
the country. The Bristol Avon no doubt marks the southern limit of
their dominion, while the Severn must have been a substantial barrier

1 J. R. Green, Making of England (1897), i. 236. « Thorpe's edition, p. 9 note.

3 Gesta Regum, i. 1 7.

* Fordun's Scotkhronicon, translation by W. F. Skene, bk. iii. p. 106.
6 Plummer, Two Chronicles Parallel, ii. 17. ^ Florence of Worcester, under 879.

224

ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS

between Hwiccia and the unsubdued marauding Britons of what is now
alone called Wales. From the neighbourhood of Bath as far as Ciren-
cester, the diocesan boundary in some parts follows the Fosse Way,
though it is generally rather to the west of the hne. After passing the
important junction of Cirencester it ran eastward, and no doubt bore
some close relation to the present border between Gloucestershire and
Oxfordshire, though there is no conspicuous natural feature to mark its
course. An important point for the purposes of archaeology is that
Fairford would thus be included in the Hwiccan kingdom, and the
extensive remains discovered there may throw some light on the scanty
relics of the pagan period in Worcestershire itself.

The escarpment of the Cotswolds, along which are yet to be seen
remains of many prehistoric strongholds, apparently had nothing to do
with the limits of Hwiccia ; and in the absence of any other obvious
line of demarcation, the Fosse Way was in all probability utilized as such
by the early Teutonic settlers of these parts. There are some indications
in Northamptonshire that the Roman roads which crossed that county
served to mark out the territories of tribes which roughly correspond
to the dialects ; and this view has also been put forward with regard to
the Fosse Way by the author of a paper on ancient roads on the Cots-
wolds.^ From a consideration of the diocesan boundary, which extends
far into Warwickshire, it seems Hkely that all between the Fosse Way
and the forest of Arden was included in the Hwiccan kingdom ; and
if this can be established, the relics of Worcestershire can be further
illustrated by discoveries in the Avon valley, as at Longbridge, near
Warwick, and Bidford, 4 miles south of Alcester. Interments of the
pagan period have come to light near Evesham, and it seems hard to resist
the conclusion that those further up the river belonged to the same tribe,
for the valley of the Avon would have been the natural and almost the
only practicable opening at the time for the increasing population of the
lower Severn valley.

What is now Oxfordshire was certainly one of the principal seats of
the West Saxons, and was therefore not available for occupation by the
Hwiccans. The Britons to the south and west forbade expansion in
those directions and the forest belt at the north checked advance long
enough to leave a trace in the dialects of the adjoining settlers. The
north-east alone remained, and here were no natural impediments:

A writer with considerable local knowledge states^ his belief that
' the district afterwards known civilly as the Hwiccan realm, and ecclesi-
astically as the diocese of Worcester, represented the extent of Ceawlin's
conquest after the battles of Dyrham and Fethanleah, and that if ever the
site of Fethanleah is fixed, it will be found to lie in the northern part of
this district,' and not at Faddiley in Cheshire nor Fretherne in Gloucester-
shire. Mr. Taylor goes on to suggest that the conflict probably took
place near Stratford-on-Avon, in the neighbourhood of which was a

* Mr. John Sawyer, Transactions of Bristol and Gloucs. Arch^ological Society, 1896-7, p. 254.
« Rev. C. S. Taylor, op. cit. p. 270.
T 225 Q

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

place called Faehhaleah in king Offa's time, and that the many towns
which the victors spoiled were located between the Avon and the forests
of Wyre and Arden.

The bounds of Bosel's diocese may or may not have coincided with
those which survived till the Reformation, but it is necessarily with an
earlier period than his that the present chapter principally deals. The
advent of the Christian missionary tended to restrict and transform the
funeral rites of paganism, and the scanty remains from Anglo-Saxon
graves in the county must belong to a time when the heathen custom
of burying the dead in full dress, with arms, utensils and ornaments, had
not died out under the influence of the Church. From the date of the
first bishop's consecration and from a comparison with the other kingdoms
of Saxons, Jutes or Angles, the time of whose conversion is recorded,
it may be reasonably inferred that Christianity became a living force
along the lower Severn valley in the third quarter of the seventh century.
It is therefore allowable to fix this as the latest probable date for the
interments that have come to light, though it is not by any means
certain that various objects were not interred with the dead up to the
time when the pagan tombs were abandoned in favour of the consecrated
churchyard about the middle of the eighth century. That pagan
practices were easily and quickly stamped out is in itself improbable.
Proofs are not wanting of heathen survivals in late burials that have come
to light in England, but perhaps the most striking instance is the dis-
covery at Worms, on the Rhine, of a bronze bowl filled with hazel nuts
in a grave marked by a Christian tombstone. Inscribed memorial stones
of this period occur for the most part within a limited area on the con-
tinent, but a bowl of the same kind also filled with nuts is preserved in
the national collection and was found in a Kentish grave, which differed
in no other way from many others in that part of England.

Again, if credence be given to the annal of 577, it is possible to
limit the date of the Worcestershire burials in the other direction, and
thus to confine them within about a century and a half. Their scarcity
alone would point to some such conclusion, though it would be unwise
in such a case as this to argue from mere numbers, for narrow limits can
also be assigned to the area in which such finds are to be expected. In
fact it is only about one-fifth of the county that is here concerned, and
if the remainder had yielded relics in the same proportion, Worcester-
shire would indeed be well represented for purposes of archaeology. As
it is, the spade has revealed what history would lead us to expect, and
that in the only part of the county where the population can have been
at all concentrated in the early pagan days. In the absence of systematic
drainage the natural moisture of our climate would render a forest tract
no small impediment to progress by producing a thick and tangled under-
growth ^ that would fail to attract any but the fugitive and outlaw. It
is true that Roman engineers cut a road through the heart of Arden and
the Sussex Weald, but their successors preferred an isolated life amid

' Pitt-Rivers, Excavations in Boier/y, etc. iii. 9.
226

ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS

the natural riches of the river-bottoms, where the alluvial soil responded
even to the most primitive methods of husbandry. The neighbourhood
of the Severn however was exposed to forays by the Welsh, who were
not thrown back far beyond the river even by the victorious OfFa, if the
famous earthwork may really be assigned to him.

In any case the Avon valley would prove more inviting to the early
settlers than the woodland beyond the Severn known as Malvern Chase,
which occupied the whole of the south-west portion of the county.
Above this lay the forest of Wyre, which was the western continuation
of Feckenham and of the greater Arden which stretched across Warwick-
shire. From the county town eastward to the border ran the southern
limit of Feckenham Forest, and Upton Snodsbury thus marks perhaps
the most northern settlement of the Hwiccans in the sixth and seventh
centuries. Between this and the two remaining sites, Bredon's Norton
and Little Hampton in the south-eastern angle of the county, we may
thus look for the chief and perhaps the only relics of the tribe within
the present county borders. Other traces of their occupation may no
doubt be detected in place names and traditions ; and though local
etymology has its pitfalls, it is hard to abstain from connecting some
names with that of the tribe which bestowed them. Thus there appears
to be no warrant in philology for the historian's conception ^ of the
county town in a literal sense as the ' stronghold of the Hwiccans,' the
name occurring in charters under the forms of Wigernaceaster, Wigar-
ceaster, Wigraceaster, and in Latin, Wigornia. But an instance that
seems to carry conviction with it is Wychwood Forest in Oxfordshire,
which appears in a charter dated 841 as Hwiccewudu.^ Though included
in the neighbouring county, this woodland may well have served as a
neutral zone between the West Saxons proper of the upper Thames valley
and their kinsmen on the Severn. According to a perambulation ^ made
in 1300 the forest stretched as far west as Tainton, which is virtually on
the present border of Gloucestershire, in the neighbourhood of Burford ;
and possibly included Daylesford, which is still in an outlying portion of
Worcestershire between Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Norton.

If the year 577 be accepted as the earliest date for West Saxon
burials in Worcestershire and other Hwiccan districts, it may be allow-
able to use the same authority for the subsequent period and to put a
limit of date to West Saxon dominion in these parts. It is possible to
see in the treaty of Cirencester the formal acknowledgment by Cynegils
and Cwichelm of Penda's sovereignty;* and it was either at that time or
in 645, when Cenwealh was driven out for repudiating his Mercian wife,
that Hwiccia ceased to belong to Wessex and became a province of the
midland kingdom.

A change of rulers would not necessarily imply any modification of

1 Dr. Stubbs in Dictionary of Christian Biography, iii. i8l-z.

* Prof. Earle, Journal of Archaohgical Institute, xix. 52.

* A map and details are given in Archaokgia, xxxvii. 425.

* J. R. Green, Making of England {li^j), ii. 19 ; Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. 37.

227

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

funeral customs, and it would be unwise to assign all distinctly West
Saxon burials in Hwiccia to the period before its conquest by Penda.
But on the other hand there are sufficient grounds for classing all burials
that display a Mercian or Anglian influence as belonging at the earliest
to the second half of the seventh century ; for as communication with
Wessex ceased, closer contact with the midlands would lead to the intro-
duction of foreign elements which would to some extent be represented
in the contents of the graves.

If Worcestershire were rich enough in relics to make a thorough
classification possible, we might expect to find the earliest graves exclu-
sively West Saxon, perhaps with traces of the earlier British civiliza-
tion ; while a mixture of West Saxon and Anglian ornaments, or the
latter occurring alone, would betoken a burial subsequent to the middle
of the seventh century. So far as the discoveries go historical evidence
is supported by archsological results, but it would be idle to assert that a
complete vindication of the records is as yet possible on these lines, for
the value of the few excavations already made is much impaired by
defective observation and description.

To pass to an enumeration of the relics recovered from pagan or
semi-pagan burials in the county, the first site that claims notice is Upton
Snodsbury, which lies about six miles east of the county town. Here
was apparently a cemetery, from which some objects were exhibited
to the Society of Antiquaries^ in 1866, but a fuller and more accurate
account of the find was communicated to the Archaeological Institute ^
in the following year by Mr. Pouting of Worcester. To borrow from
his paper, it appears that the local field club had rejected two crystal
' spindle-whorls ' (figs. 4, 5) as modern before any archasological exam-
ination of the site had been undertaken, and many interesting relics
were no doubt lost in the interval. In digging gravel labourers had
come upon iron spearheads and numerous amber beads (fig. 3), many
of which were subsequently recovered from cottagers in the vicinity.
A broad, two-edged iron sword, 3 feet long and evidently of the usual
pattern, was discovered, as well as ' three bronze brooches of cruciform
type (figs. 6, 7, 8) and a pair of scyphate or saucer form (fig. 9)
ornamented with concentric circles.' A trench about 30 feet in length,
6 feet deep and 3 to 4 feet wide was noticed and yielded many objects
which were thrown aside as of no value and irrecoverably lost. The
brooches and amber necklaces just mentioned were however found, not
in the trench, but lying apart at a short distance, and the site was on a
bank with a warm south-western aspect and a brook flowing below. All
the objects figured are preserved in the Victoria Institute at Worcester,
and have been specially drawn for the present chapter by kind per-
mission of the committee.

In the critical remarks that follow the account, the Anglo-Saxon
character of these remains is regarded as obvious. The spindle-whorls

1 Proceedings, new series, iii. 342 ; Llewellynn Jewitt's Relifuary, April, 1873, xiii. 206.
* Journal, xxiv. 351.

288

^"^ORSS^^TER^PJIRS

ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS

of quartz crystal are compared with a particularly fine specimen found
at Myton/ in a part of Warwickshire that was probably included in
Hwiccia. Several other specimens are figured in Neville's Saxon Obsequies
from the cemetery at Wilbraham, Cambs. The spearheads vary in size,
but all present the Anglo-Saxon characteristic, their sockets being open
along one side. Some glass beads (fig. 3) are also mentioned, and the
largest of the cruciform brooches retained traces of gilding.

The brooches as usual are the most interesting and instructive part
of the find, and the discovery of the peculiar saucer-shaped variety
stamps the cemetery at once as West Saxon, for they occur only in
England and are confined to a very definite area, where the West Saxons
are known to have been located in the pagan period. But the case is
different with the cruciform brooches found at Upton Snodsbury. In
the first place the term has often been used to include what are better
described as square-headed, and in the present case does not apply equally
well to all three specimens. The term ' cruciform ' has not only been
applied to the large gilt Anglian specimens, as those from Sleaford,
Lines, in the national collection, but also to a quite different variety ^
from Long Wittenham, Berks, only about 3 inches long, with none of
the Anglian characteristics. The large brooch (fig. 6) is incomplete at
the foot, and belongs to an Anglian type, closely resembling one from
Sleaford; while the smaller pair (figs. 7, 8), without being characteristic,
are more akin perhaps to some from the upper Thames valley.

The brooches and ornaments already referred to are however sur-
passed in value if not in interest by a remarkable gold ornament for
which the term ' union-pin ' has been suggested. This was discovered
about forty years since near Little Hampton with a skeleton, together
with an Anglo-Saxon sword, which was presented to the Society of
Antiquaries. The exact site of the discovery is somewhat uncertain,
but according to the original account it was on the right bank of the
Avon, between Little Hampton and the Birmingham and Gloucester-
shire railway as it runs into Evesham. Great and Little Hampton both
lie on the southern bank of the river, and the interment must have
therefore been in the bend of the Avon a little to the south-west of
Evesham.

The coloured drawing (fig. 2) will convey an accurate idea of
the jewel, which has been described by the late Sir Wollaston Franks.^
It consists of four oblong pieces of fine gold filigree linked together by
shorter pieces, which are hollow and rounded. In the middle is a disc
of gold, with a circular slab of garnet in the centre, from which radiate
applied gold wires forming a wheel of eight spokes. Attached to the
disc is a short hollow link intended to connect a pendant. Of the two
gold pins found at the ends of the chain one only remains, but is an
important factor in determining the use and character of the relic. The

1 Figured in Journal of Archaolo^cal Institute, ix. 179.
* Two examples are figured in Archaohgia, xxxix. 142, pi. xi. figs. 8, 9.
' Society of Antiquaries, Proceedings, ser. 2, iii. 27.
229

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

closest parallel is afforded by a more complete specimen discovered in an
interment on Roundway Down, to the north of Devizes. There is a
coloured drawing of it on the first plate of Akerman's Pagan Saxondom\
the original lay on the breast of a supposed female skeleton, at the feet
of which had been deposited a bronze-mounted bucket, such as have
come to light in many parts of England and the continent. It is possible
that the Romanized Britons, who seem to have survived the Anglo-Saxon
invasion in this part of the country, may have left a trace of their handi-
work in this piece of jewellery.

Pairs of bronze pins connected in the same way by a simple bronze
chain have been found in association with remains of the Anglo-Saxon
period at Breach Down, Kent,^ and at Long Wittenham, Berks ; while
a third, in the Bateman collection,^ was probably found in Derbyshire.
There seems no doubt that they were worn on the breast, perhaps
originally serving to fasten the outer garment near the shoulders. This
was evidently the purpose of somewhat similar fastenings that sometimes
occur in Gaulish graves on the continent, and specimens are published
from Caranda (Dept. of the Aisne)' and the Department of the Marne.*
That the Anglo-Saxon examples were lineally descended from the
Gaulish type is more than probable, and it is interesting in this connec-
tion to note that while the Kentish specimens were no doubt imported
from France, the workmanship of the Little Hampton jewel shows
Roman rather than Teutonic influence, and may point to a survival of
Roman handicraft in a part of Britain remote from the main centres of
Teutonic occupation. The minute plaited strands of gold that are
applied lengthwise to the larger links of the chain bear a very close
analogy to the Roman bracelet recently discovered at Rhayader in
Radnorshire with other pieces of jewellery dating from about the third
century. And though the garnet setting points to a post-Roman date
and connects the work with Kentish and other jewellery of succeeding
centuries, the design of the centre seems obviously akin to the wheel
ornaments commonly found attached as pendants to neck-chains of the
Roman period in Britain. On specimens from Wales and Northumberland,
now in the British Museum, the number of spokes is the same as on the
Worcestershire jewel ; and it is just possible that this design was popular
as perpetuating the form in which money seems to have been current
among the Gaulish tribes by whom parts of Britain had been occupied
before Cesar's landing on the island.

Further south, in the chapelry of Norton-in-Bredon, have been
found various Anglo-Saxon relics, consisting of iron shield-bosses and
spearheads, a knife and fragments of a sword, with part of the scabbard
mounted in bronze, and a blue and reddish-yellow bead. The discovery
was made during excavations at Norton Pitch near Bredon Hill ; and

1 British Museum, from the Londesborough Collection.

* Figured in his Catalogue of Antiquities, p. 157 ; and Journal of British Archaolo^cal Association,
ii. 237.

3 Album Caranda (F. Moreau), vol. 3, pU. 56, 94. Nouvelle Serie.

* La Champagne Souterraine (Morel Collection), pll. 13, 29, 40.

230

ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS

the objects were presented to the museum of the Worcestershire Natural
History Society in 1838 by one of the engineers employed in making
the Birmingham and Gloucester railway. These are figured on a small
scale in Allies' Antiquities and Folk-lore of the county, plate iii. One of
the shield-bosses still retains a rivet which fastened it to the wooden
shield ; and on more than one occasion similar rivets have been found in
the graves, still retaining their original tin or silver coating. Specimens
may be seen in the national collection from White Horse Hill and Long
Wittenham, Berks, from Kempston, Beds, and the Isle of Wight, and
they were evidently not confined to any one tribe or locality. The same
may perhaps be said of the bronze chape (fig. 10), such as still remains
attached by rust to the sword ^ found at Norton. Roach Smith, in
describing the important discovery at Fairford, remarked^ that the pro-
tection of the scabbard with a bronze rim at the top and bottom was a
pecuUarity he had noticed in other examples found in Gloucestershire
and Worcestershire. His observation would have carried more weight
in the present case if he had pointed to drawings or descriptions of other
specimens in the Hwiccan district ; and two instances will suffice to
show that such examples are not confined to the district in question. A
remarkably well-preserved chape from Brighthampton, Oxon,' has the
same peculiarity, and the bronze binding is ornamented with figures of
lions with the head turned round over the back, a design that seems also
to have been a favourite one with the Anglo-Saxon craftsmen of the
Christian period. Another found near Burford, Oxon, is in the British
Museum.

But archeology cannot at present be said to have shown any
essential difference between burials in Hwiccia and in the original king-
dom of the West Saxons. In addition to the objects already mentioned
as showing connection with the occupants of the upper Thames valley,
there are preserved in the museum at Worcester some of the antiquities
collected by the late Canon Winnington Ingram of Harvington. Some
of these were doubtless found in his own neighbourhood along the Avon
valley in the south-eastern angle of the county ; and an exceptionally
fine pair of saucer brooches, of the type discovered at Upton Snodsbury,
are known to have come from Bidford, just across the county border in
Warwickshire. Six miles to the north-east of this place have been found
similar specimens at Aston Cantlow,* and further up the Avon at Long-
bridge near Warwick.^ This series of discoveries goes some way towards
proving that the same tribe had settlements along the river above and
below the present border of Worcestershire ; and lends support to the
view that the conquests of Ceawlin took this direction, stopping short
only at the early Mercian frontier about Rugby. The blending of races
in this vicinity is strikingly suggested by the discovery of the West-Saxon

1 Part of a pommel (fig. i), found in the county, belonged to such a sword. Akerman, Pagan
Saxondom, pi. xxiv. gives details.

* Archaologia, xxxiv. 8i, pi. x. fig. 3. ^ Figured in Archaoh^a, xxxviii. 96, pi. ii.

* Society of Antiquaries, Proceedings, 2nd series, iii. 424. ^ British Museum.

231

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

brooch with human remains cremated in the Anglian manner at Marton/
where the Fosse Way crosses the Leam.

' It is hard to believe, however,' says a recent writer,^ ' that the title
of Hwiccans did not mark some slight difference beside that of place
between them and their brethren to the south of them. At all events,
separated politically if not ethnologically from the other West Saxons, it
was but right that they should possess a bishop for themselves, and his
title proves him to have been a tribal bishop, with his see in the chief
town of the tribe.'

Allusions to British interference in West Saxon politics have already
been noticed, but perhaps safer indications are afforded by the geography
of the district concerned. Hwiccia was a buffer state between Saxons
and Welsh, and it is possible that within its borders the two races may
have effected a compromise to their mutual advantage. Such an under-
standing with the indigenous population would not be unparalleled in
Anglo-Saxon history, for Penda joined Csdwalla of the north against
Oswald of Northumbria ; and the vitality of the Hwiccan kingdom may
have been due in part to a judicious blending of native and foreign
elements.

It might be expected that the dwellers on the Severn would be more
' Celtic ' than, for example, their contemporaries on the eastern coast ;
and in accordance with this principle traces of Romano-British civiliza-
tion would be more plentiful in south Worcestershire than in a locality
like Frilford, Berks,^ that lay nearly in the centre of Wessex,

With regard to the affinities of the population in the Avon and
lower Severn valleys at the period now under discussion, Dr. Beddoe has
some interesting remarks.* The Saxon dialect prevails in east Worcester-
shire, though the county became Mercian very early. It has a lower
index of nigrescence than the district further to the east ; that is, the
Hwiccans of Worcestershire exhibit black eyes and hair with dark
complexion more frequently than the purer Saxons of the Thames and
Cherwell valleys. They are perhaps a mixture of Saxon and Iberian,
these races being very similar from the physical point of view except as
to colour ; and the dark strain in Worcestershire may be accounted for
by the fact that the native Britons of Wales were always in a majority
in the hills west of the Severn.

An interesting relic of the later Anglo-Saxon period has been
variously described and poorly figured in the Gentleman's Magazine.^
From comparison with a similar though later object in the British
Museum and another recently found at Canterbury, it may be concluded
that this subject of many curious speculations in the eighteenth century
was the upper part of a censer. It is a four-sided cover of bronze 4 inches

1 Associated Architectural Societies (1850-1), Northants, p. 231.

2 Rev. GeofFry Hill, The English Dioceses, p. 127.

3 For Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon remains here see Archteolo^a, xlii. 417.

* Races of Britain, p. 255.

* 1779, p. 536 (figured); 1780, pp. 75, 128. The passages are collected in Gomme's Gentleman's
Magazine Library, Archaology, part 2, pp. 246-7.

232

ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS

high, vaulted at the top, with open-work between ribs representing birds
and fishes among scrolls. At the base of each side, which measures
2j inches, are three round arches surmounted by a tympanum filled
with a scale pattern, below which on one face is the inscription Thodric
ME worh[te] : 'J'h{e)odric made me. From various points project heads of
a grotesque character, while at each corner of the base are pierced lugs
for the rods that connected the cover with the body of the censer. In
the opinion of Mr. W. H. Stevenson there is practically nothing to go
upon in determining the date from the lettering, beyond the fact that the
pronoun is me and not mec. The latter form occurs on the jewel of
Alfred, but me was also in use during his reign. Prof Earle in a recently
published work. ^ states that mec was already an archaic form in the ninth
century and is never found in the prose of the tenth. But considering
that the mec form was naturally retained before a vowel, there was
probably little difference in date between the famous Aelfred mec heht
GEWYRCAN : Alfred ordered me to be made ; the inscription on a gold ring
in the British Museum, Aethred mec ah Eanred mec agrof : Aethred
owns me, Eanred engraved me ; and the Pershore example, which is of the
same character. Further, to judge from the arcading round the censer,
the tenth century would be a likely date. Though there is nothing in
the ornament to show a religious use, it is not an unreasonable sup-
position that this interesting relic of antiquity, which was found in a
mass of gravel during excavations for a cellar near the middle of the
town, once belonged to Pershore abbey, and may well have been lost at
the destruction of that house by iElfliere about the year 976.^

1 The Jlfred Jewel, pp. 17, 154. * "Journal of Anhceological Institute, xix. 238, note 9.

233

HISTORY OF WOKCKSTEKSIURi:

DOMES

Y MAP

NOTES TO DOMESDAY MAP

(Compiled by J. HORACE ROUND, M.A.)

In this map those manors in which the king
had an interest have a scarlet line under
them ; a blue line is under these in which
the chief ecclesiastical tenants, the Bishop
of Worcester and his monks, held land; a
green line denotes those in which land was
held by Urse d'Abetot, sheriff of the shire,
as a tenant-in-chief. As is explained in the
introduction, his territorial importance in the
county was derived from the extent of his
possessions as an under-tenant, William
Fitz Ansculf and Osbern Fitz Richard being,
roughly, his equals in the extent of the lands
they held as tenants-in-chief.

The local Hundreds are of so scattered
and artificial a character that it would be
quite impossible to represent them on the
map. It should, however, be observed that
the outlying manors on the south-east of the
county were all included in the Church of
Worcester's great Hundred of Oswaldslow,
the limits of which, and therefore of the
county, depended on the accident of these
manors having been bestowed on the monks.

As Domesday often records a name in more
than one form, it is needful to remember
that in such cases only one of the variants
can be given.

For the sake of uniformity and convenience
of reference the boundaries of the county are
showTi as they stand at the present time.
For the same reason the names of rivers
are given in their modern forms; they are
not found in Domesday.

The influence of the forests on the settle-
ment of the shire is seen to a certain extent
in the varying density of the names on the
map; but a single name may, in some
instances denote a manor of wide extent in
which several places were comprised.

REFERENCE TO COLOURING
King's Manors thus

I Church of Worcester's Manors ,,

I Drae d'Abetot's Manors

S.ale of Eiiijliali iiOr,

COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND

DOMESDAY SURVEY

THE survey of Worcestershire in Domesday Book presents so
many features of interest and historical importance that it is
not easy to do them justice within the compass of a single
paper. ' There is no shire,' in Mr. Freeman's words, ' of
whose condition during the Conqueror's reign we are able to put together
a more vivid picture from the combined evidence of the Survey and of
local records.' ^ Devoting a special appendix to ' The condition of
Worcestershire under William,' * he observed with truth that ' our
accounts of the state of Worcestershire during the reign of WiUiam
deserve special examination ; Domesday is remarkably rich in this shire,
and we draw much help from the cartulary put together by Heming, a
monk of the cathedral monastery.' A more recent writer. Professor
Maitland, has devoted, in his work on Domesday,* great attention to
Worcestershire, and has claimed for the documents in Heming's Cartulary
that ' among the charters that have come down to us there is no series
that is longer, there is hardly a long series which is of better repute, than
the line of the land-books which belonged to the church of Worcester.' *
Problems of assessment, problems of jurisdiction, problems connected
with the tenure of land, are in turn raised and partly solved by the
evidence that Worcestershire affords ; the growth of a feudal system has
been detected on its church lands ; the whole hierarchy of rural life,
from the great thegn and the free tenant to the swineherd, the bond-
woman and the serf, receives illustration from its survey. For Worces-
tershire, alone in England, are preserved the names of the Domesday
commissioners, in whose presence bishop and abbot, baron and rapacious
sheriff, clamoured and wrangled alike, whether as spoilers or despoiled.
Indeed, the personal touches revealed here by the records constitute,
doubtless, for most readers, their greatest attraction and value. It is,
however, to the information that the Domesday of the shire can be made
to yield on such subjects as the financial system, the here important salt
industry, and the effect of the Norman Conquest on the landed
possessions of the church, that the serious student of history will the most
eagerly turn.

It would seem desirable, at the outset, to name the subsidiary sources
available, in this county, for use by the side of Domesday. Foremost
among these is the cartulary mentioned above, ' compiled not long after

' History of the Norman Conquest (1871), IV. 173. * Ibid. (1876), V. 759-766.
^ Domesday Book and Beyond (1897). * Ibid. p. 227.

235

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

the Conquest by the monk Heming at the instance of bishop Wulfstan."
Broadly speaking, its contents consist of three divisions : first, in
order of date, are the charters before the Conquest ; next are the docu-
ments and narrative relating to the period of the Conquest ; thirdly
comes a brief survey of the lands held by the monastery of Worcester,
which I assign to the reign of Henry I., and which is of some importance
for collation with the Domesday text.^ For the rival monastery of
Evesham we have its local chronicle in print ^ and its MS. cartularies.*
In one of the latter there is found a valuable survey of Droitwich, of
which I shall speak below, and in another a fragment of a survey belong-
ing to the reign of Stephen.^ Lastly, we have, in the Testa de Nevill
(pp. 43-4), and in the Red Book of the Exchequer, (pp. 566—7), a
part of the returns to the great Inquest of 121 2, which was not
unworthy of comparison with the Domesday Survey itself And to these
must be added a remarkable return for the bishop of Worcester's fief,®
which I assign with certainty, from internal evidence, to the reign of
John. Neither its importance nor its early date has hitherto, it seems,
been realized. Some assistance may also be derived, for the rural
economy of Domesday, from a study of the 1 3th century survey of the
manors belonging to the monastery of Worcester, which was printed
by archdeacon Hale.'

The main object of Domesday Book, — it is now recognised by
scholars, — was the record of the liability of the land to the tax known as
Danegeld, or, as Domesday styles it, ' geld.' ' One great purpose,' as
Professor Maitland has observed, ' seems to mould both its form and its
substance ; it is a geld-book.' * The first subject, therefore, to be dis-
cussed in the survey of Worcestershire is the principle on which the
county was assessed. Down to very recent years it had been generally
assumed that the ' hide ' of Domesday was a measure of land, although there
was no agreement as to the area it represented. But we now know that
this term, so prominent on the pages of Domesday, denoted only a unit
of assessment irrespective of area or value.* By a purely artificial arrange-
ment, counties, hundreds, and ' vills ' (or, to speak loosely, villages), were
respectively assessed in lump sums, based, it is essential to remember, on
a ' five-hide unit.' Thus, for instance, Cropthorne with Netherton was
assessed at 50 hides, Fladbury at 40, Broadway and Bromsgrove at 30
each, Chaddesley (Corbett) at 25, Kidderminster at 20, Worcester at 15,
Droitwich (we shall find) at 10, and Rushock at 5. In one instance, that

* Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 227. It was printed by Hearne in 1723. Professor
Maitland holds that ' where Heming's work can be tested, it generally gains credit ' {Ibid.).

* See my paper on 'The Worcestershire Survey' in Feudal England, pp. 169-180, and
the paper below on ' Some Early Worcestershire Surveys.'

^ It is Vol. 29 of the Rolls Series.

* MS. Cott. Vesp. B. XXIV. and MS. Harl. 3,763.

^ For both of these see Feudal England, pp. 1 77-8 and pp. 327-331 below.

^ Testa de Nevill, pp. 4 1 -2.

' Registrum Prioratus Beata Maries IVigorniensis (Camden Society).

* Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 3.

^ See my Feudal England, pp. 44-49, and Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 450 et seq.
236

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

of Ombersley, Domesday tells us that, under the Confessor, it was reckoned
as i^fuit numerata pro) 1 5 hides, but only taxed on 12, as 3 were exempt
(fo. 17511^) ; in another, that of a Warwickshire manor held by the bishop
of Worcester (fo. 238*^), Domesday says that ' there are there 15 hides,'
and bishop Wulfstan spoke of it as ' terram xv. hidarum ' ; but Henry I.,
on a visit to Worcester, quitclaimed to the prior and monks all his dues
on ' 5 hides ' out of these,' which had the effect of reducing its assess-
ment to I o hides. On the same occasion he freed the 4 hides at Fepston
from all his dues similarly.^

But although this system of assessment can be widely traced in
Domesday, it is hardly ever that we can trace its application to the Hun-
dreds, and indeed to the county as a whole, so clearly as we can in
Worcestershire. Its case, therefore, has been specially selected, as an
illustration, by Professor Maitland, who observes that ' In Worcestershire
we have strong evidence of a neat arrangement of a whole county.' ^ This
arrangement, he suggests, can be carried back as far as the days of
Edward the Elder (Alfred's son), when the document he styles ' the
Burghal Hidage ' assigns 1,200 hides, in his opinion, to ' Worcester.' *
In the ' County Hidage,' a document which, he holds, ' speaks to us
from the earlier part of (Edward) the Confessor's reign or from some
yet older time,' Worcestershire is assigned exactly 1,200 hides.^ That
the Domesday assessments, when added up, produce, for the whole
county, a total almost identical, is less noteworthy than the fact, on which
the Professor insists, that the county seems to have contained twelve
territorial Hundreds, which brings this local division into closer connection
than usual with the sum of a hundred hides. Analyzing from this stand-
point the assessments recorded in Domesday, Professor Maitland shows
that the ' triple Hundred of Oswaldslaw ' contained exactly 300 hides ;
that the church of Westminster is assigned 199, and credited with 200 ;
that the manors of the church of Pershore contained just 100, and that
those of the church of Evesham had been made up, by special additions,
to the same figure. As Domesday explicitly states that there were twelve
Hundreds in the county,® the Professor, at the close of his calculations,
arrives at the striking conclusion which must be given in his own words.

We thus bring out a grand total of 1204 hides. Perhaps the true total should
be exactly 1200 ; but at any rate it stands close to that beautiful figure. And now we
remember how we were told that there were ' twelve hundreds ' in Worcestershire
from seven of which the sheriff got nothing. Of these twelve the church of Worcester
had three in its Hundred of Oswaldslaw, the church of Westminster two, the church
of Pershore one, and the church of Evesham one. But the Evesham or Fissesberge
Hundred was not perfect; it required making up by means of 15 hides in the city of
Worcester and 20 in the hundred of Dodingtree. Thus five hundreds remain to be
accounted for, and in its rubrics Domesday Book names just five, namely, Came,
Clent, Cresselaw, Dodingtree, and Esch. We cannot allot to each of these its consti-

* Hale's Reghtrum Prioratus Beatce Maria JVigorniensis, pp. 84^7-8 5^.
» Ibid. p. 5 Si.

* Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 451. * Ibid. p. 504. * Ibid. pp. 456, 458.
® *In ipso comitatu sunt xii hund[reta]' (fo. 172).

237

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

tuent hides, for we never can rely on Domesday Book giving all the ' hundredal
rubrics ' that it ought to give, and the Worcestershire hundreds were subjected to
rearrangement before the day of maps had dawned. An intimate knowledge of the
county might achieve the reconstruction of the old hundreds. But, as it is, we seem
to see enough. We seem to see pretty plainly that Worcestershire has been divided
into twelve districts known as hundreds each of which has contained lOO hides." *

The History of the Worcestershire Hundreds is one of much
obscurity ; ^ but when they emerge into the light of day in the 1 3th
century, we find the Bishop's triple Hundred of Oswaldslaw still in exis-
tence ; the 300 hides belonging to Westminster and Pershore represented
by the Hundred of Pershore;* Evesham's Hundred of Fishborough con-
verted into that of Blakenhurst ; and the four Domesday Hundreds of
Came, Clent, Cresselau, and Esch amalgamated in that of Halfshire, while
that of Dodintree retains its name. As there are sometimes found
parishes of which the outlying portions are accounted for by their repre-
senting the former possessions of some religious house, so was it even
with some Hundreds. More than half of Worcestershire had, under the
English kings, been divided into Hundreds consisting not of geographi-
cal areas, but of the scattered possessions of certain religious houses.
And, stranger still, these possessions were older not only, as we see, than
the Hundreds, to which they thus gave shape, but even than the county,
as it stands, itself. A glance at the Domesday map will show that its
outlying portions consist mainly of lands bestowed upon the church of
Worcester, and that parts of Gloucestershire or Warwickshire may find
themselves in Worcestershire to-day as the direct consequence of some
gift made to the monks of Worcester a thousand years ago.

But even private lords could change, or procure the change, of the
boundaries of a county. All Halesowen was in Worcestershire at the
time of the Norman Conquest ; but the mighty earl of Shrewsbury, who
secured its chief manor, succeeded in throwing his part of it into Shrop-
shire, at a period subsequent to Domesday, and this has only been restored
to Worcestershire in modern times. I cannot but suspect that Forthamp-
ton, at the other end of the county, may have originally belonged to
Worcestershire, by which it is almost surrounded, and have owed its
inclusion in Gloucestershire to the fact of its forming part of the great
Tewkesbury lordship of Brihtric the son of iElfgar.

Domesday throws some light on a loss that was certainly suffered,
for a long while, by the county. The story told by the monks of
Worcester, to account for the sheriff of Staffordshire ' farming ' Tarde-
bigg and Clent in Worcestershire with Swinford in Staffordshire, was
that, according to St. Wulfstan's statement, a certain ' dean ' there,
iEthelsige by name, prudent, wise, and enjoying high favour at court,
bought these three vills from king iEthelred for 200 pounds of silver,

* Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 455.

* A valuable list of them, giving the vills (with the number of hides in each) in the
Norman period, will be found in the opening fos. of Vesp. B. XXIV.

^ There is reason to believe that Pershore Abbey, long before that of Westminster Abbey
was founded, had certain rights over this triple Hundred (see Domesday, fo. lyS''')-

238

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

as a possession for the monastery at Worcester, reserving to himself a
life-interest. On his dying in the midst of the struggle for the crown
between Cnut and Eadmund 'Ironside' {circ. 1016), these vills were
seized, they said, by ' iEvic ' (or ' Eire ') then sheriff of Staffordshire, in
the hands of whose successors they remained to the wrong of the
monastery/ Mr. Eyton, without alluding to this story, observed that the
connection of the sheriff of Staffordshire with these manors was prob-
ably the cause ' that led to Tarbeck, Clent, and Brome ^ being subse-
quently annexed to Staffordshire. . . . These estates are now ' re-
mised ' into Worcestershire."

We have seen, by this time, how needful it is, in dealing with the
Domesday Survey, to bear in mind the fluctuation, at various times, of
the area of the shire. But there was another disturbing element, which,
although it did not affect the actual county boundaries, had a very
important influence on its survey in Domesday Book. It appears to
have been overlooked by students of the Worcestershire Domesday,
whether in the past or in the present, whether general or local, that the
surveys of several manors in the county are found in quite another part
of Domesday Book.* In the midst of the King's lands in Herefordshire
(fo. i8oi^) we find surveys of Martley, Feckenham, Holloway,^ Hanley
(Castle), Bushley* with Pull (Court), QueenhiU (Chapel), Eldersfield, and
Suckley. Moreover, under Gloucestershire (fo. 163^) we find another
and independent survey of Hanley (Castle), of which place Domesday
was supposed to contain no mention. On the one hand, these entries
constitute an important addition to the survey of the shire, of which
they affect the manorial history and the reckoning of the population in
1086 ; on the other, they possess, for the Domesday student, a quite
peculiar value in so far as they preserve independent surveys of the same
estate. One alone of the places affected, namely Hanley (Castle), is
described by Domesday as 'in Gloucestershire' (fo. 180^). The ex-
planation of this description is found under Gloucestershire (fo. 163*^),
where we learn that, with Forthampton, it belonged to that great lord-
ship of Tewkesbury, which had been held before the Conquest by
Brihtric son of ^Elfgar,' and 'the members' of which paid their geld at

' Heming's Cartulary, pp. 276-7.

* Probably included in the Domesday Survey of Clent. * Staffordshire Domesday, p. 8.

* See, for instance, Nash's Worcestershire, Ellis' Introduction to Domesday, II. 507, Mait-
land's Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 454, and Proceedings of the Worcester Architectural and
Archaological Society (1892), p. 264. ^ Adjoining Feckenham.

® Confused, not unnaturally, with Bisley (in Gloucestershire) by Professor Freeman {Nor-
man Conquest, IV. 762), and in The Red Book of the Exchequer (pp. 568, 656, 662, 689, 704).
' The story of this great thegn should come under Gloucestershire, but in his appendix
on 'Brihtric and Matilda' {Norm. Conq. [1871], IV. 761-4), Professor Freeman pointed out
that the legend connecting their names is ' slightly ' supported by its placing his arrest at
Hanley, ' which we see from Domesday was really one of his lordships.' He spoke of it,
indeed, as a 'Gloucestershire ' entry (p. 762), but the place is Hanley (Castle), Worcestershire.
The words of the rhyming story are :

' Pris fu a Haneleye a son maner,
Le ior ke Saint Wlstan li ber
Sa chapele auoit dedie.'
239

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Tewkesbury itself. But Martley and Suckley, as we are reminded by
the note at the end of the Worcestershire Domesday, paid their geld in
the Hundred in which they were locally situate, while Feckenham with
Holloway similarly belonged to their own Worcestershire Hundred. The
note which thus records these facts is a fitting introduction to the
surveys of these manors under Herefordshire, which will accordingly be
given after it in the Domesday text below.

The cause of these manors receiving this exceptional treatment is
to be found in one of the phenomena of the Conquest, the brief but
eventful career of William Fitz Osbern as reigning earl of Hereford-
shire (1067-1070). What was his official position in Worcestershire
it is not easy to decide, but a writ addressed to archbishop Ealdred,
bishop Wulfstan, earl William (Fitz Osbern), and all the thegns in
Gloucestershire and Worcestershire,^ suggests that he exercised power of
some kind over the shire. In any case he annexed the lands that he held
within its borders to Hereford, the seat of his power, so far that they were
surveyed, we have seen, under Herefordshire, although they seem to
have been only members of his great lordship of Hereford in the sense
of paying their rents as part of its collective revenue. He left, however,
on Worcestershire a more permanent impress by those benefactions to
the abbeys he had founded at Cormeilles and La Vieille Lyre, which
enable us, here as elsewhere, to trace his hand. The charters of con-
firmation granted to these abbeys by Henry IL, early in his reign, read
in conjunction with Domesday Book, place it in our power to detect the
endowments bestowed on them by their great benefactor. The monks
of La Vieille Lyre obtained the church of Hanley (Castle), with its
appurtenances, and ' the tithe(s) of the forest of Malvern, save the (pro-
ceeds of the) chase ' ; the tithe(s) of the whole demesnes of Queenhill
(chapel) and Bushley, with small holdings of land in each ; the tithe (s)
of the whole demesne of Eldersfield and Feckenham, with a small
holding at the former, and the church and a ploughland at the latter."
To the monks of Cormeilles were given the churches of Suckley and of
Martley, with all their chapels, tithes and appurtenances, together with
some small holdings and with the tithes of Holloway, and land at Tenbury.^

* Monasticon AngUcanum, I. 301.

* *In episcopatu Wigorniae ecclesiam de Hanlega cum appendiciis suis, et decimam
forestae de Malvernias, praster venationem. Decimam totius dominii de Cohella {sic), et decimam
totius dominii de Brisseleia [sic], et unum hominem et decimam totius dominii de Fortelmetona,
et unum hominem et decimam totius dominii de Eldresfeld, et unum hominem et decimam
totius dominii de Fecheham cum appendiciis, et unam carucatam terras ' {Monasticon
Anglicanum, VI. 1092). In 1 1 60 we find on the Pipe Roll the abbey of Lyre receiving the
bulk of the tithes of Hanley (the monks of Malvern receiving the rest), while an annual
payment of 30 shillings represented a commutation for their other tithes from the King's
manors.

^ ' Ecclesiam de Sukeleia, cum omnibus capellis, et decimis, et pertinentiis suis ; et totam

decimam de dominio, et unam virgatam terras ; et ecclesiam de Merleia cum omnibus capellis

et decimis et pertinentiis suis ; et tres virgatas terras et totam decimam de dominio. Ad Wich

rectum suum in salinis. Ad Holewei totam decimam de dominio, et unam virgatam terra

. . et de decima de Sukeleia et de Merleia sexaginta et quindecim solidos ' {Ibid. VI.

240

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

When the forfeiture of the earl's son and successor (1074) placed all his
lands at the disposition of the Crown, it confirmed his endowments to
his two abbeys, and commuted the tithes of Martley and Suckley for
seventy-five shillings a year (as stated in the charter cited in the foot-
note), which sum, accordingly, is found on the 12th century Pipe Rolls,
allowed year by year to the sheriff of Worcestershire. And even in
'the hundred years' war' we find the Crown impounding, as held for the
benefit of aliens, endowments originally bestowed by earl William Fitz
Osbern.*

This is hardly the place to discuss the Earl's aggressions on the
manors belonging to the monks of Worcester or those that were laid to
the charge of his satellites, Gilbert Fitz Turold and Ralf de Bernai,^ but
attention may be drawn to the fact that his lands were mostly near the
Herefordshire border.' His possession, however, of Feckenham as well
as Hanley (Castle) suggests that he had an eye to the hunting in
Feckenham Forest as in Malvern Chase.

We have now examined some of the causes which either modified
the limits of the shire or accounted for the survey of part of it under
another county. In spite, however, of these influences, and of the fact
that, as we shall see below, he miscalculated altogether the assessment of
Droitwich, Professor Maitland's remarkable conclusions are not materially
affected, and Worcestershire remains, in the light of his results, one of
the most instructive counties in England for the study of assessment and
taxation in Anglo-Saxon times.

It was chiefly, we saw at the outset, as a record of assessment for
taxation that Domesday Book was compiled. But of great importance
also to the Crown was the evidence it afforded on the pecuniary rights,
apart from taxation, to which the King was entitled. In the rural
districts these were derived from the profits of jurisdiction and from his
own lands ; in the towns their sources were more complex. The system of
composition under which these rights were ' farmed ' was obviously one
that needed enquiry, with a view to revision, from time to time. The
importance of the Worcestershire evidence, on this subject, in Domes-
day is that it enables us to trace, on the one hand, the beginnings of
that composition for the royal rights in a county which was known as
the firma comitatus^ and that it indicates, on the other, the sources of
certain payments which are found elsewhere in the Survey with no clue
to their origin. Taking these points in order, we learn that the sheriff,
at the time of Domesday, was paying annually a lump sum of ^(^123 \s.
' by weight ' {ad pensuni) ' from the demesne manors of the King.' This
sum was the nucleus of x}s\2lX. Jirma comitatus which seems, in 1160 (6

1,077). Allusions to these endowments, and those of Lyre, will be found in the Domesday
text below, under the several localities.

' The monks of Cormeilles sold their tithes at HoUoway to Bordesley Abbey for six and
eightpence a year (Madox's Formulare, p. 300).

* Sheriff of Herefordshire under the Earl.
Martley, Suckley, Eldersfield, and Hanley (Castle).

I 241 H

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Hen. II.), to have been over jC^oOj but which clearly included, at that
date, royal manors which, at the time of Domesday, were ' farmed '
under Herefordshire together with the revenue from Worcester itself.
This last revenue consisted, at the time of Domesday, of ^23 5/. ' by
weight ' annually, for which the sheriff was responsible. Part of this
sum had accrued on the forfeiture of Eadwine, who, as the local Earl, had
drawn from the city £S a year under the Confessor, the Crown at that
time receiving only ^10 'beyond the rent {censum) of the houses.'^ A
curious comphcation is introduced in the case of Worcester by the
special rights of the Bishop, who was there entitled, like the Earl, to his
' third penny,' and who received, in right of it, £^k under the Confessor
and ^8 under the Conqueror, in addition to holding a number of houses
as appurtenant to one of his manors (fo. 173^). His rights appear to
be traceable to a most remarkable endowment, in the time of king
Alfred, which Professor Maitland paraphrases thus :

iEthelred and iEthelflaed, the ealdorman and lady of the Mercians, have, at the
request of the bishop, built a burh at Worcester, and they declare that of all the rights
that appertain to their lordship both in market {ceapstowe) and in street, within the
borough and without, they have given half to God and St. Peter,^ with the witness of
king Alfred and all the wise of Mercia. The lord of the church is to have half of
all, be it land-fee, or fiht-wite, stealing, wohceapung (fines for buying or selling
contrary to the rules of the market), or borough-wall-scotting.^

Kemble, who printed in full a translation of the actual charter, spoke
of it as 'a valuable instrument and one which supplies matter for
reflection in various ways.' * The charter twice mentions the market,
and also confirms the Bishop's rights ' without the market-place,' as
enjoyed by his predecessors. I think, therefore, that we might connect
the ceapstowe of this document with that forum (market-place) of Wor-
cester in which, says Domesday, the Bishop had 25 houses in addition
to the other houses that he held in the city.

Returning to the payments made by the sheriff, as recorded in
Domesday, the most interesting, perhaps, and most instructive are the
sums which represented a commutation for the profits of jurisdiction in
the courts of the shire and of the several Hundreds. In Worcestershire,
as in Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, and Oxfordshire, the
King was entitled to receive annually ^T 10 for a hawk and twenty shillings
for a sumpter-horse, while the Queen was entitled to £c^ in each of these
counties except Wiltshire. But in Worcestershire it is specially recorded
that the hawk is a Norway {norresc) hawk ; in Worcestershire the sheriff

' We are, unfortunately, not given, as we are under some towns, any details of these
houses, but Heming's Cartulary (Ed. Hearne) preserves a list (pp. 290-1) of twelve 'mansiones'
held by the monks of Worcester ' in burgo regis,' and paying him a penny or twopence a
year each (with ' service ' once a year), except one which paid him 7^</., and another 15^.

* Then the patron saint of the church of Worcester.
' Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 194.

* Saxons in England, II. 328-331. The charter excludes from the rights granted to the
Bishop the wain-shilling and load-penny from Saltwic {i.e. Droitwich). These terms remind us
of the caretedes and summa of Domesday.

242

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

is found paying, independently of hhjirma, ^^13 (not jC^ 0' ' ^o'' hawk
and sumpter-horse ' under Henry II, ; and in this county alone is the
source of these payments explained. Domesday having recorded that
the sheriff pays £,ij 'by weight ' for {de) the county, and £16 in the
form of the above three payments, goes on to tell us that ' Hs xvii librs
ad pensum et xvi librae ad numerum sunt de placitis comitatus et
Hundretis ' (fo. 172).* The 'county,' therefore, for which he paid the
£ij means the county court, that is, the profits arising from the pleas
there held, while the £16 represented the profits derived from the
Hundreds. On these latter profits the best evidence is found in some
curious calculations of the time of Henry II., printed in The Red Book
of the Exchequer.^ These, unfortunately, do not include Worcestershire,
where the total sum given in Domesday {£16) strikes one as very small.
But, as will be seen in the text, the sheriff records his protest against
even this amount being exacted from him when seven out of the twelve
Hundreds were so completely in the hands of the Church that he did
not receive from them anything at all. The highly favoured Abbey of
Westminster seems to have obtained a further exemption, for Domesday
records that it was alleged to have been given by king Edward the pro-
fits even of his special pleas.

Evidence on quite another subject can be obtained from the above
passage dealing with the Worcestershire Hundreds. It will have been
observed that some of the money, such as that which was derived from
the profits of the ' county,' was payable ' by weight,' ^ that is, in silver
pennies (the coin actually in use), which the scales had proved to be of
full weight. But occasionally, as with the profits of the Hundreds, a
different reckoning is used ; the money is payable ' by tale ' only without
being weighed. Now we can, in this case, obtain a useful piece of
information by setting out the compound addition that Domesday
records.

X libras denariorum de xx in ora
c solidos reginas ad numerum
xx'i solidi de xx'' in ora

[Total] xvi librae ad numerum

This sum, as it seems to me, proves the absolute identity, in the minds
of the compilers of Domesday, between pounds ' by tale ' and pounds
reckoned ' at 20 pence to the ounce.' We have become so accustomed
to think of the ' pound ' as a coin that it almost requires an effort to
realize that it then possessed its original meaning of a pound in weight
(of silver). This pound, in Worcestershire at the time, was divided into
twelve ounces, and we consequently find payments, at various places in the

^ See Domesday text below for translation.
* Ed. Rolls Series, pp. 774-778.

^ The Worcestershire Domesday sometimes uses an alternative form ' ad peis ' for the
customary 'ad pondus.'

243

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

county, reckoned in ounces (of silver).* To say that money was payable
* at 20 pence to the ounce ' means that a payment ' by tale ' of 20 silver
pennies discharged, irrespective of their weight, the liability to pay an
ounce of silver. Similarly, a pound paid ' by tale ' meant that the
payment could be made in the form of 240 pennies. As I have shown
in Feudal England, the Domesday scribes delighted in using alternative
phrases for the same thing ; but, although we might have suspected the
identity of the two formulas employed above, there is no other passage in
Domesday, I believe, that proves that identity, which might otherwise
have been questioned.*

While on the subject of the coin, something ought to be said about
the moneyers of Worcester. For a further source of royal revenue is
found in their customary payments. At Worcester, however, Domesday
tells us only that each moneyer used to pay 20 shillings, on a change of
coinage, when he ' received the (fresh) dies at London.' The same
payment was due from the moneyers of Dorchester and Bridport and of
Lewes ; but although we gather under Hereford that the moneyers had
to go somewhere to receive their new dies, it seems to be only under
Worcester that the place is stated to be London.

There was one source of royal revenue which is not here mentioned,
although it must have existed. This was the proceeds of the forests.
When the records of the revenue emerge, half a century after Domesday,
we find the census of the royal forests kept distinct from thtjirma of the
shire. Under Henry II., we learn from the Pipe Rolls, there was paid
for the forest of Feckenham £zo a year and £t, for Malvern chase. The
extent of forest shown in Domesday as then existing in the county must
have produced, at the date of the Survey, some revenue for the Crown.'

Although we have had to deal first, as Domesday does, with the
Crown and its rights, the interests of the Church in this county were
infinitely greater than those of the Crown. Not only was the sheriff, the
King's officer, excluded, by the privileges of the Church, from seven out
of twelve hundreds ; as tenants-in-chief, the four houses of Worcester,
Westminster, Evesham, and Pershore held between them more than half
of the assessed value of the county.* The largest share by far was that
of ' the Church of Worcester.' In addition to its great Hundred of
Oswaldslow, reckoned at 300 hides, it possessed 94 hides, outside it, in
the county, which the Henry I. Survey speaks of as ' in Kinefolka.'*
Next to Worcester came Westminster with its 200 hides ; then the 100

* See the Domesday text, passim.

* For in at least two passages (fos. 34, 38^) ' librae ad numerum de xx«' in ora ' are
found, as if the two formulas had independent meanings.

' See further, for the forests, p. 270 below.

* i.e. of the 'hides' recorded in Domesday. The hide, as explained above, was not an
areal measure, but only a unit of assessment.

^ See Feudal England, p. 174. This curious word should, perhaps, be compared with
that ' Haliwerfolc,' which, as Mr. Lapsley has explained in his learned monograph on The
County Palatine of Durham, was employed, in the 1 2th century, ' to indicate the territorial
soke or franchise of the Bishop ' of Durham.

244

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

hides of Pershore ; and lastly, the 65 hides, in Fishborough Hundred, of
Evesham. This gives us a grand total of 759 hides as held by the
Church out of the 1,200 hides at which the county was assessed.

Taking first the possessions of ' St. Peter,' the patron saint of the
Church of Worcester in Old English days, we find its whole fief in the
shire (fos. 172(^-174) entered under the heading, 'the land of the Church
of Worcester.' As this heading has given rise to some misunderstanding,
it would seem desirable to explain that ' the Church ' means the Bishop
and monks between them. In the adjoining county of Hereford we
similarly find the heading, ' the land of the Church of Hereford '
(fo. 1 8 1/^), but the corresponding entry in the schedule of names (fo. 179)
is ' the bishop of Hereford.' In this, as in many other matters, the
practice of Domesday was not uniform. Sometimes it spoke of the fief
as the Bishop's, and sometimes as that of his church ; in one case it
would group together the manors of the Bishop and monks, and in another
it would treat them as distinct, and survey them, accordingly, apart. In
Worcestershire the peculiar privileges attached to the triple Hundred of
Oswaldslow belonged to the Bishop, as its lord, alone ; but, in the words
of archdeacon Hale, ' the beneficial occupation, if we might so speak,
was shared between the Bishop and the monastery.' ^ The learned writer
reckoned that, of its 300 hides, 82 were assigned to the monks, while the
Bishop retained the rest.^ If the Domesday text be studied carefully, it
will be found that, within Oswaldslow, the manors in the Bishop's hands
come first as usual, and are followed by those held by the monks,
beginning with Overbury. Outside the Hundred of Oswaldslow,
Domesday does not enable us to distinguish the manors of the Bishop
from those of the monks, except in one instance. The Henry I. Survey,
however, does enable us to do this, and shows them holding in those
manors an equal number of hides.'

The great fief of the Church of Worcester, comprising, as we have
seen, in hides, nearly a third of the county,* is headed by a formal record
of the Bishop's special privileges in the triple Hundred of Oswaldslow
(fo. ij2b), as deposed to (Domesday tells us) by the whole county
(court).* Heming's Cartulary contains (pp. 287—8) a version of this
return, with some slight variations, which is followed by a statement of
the highest importance for students of the Domesday Survey. We are
there told that the county (court) made this return on oath, exhorted

* Registrum Prioratus Beata Maria Wigorn'iensis (Camden Society), p. iv.

* ' Of the fifteen manors of which the Hundred consisted, eight were held by the Bishop
and seven by the Monks. The division, however, was not so equal as at first sight appears ;
the eight Episcopal Manors contained . . . 225 hides; whereas the seven which were in the
hands of the Monastery or church contained only seventy-five. . . . The Monastery also
held of the Bishop as " De Victu Monachorum," parts of three Episcopal Manors, amounting
to seven hides ' {Ibid.).

^ Feudal England, p. 174, and p. 326 below.

* The monks claimed other manors as having formerly belonged to it. See, for instance,
pp. 238-239 above.

' See translation of Domesday text below.
245

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

thereto by bishop Wulfstan, 'in the presence of king William's magnates
[principibus), namely, Remigius bishop of Lincoln, earl Walter Giffard,
Henry de Ferrers, and Adam brother of Eudo the King's dapifer, who
were appointed by that King to enquire (into) and survey the possessions
and customary rights both of the King and of his magnates, in this
province and several others, at the time when he caused all England to
be surveyed.' Again, in its transcript of the documents relating to the
Worcester and Evesham dispute concerning Hampton and Bengeworth,
Heming's Cartulary gives us (pp. 75, jj) the names of those 'officers
[principibus) of the King who had come to make enquiry concerning the
lands of the county,' namely, bishop Remigius, Henry de Ferrers, Walter
Giffard, and ' Adam.' These are believed to be the only places in which
the names of Domesday commissioners are given, and it should be
observed that none of these was a holder of land in Worcestershire. It
was doubtless William's plan to select for each district commissioners
unconnected with it by tenure of land.

On the next page of Heming's Cartulary (fo. 1331^) we find an
interesting list of ' those who swore on the Bishop's behalf and ' on the
prior's behalf as to the Hundred of' Oswaldes Lawe,' together with the
witnesses. Sir Henry Ellis, unfortunately, took this to be a list of the
jurors at the Domesday Inquest;^ an error in which, naturally enough,
he has been followed by others. As a matter of fact, this interesting list
dates itself as of the time of bishop John (i i 5 i-i 157),^ and, as is duly
noted by Hearne, is entered in another (and a later) hand. The Domes-
day documents, in Heming's Cartulary, which I have spoken of above,
supply no names of jurors, but the first tells us that the King's com-
missioners, having taken the sworn testimony, set the return on record
in a cartula, ' which is preserved in the royal treasury with the rest of the
survey of England ' {cum totius Anglia descriptionibus) .

This return, as given in Domesday, has to be compared with the
famous charter attributed to king Edgar, ' perhaps the most celebrated
of all land-books.'^ The monks of Worcester entered it on their Register*
as their title-deed to the Hundred of Oswaldslow, and dated it 964. To
Hickes belonged the credit of showing, in his Dissertatio Epistolaris
(1703), that what passed for the original charter ° was in truth a
document written about 1200, while the date of the copy in the Register
is about half a century later. As Professor Maitland has observed, we
cannot accept ' the would-be charter as genuine,' or ' even accept it
as a true copy of a genuine book,' but he thinks that it ' tells a story
that in the main is true.' This he deems ' the easiest answer ' to the
question, ' Why was a charter of Edgar produced, perhaps rewritten and
revised, perhaps concocted ? ' As the matter is one of considerable im-

^ Introduction to Domesday, I. 19.
' See Feudal England, p. 169.
^ Maitland's Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 268.

* Hale's Registrum Beata Maria Wigorniensis, pp. xxx.-xxxiv., 21^-24*.
^ Harl. MS. 7,513. Hickes gave a facsimile.
246

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

portance in the early history of Worcestershire, it is impossible to pass
it by without some discussion. Professor Maitland bases his conclusion
on the fact that ' In 1086 the church of Worcester had to all appearance
just those rights which th.& A Ititonatitis^ professed to grant to her; already
they were associated with the name of Oswald ; already they were re-
garded as ancient privileges.' Urging with much force that ' kings and
sheriffs did not permit themselves to be cheated wholesale out of valuable
rights,' he accepts the witness of Domesday to the antiquity of the
church's rights and connects it with the story that they had been
granted to St. Oswald, when bishop, by Edgar.^

That the charter in its present form cannot possibly be genuine is,
one must repeat, admitted. But does it, as in some similar instances,
' tell a story that in the main is true ' ? On the whole, there does not
seem to be sufficient cause for rejecting this conclusion. The stress laid
by the alleged charter on the monks' exclusive rights over one of the
three hundreds of which Oswaldslow was composed is, no doubt, some-
what suspicious in the light of the Domesday entry ; and if the document
were strictly interpreted, its wording would certainly exempt from
Danegeld the whole 300 hides, although we do not find them so exempt
in Domesday. But there might well be alterations. It is, however, a
singular fact, revealed on close scrutiny, that the lands which Edgar is
represented as adding to the 50 hides at Cropthorne in order to make
' a perfect hundred ' out of the monks' estates, do not, as Professor
Maitland imagined, amount to just 50 hides,^ but comprise 20 hides
more, as we learn from other sources.* But, although the calculation
works out wrong in detail, the broad fact remains that the triple Hun-
dred of Oswaldslow did contain exactly 300 hides ; and, remembering
that the monastery had other manors up and down the county, I
consider the existence of such a ' Hundred ' proof that some king did
erect a triple Hundred out of its Worcestershire manors by taking for
the purpose as many as amounted, in assessed totals, to 300 hides, and
leaving the rest outside it. I cannot quite agree with Mr. Maitland
that ' this triple Hundred of Oswaldslow was made up,' according to the
charter, ' of three old Hundreds, called Cuthbertslaw, Wulfhereslaw,
and Wimborntree ' ; ^ for, as I read it, what was done was rather to
rearrange the Hundreds — just as Domesday shows us the Hundred of
Fishborough * rearranged — so as to assign to the monastery the above

* The opening word of Edgar's charter is here used as its title.

* Domesday Book and Beyond^ p. 269.
^ I hid. p. 452.

* At Teddington 3, Mitton i, Blackwell 2, Icomb i, these 7 hides being theirs
still in lo86 ; at Daylesford 3, and Evenlode 5, these 8 hides being entered as formerly
theirs in Domesday ; and at Dome in Blockley (as we gather from Heming's Cartulary,
p. 304) 5. The total, therefore, with these 20 hides added, would be, not 50, but 70
hides.

* Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 268, 452.

* 'In Fissesberge Hundret habet aecclesia de Evesham Ixv hidas. ... In illo
Hundret jacent xx hidae de Dodentreu, et xv hidae de Wirecestre perficiunt hundret.' The

247

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

three Hundred-courts, and at the same time to form for them scattered
and artificial Hundreds out of the 300 hides selected for the purpose
from the monastery's lands. The whole then formed the privileged
district of Oswaldslow.

What the privileges were that the Bishop claimed within this
district is not absolutely clear. It is certain, from Domesday, that the
King's sheriff was excluded from exercising any jurisdiction within it,
and that all the profits of the local courts and other royal rights in the
district went to the Bishop. But much obscurity surrounds his rights
with regard to the Danegeld within the district and to its quota of
military service known before the Conquest as ' expeditio ' or ' fyrd.'
As to the former, the Bishop, I hold, did not enjoy, like St. Petroc in
the west, or St. Edmund in the east, the special privilege of retaining for
himself the money paid as Danegeld,^ but was entitled to collect it
through his own officers and to receive the penalties, if any, incurred by
its non-payment. As to the duty of military service, the Bishop's Hun-
dred of Oswaldslow was, similarly, not exempt from it ;^ but its quota
was led by his own officers, instead of being under the sheriff, and any
fines for neglect of the duty [fyrdwite) would be collected through his
courts.

Military service was due to the King not only by land but by sea;
there was scipfyrd as well as landfyrd? This is a point of much im-
portance in connection with the Hundred of Oswaldslow, for the dis-
puted charter speaks of ' naumachix expeditionem, qus ex tota Anglia
regi invenitur,' and constitutes the triple Hundred in order that the
Bishop, with his monks, may have a separate ' naucupletionem quod
Anglice " Scypfylled " vocatur,'* Recent research has favoured the view
that there was some arrangement of Hundreds in threes with a liability
on each group to provide a ship's crew.® And even the term ' Scip-
socne,' which is applied, in the same charter, to Oswaldslow, is paralleled
by the application of ' Sipe Socha ' to each of three Warwickshire Hun-
dreds in 1 170.* But what is most noteworthy is that we have actual
mention of ' Eadric who was, in the time of king Edward, steersman of
the bishop's ship and leader of the bishop's force {exercitus) in the King's
service,' as present at the great trial between the houses of Worcester

composition of this Hundred receives some further illustration from a survey of the Evesham
Abbey manors in Cott. MS. Vesp. B. XXIV. fos. 49^, 53. A marginal note describes as
' T.R.E.' the hidation which is there given, and which seems to be occasionally in excess of
that recorded in Domesday.

* See, for this privilege, my paper in Domesday Studies, I. 126-8, and Feudal England,
p. lOI.

^ Compare Hale's Registrum Beatte Marite JVigorniensts, p. xxxiii.

^ The duty of ' expeditio ' by sea is referred to, in Domesday, at Exeter, Malmesbury,
Warwick, Leicester, Stamford, etc.

* Hale's Registrum, p. 23^.

® Ibid. p. xxxiii. ; Stubbs' Const. Hist. (1874), I. 105-6 ; Earle, cited by Freeman in
Norman Conquest (1870), I. 647 ; Vigfusson, citing Steenstrup in Eng. Hist. Review,!]!. 500 ;
Canon Taylor in Domesday Studies (1888), pp. 75-6).

* Pipe Roll, 16 Henry II. pp. 90-91. Compare Stubbs as above, p. 106 note.

248

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

and Evesham/ while we can not only identify this officer in Domesday
(fo. lyib)-, where ' Edric Stirman ' is entered as having held 5 hides at
Hindlip, but can recognise him in ' Edric de Hindelep ' at the final
settlement before the Domesday Commissioners between bishop Wulf-
stan and abbot Walter.* That the duty of this naval service was fully
recognised down to the Conquest is seen in the mention of ' navigia ' as
having been due from the 10 hides at Bishampton/ One is tempted,
were it not rash, to suggest that if the service were due at the rate of
one man from 5 hides,* the complement of ' the bishop's ship ' would be
just sixty men, which seems to have been the number of the crew in the
great war-galley introduced by Alfred/

When we turn from the sea to the land service our chief difficulties
begin. For beyond the entry, under Bishampton, of ' expeditiones '
being due, Domesday is silent on the fyrd save for the passage on the
liability to military service at the opening of the county survey.
Heming's Cartulary, however, is more explicit on the matter. In addi-
tion to the above mention of Eadric as leader of the Bishop's ' exercitus,'
its report of the great trial between Worcester and Evesham represents
the Bishop as claiming ' geldum regis et servitium et expeditiones in
terra et in mari ' from the abbot in respect of the 15 hides at Hampton
(by Evesham),^ while William's writ, which follows, asserts the Bishop's
right there to 'geldum et expeditionem et cetera mea servitia.'^ The
writ of the bishop of Coutances, before whom the case was tried, certifies
that the 1 5 hides at Hampton ' debent placitare et geldum et expe-
ditionem et cetera legis servitia . . . persolvere ' in the Bishop's
Hundred of Oswaldslow.* This decision is referred to no less than three
times in Professor Maitland's learned work on Domesday Book and Beyond?
The one conclusion that can, I think, be safely drawn from the evidence
before us is that the Bishop's Hundred of Oswaldslow had to provide
a fixed quota of men to the King's fyrd^ irrespective of its population.
It is only on this hypothesis that we can explain the bishop's anxiety
to assert the liability of each estate to provide its proportionate con-
tingent. I have elsewhere shown that this system, in force before the

* Heming's Cartulary, I. 80.

* Ibid. pp. 76, 297. Another steersman (the recognised chief officer of a galley) is
found in Worcestershire at Pershore, where Domesday (fo. 174^) shows us 'Turchil stirmannus
regis Edwardi ' holding land in the time of that King, to whom Pershore had belonged.

^ Domesday, fo. 173. The somewhat difficult phrase in William's writ commanding the
trial between Worcester and Evesham refers the judges to the day ' qua novissime, tempore
regis Edwardi, geldum acceptum fuit ad navigium faciendum' (Heming's Cartulary, I. 78), as
if the service were commuted for money.

* See Feudal England^ pp. 45, 67-9, 232-4, and Domesday Book and Beyond, pp.
156-9.

^ 'Some had sixty oars, some more' (Anglo-Saxon Chron., II. 74). I agree with Sir
James Ramsey {Foundations of England) that the oarsmen were also the fighting crew.

« Heming's Cartulary, I. 80. '' Ibid. 78, 83. * Ibid. 77.

^ pp. 85, 159, 308. I can hardly agree with his paraphrase that 'the men of two
villages, Hamton and Bengeworth, were bound to pay geld and to fight along with the bishop's
men ' (p. 308), for the duty seems, as he had pointed out just before, to have been incumbent
on the hides rather than the men, and to have been discharged by a few individuals.

249

^ HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

Conquest, must on no account be confused, as it has been by Professor
Maitland, with the liability of the Bishop, under the system introduced
by the Normans, to provide 60 knights (or, as he maintained, 50) in
respect of his entire fief extending over three counties.^ If he had to
send 60 men — and this total is only a conjecture — to the King's fyrd
before the Conquest, in respect of his Hundred of Oswaldslow, that total
was wholly unconnected with the quota of knight-service due, after the
Conquest, in respect of his entire fief.^

Dealing, however, with what he terms ' Feudalism in Oswaldslaw,' ^
Professor Maitland attaches very great importance to bishop Oswald's
letter to king Edgar * recording the terms of his land loans, which ' is
for our purposes the most important of all the documents that have come
down to us from the age before the Conquest.' But if we cannot accept
as genuine, in its present form, Edgar's charter constituting the Hundred
of Oswaldslow, we must also, I think, view critically ' this unique docu-
ment.' ° For its only existing version is at least later than the Conquest,
and it seems to me to proceed clearly from the same mint as ' Altitonan-
tis.' ^ The clause on which Professor Maitland would specially insist is the
condition enforced on those to whom the lands were granted ' ut omnis
equitandi lex ab eis impleatur qus ad equites pertinet.' They are,
' above all,' riding-men, and must fulfil ' the law of riding.' The im-
portance of this, for the Domesday student, is that the Professor finds in
' Oswald's riding men ' the predecessors of ' the radchenistres and radmanni
of Domesday Book, the rodknights of Bracton's text.' The class entered
in Domesday under this mysterious name is almost wholly confined to
the counties near the Welsh border from Gloucestershire on the south to
the modern South Lancashire on the north, and is well represented in
Worcestershire. The entry, perhaps, which most favours the view that
riding was the essence of the service due from these tenants is that, under
Bredons Norton, of Leofwine having held 2 hides, ' et inde radman
episcopi fuit ' (fo. 173). But the actual charters of bishop Oswald
granting lands for three lives make no mention of this service ; ^ and on
Westminster Abbey's Deerhurst manor, just over the Gloucestershire
border, we find several small estates, from half a hide to two hides, held

^ This is particularly well seen in the return, temp. John, of the 'Servicium debitum
domino Regi de episcopatu Wigornie' {^esta de Nevill, pp. 41-2).

* See my paper on ' Military Ser\'ice before the Conquest,' in English Historical Review
(1897), XII. 492-4. The point is of much institutional importance.

3 Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 303-313. The Professor seems to have based his
argument on the belief that Oswald's letter applies only to his grants within Oswaldslow, but
it covers his grants in other places, such as the Gloucestershire Compton, so that the terms of
his grants must have been unconnected with his special position within Oswaldslow.

* Codex Diplomaticus, I. xxxv. ; VI. 124. Heming's Cartulary, I. 292-6.

* Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 312.

^ For instance, the ' Dunstanum archiepiscopum et venerandum Athelwoldum Wintonie
episcopum et virum magnificum Brihtnothum comitem ' of Oswald's letter echoes the
' Dunstanum archiepiscopum et Athelwoldum Wintoniensem episcopum et virum magnificum
Brightnodum comitem ' of Edgar's charter. It should further be observed that Oswald's
grants range down, as the Professor observed, to 992. But Edgar died in 975.

' Heming's Cartulary, passim.

250

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

by 'Radchen[istres], id est liberi homines T.R.E.' (fo. i66). This sug-
gestive entry proves to be in perfect harmony with the survey of that
abbey's Worcestershire manors (fos. 174^-175). For we there find a
number of similar estates entered as having been held T.R.E., sometimes
by ' liberi homines,' sometimes by riding-men. At Longdon ' there were
' nine free men (who) held 1 8 hides, and mowed for one day in the
meadows of their lord, and did such service as they were bidden ' ; at
Powick there were eight ' radmans ' who ' mowed for one day a year in
the meadows of the lord, and did all the service that was bidden them.'
As there are several entries describing the services as ' those which are
performed by the other freemen,' we may infer that ' free men ' and
' radmans ' are here used indifferently. This important conclusion is
confirmed by the evidence of the Worcester cartulary. Under the
heading De liberis de Halleg' (Hallow in Grimley) two tenements are
there entered as owing this riding-service.^ At Grimley itself, it is
under De liberis that we find payments of 2\d. a year ' pro equita-
tura,' ^ and at Charlton it is, similarly, under De liberis de Cherletun\
that the payments ' pro equitatura ' occur.* Archdeacon Hale was
doubtless right in identifying this service with Bracton's ' service of riding
with the lord or the lady,' or ' from manor to manor.' ^ One unpublished
instance, in which such service was due to the sacrist of Evesham, seems
decisive on the point.* The duty, in short, was that of attendance as
escort, but not, in my opinion, of military service.

In addition to that exclusion of the sheriff which appears to have
been deemed, in those days, a high and enviable privilege, the Bishop
possessed certain rights which seem to have been independent of the
special privileges belonging to the Hundred of Oswaldslow. Foremost
among these was that circset to which the abbots of Pershore, West-
minster, and Evesham, and indeed others, were also entitled. Domesday
records the county's verdict that the Bishop was entitled at Martinmas to
one (horse) load of the best grain from every hide of land belonging to
the church of Worcester, whether held in free or in villein tenure (fo.
173^^). It was also the county's verdict that the church of Pershore was
entitled to circset from 300 hides (of which 100 were its own and 200
belonged to the abbot of Westminster), that is, Domesday proceeds to

* Barely five miles, as the crow flies, from Deerhurst. At Deerhurst the * riding-men '
had to reap, mow, plough and harrow (fo. 166). On the great royal manor of Tewkesbury
they had to plough and harrow for their lord (fo. 163). This evidence is important for
Worcestershire, because at Netherton, a manor of the monks of Worcester, we find that
Osbert Guidon, * for his holding, has to follow the Prior and Cellarer, and any other monks
when they will, with his own horse, at their cost ; and must plough, twice in the year, half
an acre, and sow it with his own seed, and must harrow, and must do three " benrip," and,
moreover, must find one man to mow for one day' (Hale, lib). Archdeacon Hale thought
that these were villein services, incompatible with 'equitatura,' but this was a misapprehen-
sion {Ibid. p. Ixxvii.).

^ Hale's Registrum, p. 50a (cf. p. 47/').

^ Ibid. pp. 44^, 44^. * Ibid. yib. * Ibid. p. Ixxii.

" 'In Haccheslench [Atch Lench] . . . Idem Osbertus tenet dimidiam hidam ut
equitet cum sacrista in equo proprio' (Cott. MS. Vesp. B. XXIV. fo. I3<^.

251

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

explain, a horseload of grain at Martinmas from each hide held by a free
man, though he was not liable to pay on more hides than one (fo. 175).
If the grain should not be paid on the day appointed, a twelvefold pay-
ment was due, said the county, and a penalty {forisfacturd) in addition for
the default. These provisions applied both to Worcester ' and to Pershore,
but in the case of the latter this penalty was only payable to the Abbot
on his own 100 hides, Westminster abbey receiving it, if due, within its
own 200 hides. Domesday goes on to explain that the abbot of Eves-
ham had the same right in the case of ' his own land, and all the others
the same in the case of their lands.'* There was one other right belong-
ing to the bishop of Worcester which is mentioned in the valuable
Bishampton entry among his recognised dues : this was ' sepultura ' (fo.
173). We find it again in the documents relating to his strife with
Evesham, where it is coupled with the circset as due to him from
Hampton by Evesham.^ The one other passage in Domesday which
should be here compared is that which describes the rights of the bishop
of Winchester in his great liberty of Taunton (fo. 87*^). Like the bishop
of Worcester in Oswaldslow, he possessed, not only special jurisdiction
within the bounds of that liberty, but the privilege of sending to the host
his own separate contingent ; * and like him he had ' circieti ' and
' sepultura ' as his right. For after mentioning those of its members in
which he had not ' sepultura,' Domesday observes of the others : ' when
the lords of these lands die, they are buried in Taunton.' The burial
fees and profits were, of course, what was thus obtained.®

This is, perhaps, the fitting point at which to discuss that great
dispute between the churches of Worcester and of Evesham, which is so
closely connected with the Domesday Survey of the County. The bitter-
ness of the feeling it aroused is shown by the delightful story told by the
monks of Worcester and preserved in Heming's Cartulary.* According
to them the saintly Wulfstan, on the death of the despoiler of their house,
^thelwig abbot of Evesham, was rash enough, in his infinite compassion,
to offer special and urgent prayers for the soul of his dead adversary. A
sudden attack of gout in his legs and feet was the penalty. It was only

* ' Circset ' is not mentioned eo nomine in the Worcester entry, but the payment is the
same ; and, indeed, under Bishampton (fo. 173) 'circset' is found among the dues payable to
the Bishop. And one of bishop Oswald's charters, granting two hides at Bentley, reserves the
payment ' aecclesiastici censi, id est duos modios de mundo grano ' (Heming's Cartulary,
I. 145).

* Peter de Stodley {alias Corbizon) gave the 'chirset' of a Worcestershire manor among
his endowments of Studley Priory.

^ The bishop of Coutances, in his certificate, states that the Bishop had proved his right
to ' ciricsceat et sepulturam ' from Hampton as due to his vill of Cropthorne, and the Con-
queror's writ recognises his right to such * ciricescot et sepulturam ' (Heming's Cartulary,
1.77,78).

* ' profectio in exercitu cum hominibus episcopi.' The Exon Domesday, for * exercitu '
has * expeditione.'

' Mr. Eyton observes in his Shropshire that ' sepultura ' was a right belonging to the
mother churches which they were loth to part with.

^ De conflictu Wlstani episcopi et Agelwii abbatis' (I. 270-272),
252

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

when the leeches had given him over that he learnt, by divine revelation,
the cause of his severe illness. On ceasing to pray for the soul of
iEthelwig, he recovered in a few days ' without human medicine.' To
this notable illustration of medieval, or at least monastic, Christianity one
may add the fact that both of these religious houses are suspected with
good reason of concocting or altering the charters they produced in
support of their rights.

In Heming's Cartulary and the Evesham Chronicle we have the
stories of the rival houses, and, in spite of certain contradictions, can
form a fair idea of the facts of the case. Abbot iEthelwig and bishop
Wulfstan had both enjoyed the favour of Harold ; ^ but both, in Mr.
Freeman's opinion, ' were among the first prelates in England to submit
to the Conqueror.' * It was iEthelwig, however, who secured, we read,
' his lasting favour.' ' The monks of Worcester insist upon his power,*
and on their own disadvantage in the disinclination of their saintly
Bishop to occupy himself in secular affairs. JEthelwig, they alleged,
attracted to himself certain knights and tenants of the Bishop by promis-
ing to protect them against the Normans, but ended by defrauding them
of their lands. This led to protests from the Bishop, and iEthelwig,
though owning at length his rights, retained the lands, they said, till his
death. Now these lands, according to them, were two Warwickshire
estates, which do not here concern us, and, in Worcestershire, Acton,
' Earesbyri' ;° Bengeworth with several houses in Worcester, Evenlode
and Daylesford. Bengeworth will be dealt with separately below ; as
to Acton, the monks themselves, in the detailed narrative ® of their losses,
made out rather a weak case against iEthelwig's possession, while Domes-
day not only ignores their claim (fo. 176), but expressly states that
Evesham held it T.R.E. It similarly states, of Evenlode and Dayles-
ford, that Evesham had held them, though recognising Worcester's
rights (fo. 173). Its evidence, therefore, is dead against the above story
that ^thelwig had only obtained these lands after the Norman Conquest.
The story told by the monks of Evesham^ was that ^Ethelwig had ac-
quired by fair purchase (per dignam pecuniam) all the lands above men-
tioned except ' Earesbyri.' ^

But the real battle was over Bengeworth, which formed part, with
Hampton by Evesham, of the Bishop's Hundred of Oswaldslow. The
first fight for its possession was on the death of abbot ^thelwig (1077).
The Evesham story was that these were among the manors acquired by
iEthelwig which bishop Odo compelled a great gemot at ' Gildene-

* Freeman's Norman Conquest, III. (1875) 55.

« Ibid. V. 759. 3 mj IV, (187 1) 176.

* ' Devicta namque patria hac a Normannis perditisque cunctis melioribus baronibus
istius provincie, cepit ipse abbas multum crescere seculari potentia, eo quod ingenio et calliditate
at scientia secularium legutn qua sola studebat cunctos praecelleret.'

^ Estbury in Hallow. * Heming's Cartulary, I. 250-1.

' Evesham Chronicle, p. 97.

* I can throw no light on the case of this estate, which Domesday (fo. 173^) represents
as having been continuously possessed by Worcester.

253

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

beorge ' to adjudge to himself on the Abbot's death ;^ but that his
successor, abbot Walter, successfully reclaimed Hampton and half
Bengeworth for his house/ This brings us at once into close relation
with Domesday, which tells us of the five hides which formed the half
of Bengeworth that ' abbot Walter proved his right (to them) at " Ilde-
berga " in (a court of the) four shires ' ^(fo. 175*^). Bengeworth was a
ten-hide manor, and the story told by the monks of Worcester was that
bishop Brihtheah had given half of it (5 hides) to ' Atsere ' his kinsman
and chamberlain, who had been deprived of it, in his lifetime, by Urse
the dreaded sheriff. Alarmed by his fate, iErngrim, the tenant of the
other half, had invoked the protection of his powerful neighbour, ^Ethel-
wig abbot of Evesham, and transferred his ' service ' to him, only to be
expelled from his land by the unscrupulous abbot.* The Evesham
Chronicle similarly states that half the manor had been held by 'Erne-
grim,' and the other half given to 'Assere ' by the Bishop;^ and
Domesday itself records 'Azor' as the previous holder at Bengeworth
(fo. 174). Such concurrence of testimony as this deserves notice. The
net result, as Domesday shows (fos. 1 74-1 75*^), was that Urse retained
Azor's half of the manor (5 hides), while Evesham Abbey succeeded in
retaining Erngrim's half, though one of its five hides was secured by the
sheriff Urse, who thus held in all six hides there.*

The next struggle was that of the bishop of Worcester to assert
his rights, as lord of Oswaldslow, over the lands at Hampton and Benge-
worth held by abbot iEthelwig. To this dispute Professor Freeman
rightly attached much importance.' He held that the great plea re-

* ' Quasi lupus rapax concilia malignantium in loco qui dicitur Gildenebeorge jubet
congregari, quinque videlicet sciras, ibique plus per suam iniquam potentiam quam recto jure
ex triginta sex terris quas abbas Agelwius per dignam pecuniam ecclesiae acquisivit viginti octo
villas fecit eidem abjurari et suo iniquo dominio usurpari ' (Evesham Chronicle, p. 97). The
Worcester version was that Odo, on ^Ethelwig's death, obtained from his brother, the King, a
grant of all the lands which the Abbot had held and which did not belong to the abbey itself
(Heming's Cartulary, I. 273). There is a certain amount of evidence in Domesday (fos. 173,
176, 177^) that Odo did, somehow or other, succeed the abbot of Evesham in several
Worcestershire manors, and that, in one case at least, the abbot had lawfully bought a manor
from a thegn (fo. 177^'), as he is alleged by his monks to have done.

* ' De hiis vero Walterus abbas Westune, Hamptune, et medietatem de Beningwrthe
(quam Ernegrim tenuit) revocavit, medietatem vero quam Episcopus dedit Assere occupavit
Urso ' (Evesham Cartulary, p. 97). The Evesham MS. Vesp. B. XXIV. fo. 28 contains a
writ of Odo consequent on the ' Gildenbeorge ' plea, admitting the abbey's right to certain
manors, and a confirmation of it by the King. But I look on them with some suspicion.

^ I have ventured, in my translation of the text, to identify the place of meeting as the
' Four shire stone ' still existing on the border of Evenlode. It is remarkable that, under
Warwickshire (fo. 2T,^h), we find bishop Wulfstan asserting that he had proved his right to
Alveston, Warwickshire (on which, however, see also Heming's Cartulary, II. 407, 418)
' before Queen Matilda in the presence of four counties.' This is suggestive of another plea
held at the 'Four shire stone' (compare p. 307, note 3, below).

* Heming's Cartulary, I. 269-270.

* See note^ above.

® This explanation is necessary, because, without it, the Domesday text would be
obscure.

' ' The affairs of the church of Worcester, especially its disputes with the abbey of
Evesham, throw great light on both general and local history' {Norman ConqueH, V. 759).

254

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

corded in Heming's Cartulary was actually part of the Domesday Survey
and held during its progress.^ I have, however, elsewhere shown that
the plea belongs to an earlier date, and have established the sequence of
events.^ We have first a writ, despatched by the Conqueror from
Normandy, bidding archbishop Lanfranc and Geoffrey bishop of Cou-
tances settle the dispute, the latter being directed to hear the case.^ Then
we have the wonderfully interesting record of the great plea itself
(' Commemoratio placiti '),*and next, completing the group, we are given
William's writ, directed to ' Urse the sheriff and Osbern "filius Escrob "°
and all the French and English of Worcestershire,' bidding them observe
the decision arrived at before the bishop of Coutances and themselves on
the testimony of the county (court).® I cannot but suspect that the
Worcester monks forged, for production at this very plea, the charter
by which Offa is made to grant them Cropthorne'' (23 Sept. 780).
For not only is its language suspicious, but it is also clearly intended to
prove the Bishop's right to Hampton and Bengeworth.*

Turning to the later group of documents, so strangely confused by
Professor Freeman with those we have dealt with above, we find them
closely connected with the great Survey. The first in order is the
' testimonium ' of Geoffrey bishop of Coutances ^ certifying to the
four Domesday commissioners that, when the case had been heard
before him, the Bishop had proved the four hides at Bengeworth to
be ' of his fee,' and the 1 5 hides at Hampton ^^ to belong to his
Hundred of Oswaldslow and to owe it suit and geld and^rd'." But the
entries in Domesday do not assign these rights to the Bishop ; under

^ ' The Gemot was doubtless held during the talcing of the Survey. . . . The
Gem6t in which the dispute was settled was thus actually a part of the Survey ' {Ibid. p. 763).
(It was) ' held during the progress of the Survey' {Ibid. p. 765).

^ Domesday Studies (II.), 542-44.

^ Heming's Cartulary, I. 77-8. * Ibid. pp. 80-2.

^ See below for this Worcestershire tenant-in-chief, the lord of Richard's castle, Here-
fordshire.

^ Heming's Cartulary, I. 78-9, 82-3. ' Ibid. II. 319-21.

* It speaks of a * comes ' and even a 'vice-comes' (!), to say nothing of a ' bibliotheca
optima.' After mentioning that the 50 hides of Cropthorne included 'at Hampton 15, at
Bengeworth 10,' it adds a special clause empowering the then Bishop to grant half the
manor, namely 25 hides, to his kinsmen 'eo tenore ut quisquis habuerit aliquem ex ipsis viculis,
venerabili episcopo Tillhere, omnibusque suis successoribus, servitium faciat in vectigalibus, et
expeditionibus, omnibusque aliis subjectionibus qualescumque episcopus ipse suique successores
michi mersque successoribus persolvere debuerint.' Then follows a provision, in case of any
such holder losing his land, for its restoration, without question, ' to the ancient church in
Worcester.' Lastly comes the usual denunciation of all offenders against the provisions in
the charter, including the ' vice-comes,' a sly hit, perhaps, at Urse himself. I believe that the
charter was concocted to account for the 25 hides at Hampton and Bengeworth passing out of
Worcester's possession, and to support the claim for their restoration.

® A similar ' testimony ' to past events by William bishop of Winchester, a generation
later, will be found in my Calendar of Documents preserved in France (p. i).

'" It should be observed that these documents speak throughout of Hampton as of 15 hides,
though both the Domesday entries assign 5 hides only. The clue is found in the Henry I.
Survey (Heming's Cartulary, I. 315), which mentions that 10 hides there were free from geld
by the King's writ (see Domesday Studies, p. 545).
*' Heming's Cartulary, I. 77.

255

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

the Evesham fief, in fact, they assign him no rights at all (fo. 175^), and
under his own fief they vouch the county's statement for the fact that
Evesham paid the Bishop T.R.E,, in respect of Hampton, nothing but
the geld due in his Hundred (fo. 174^). The entry of the manors tvi^ice
over shows us how difficult the question was ; and the Domesday com-
missioners had, in fact, to arrange a compromise with the Bishop, by
which he consented, at their request, to abandon his claim to hold these
manors in demesne on the Abbot publicly admitting them to belong to
his Hundred of Oswaldslow, and to be liable to geld, suit, znAfyrd there
accordingly.* It is an interesting feature of this agreement that among
its witnesses are at least two of the dispossessed English tenants of the
bishop of Worcester, Edric ' de Hindelep ' and Godric ' de Piria.'*

It was explained above that the knight-service due from the bishop
of Worcester under the Norman system has to be carefully distinguished
from the old English system of liability to fyrd.^ Domesday itself is
almost silent on this knight's service, though one knight of the Bishop
is referred to incidentally under Crombe.* The men {homines) also who
appear in Domesday as tenants on his great Gloucestershire manor of
Westbury (on Trym) are styled knights {milites) in a (probably) earlier
survey.* Again, the return of knights' fees made by the bishop of
Worcester in 1 166 shows us 37I fees carved out of the episcopal estates
' antiquitus' ;* and the context shows that this was done in the lifetime
of bishop Wulfstan. In short, here as elsewhere,' it is clear that knights
had been enfeoffed before Domesday, and that the silence of that record
is no proof to the contrary. The valuable return of the Bishop's fees
temp. John* shows us where the fees were situate, and its collation with
the Domesday Survey and the return of 11 66 would throw a great deal
of light on the topography and genealogy of the county at that early
period.

Here it is only possible to touch upon two points. In 1166 we
find William de Beauchamp holding 1 5 knights' fees, created ' anti-
quitus,' of the Bishop ; ® and under John we find a later William de
Beauchamp holding these same fees, and are told where they were, the

* Heming's Cartulary, I. 75, 296. The purport of the ' conventio ' is suggestive of the
'fines' of later days.

I * See, for them, Domesday, fo. 173^.

^ The well-known story of William Rufiis calling out t\\& fyrd in 1094 as a means of
financial extortion (Florence of Worcester, II. 35) proves that the old native host was retained
concurrently with the Norman knights (Stubbs' Const. Hist., I. 301).

* Similarly incidental mention of enfeoffed knights will be found on fos. 176-176^,
where Ralf 'miles' holds of Ralf ' de Todeni,' one of Ralf de Mortimer's knights is found
holding of him, and ' two knights ' hold a manor of Roger de Laci. So too, on fo. 172,
' four knights ' hold land of Urse.

* See Feudal England, p. 294, and Heming's Cartulary, p. 84.
® Red Book of the Exchequer, p. 300.

' See my Feudal England for the full argument.

' Testa de Nevill, pp. 41-2 (see p. 236 above).

* j^i5 had heen remitted to him, in respect of these fees, in 1 156 (Rot. Pip. 2 Hen.
II.).

256

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

places being all in Worcestershire. Now the Beauchamps were the
heirs of the sheriff Urse, and the exceptionally large number of their
fees is accounted for at once, on turning to Domesday, by the numerous
cases in which the sheriff had obtained, as under-tenant, the Bishop's
lands.^

The important conclusion to be drawn from this is that the church
of Worcester obtained a quid pro quo from Urse. If it had to give him,
as under-tenant, the beneficial occupation of much of its land, he had,
in return, to discharge a quarter of the knight-service exacted from it
by the Norman kings. The Henry I. survey of the lands of the church
of Worcester shows us Walter de Beauchamp holding loo hides in
Oswaldslow and 5 or 6 outside it.* A quota of fifteen knights towards
the ' service ' for which the church was liable was a fairly substantial
return for such tenure.

The second point that calls for notice is the curious appearance of
the King himself as owing knight-service to the church of Worcester.
The list of the Bishop's knights in 1166 opens with the words ' (Our)
lord the king owes 3 knights.' Here again we find the explanation in
the evidence of Domesday Book combined with that of the survey taken
under John. The latter return explains that the knights' (fees) in the
King's hands ^ are in ' Burleg, Queinhull, et in Broc,' and Domesday
shows us ' Burgelege ' and ' Cunhille ' as then (1086) ' in manu regis '
(fo. 173).* The very important inference which I draw from this
evidence is that the amount of ' knight-service ' due from the see must
have been fixed before Domesday, and these lands already reckoned as
three knights' fees before they came into the King's hands. The in-
ference is subtle, but it seems to be sound.

The other religious houses holding land in Worcestershire do not
call for such elaborate discussion as the Bishop's own monastery. Ac-
cording to Domesday (fos. 1741^, 175), the great estate which Edward
the Confessor had bestowed on his new abbey at Westminster, and
which was counted as 200 hides (one-sixth of the county), was all
appurtenant to the manor of Pershore then in his own hands. Pershore
Abbey, however, had certain rights over all of it,^ and Domesday, having
told us, under Westminster Abbey, that the manor of Pershore had been
held by Edward, enters next the Pershore fief, and heads it by the
statement that Pershore Abbey ' held and holds the manor of Pershore.'
Here, therefore, there must have been friction, as there was, we have seen,
between Worcester and Evesham. It is singular that Westminster should
have been given so great an estate in the West of England as these 200
hides in Worcestershire and the 59 hides of the great manor of Deerhurst

* His brother, Robert the Despencer, had acquired a few, but those inherited from him
by the Beauchamps were comparatively insignificant.

^ Feudal England, pp. 173-4, and p. 325 below.

^ The Testa de Nevill erroneously gives them as ' vii.,' but the Pipe Rolls prove that they
were three.

* The third manor entered in Domesday as then ' in manu regis ' is not ' Broc,' but
* Biselie' (Bushley). * See p. 251 above.

I 257 S

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

close to the Worcestershire border ; and there must, one would think,
have been some reason for Edward bestowing on his new abbey this vast
but distant estate. The rights which were exercised over it, as above, by
Pershore Abbey prepare one for the definite statement made by William
of Malmesbury that much which was bestowed on Westminster had for-
merly been held by Pershore.^ This has led to the supposition that
king Edward robbed Pershore of the lands that he here bestowed on his
own foundation. But this would have been an unheard-of step, nor does
Domesday afford any support for that view. There is, however, a faint
hint which may put us on another track. Dealing under Herefordshire
with what I have identified as the Pull Court estate, Domesday men-
tions incidentally that it used to form part of ' Langedune a manor
of earl Odo.' Now Longdon was the largest of the Worcestershire
manors assigned by Domesday to Westminster Abbey, being entered as
30 hides. But the great survey treats it only as appendant to the king's
manor of Pershore before Westminster obtained it. We must look
elsewhere for ' earl Odo.' And when at last we find him, it is in a
suggestive spot. ' At Deerhurst,' writes Florence of Worcester, ' died
earl ^thelwine, that is, Odda,' 31 August, 1056, 'having been made a
monk before his death by Ealdred bishop of Worcester, but he lies in
the monastery of Pershore where he was honourably buried.' At Per-
shore, according to the abbey's annals, some two centuries later (1259),
his bones were found in a leaden chest, beneath the pavement of St.
Mary's chapel, with an epitaph to which I shall return. The annals
proceed to state that Odda was heir to ' Delfer,' that wicked earl,^ who
had despoiled Pershore of many lands, which were restored by the good
' Odda.'

Now Deerhurst, with which Odda we thus learn was connected,
was the head of the Gloucestershire possessions of Westminster Abbey,
and is only some five miles, as the crow flies, from Longdon.^ It is,
therefore of importance to observe that Odda's position at Deerhurst is
proved by a remarkable inscription found there and now preserved at
Oxford, which states that ' Odda dux ' caused a ' regia aula ' to be con-
structed there, which was dedicated by Ealdred bishop of Worcester
in April, 1056.* It states, moreover, that he did this in honour of

' ' Illud ut cetera quanto succubuerit detrimento miserabile, plus sui medietate dimi-
nutum. Partem divitum occupavit ambitio, partem sepelivit oblivio, majusculam portionem
reges Edwardus et Willelmus contulere Westmonasterio.' Gesta Pontificum (Rolls Series), p.
298. As Brihtheah was abbot of Pershore till he became bishop of Worcester (1038), it is
possible, of course, that he was responsible, as at Worcester, for the loss of some lands.

* ' Qui Delfero consuli nequissimo jure successerat hereditaric' These annals are known
to us by Leland's extracts. (See also Monasticon, II. 415.)

* It is a singular coincidence that the Deerhurst font, which is, probably, at least as old
as Odda's days, was preserved in Longdon church for part of the present century.

* Archieologia^ L. 70. It has been generally supposed that this 'aula' was the well-
known church at Deerhurst, and Mr. Freeman wrote of Odda dying ' under the shadow of
the minster of his own building' (So also Norm. Conq.^ V. 612). But it has been suggested,
since the discovery of a ' Saxon ' chapel in the same parish, that the latter was what Odda
built. {Ibid.)

258

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

his brother ^Ifric, who had died there in 1053 and who was simi-
larly buried at Pershore.^ Having now seen that earl Odda was estab-
lished at Deerhurst as at Longdon, we may follow up the clue given
by the Pershore annals, and ask whether we cannot connect him with
the great transfer to Westminster of lands formerly held by Pershore.
That ' most wicked earl, Delfer,' of whom, said the monks, he was
the heir, was no other than JEKhere, ealdorman of Mercia {d. 983),
who had led the anti-monastic reaction after the death of Eadgar (d.
975), and of whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that he 'com-
manded the monasteries to be demolished, which king Eadgar had be-
fore commanded the holy bishop ^thelwold to found,'

' and monks expelled
and God's servants persecuted.' ^

If, as stated in the Pershore annals, it was he who despoiled the abbey
of so large a portion of its lands, we understand how Longdon, which
Eadgar had confirmed to the house, came to be found in the hands
of his heir, earl Odda. It seems therefore to me possible that what
really happened was that, on Odda's death (1056), king Edward
seized all his lands, as he left no heir, and refused to recognise his
undertaking to restore the Pershore manors.^ The king would thus be
able to bestow them on his new foundation. Although Longdon is the
only manor that Domesday names as having been Odda's, the great
record was not concerned with a man who had died thirty years before
it was compiled, and his estates were probably of wide extent. The
above suggestion is but tentative, although it is quite in harmony with
what we elsewhere read of the fate, especially in Worcestershire, of
monastic lands. When they had been held for a time by laymen, the
monks' claim had little weight ; possession then, as now, was ' nine points
of the law.'

Apart from his distinct connection with Pershore Abbey and its
lands, earl Odda has a claim on the historian of Worcestershire if, as
Mr. Freeman thought, he was the local earl in the last years of his life.*
But the fact that he attested three charters of Ealdred bishop of
Worcester seems to be insufficient ground for this belief, seeing that,
in all three cases, earl Leofric attests before him. Odda obtained his
earldom, which was that of the south-western counties, during the
ascendancy of the Normanizing party in 105 1—2 ; a kinsman of the
king he supported him warmly against earl Godwine and was chosen,
with earl Ralf of Hereford, to command the king's fleet in 1052. Al-
though sometimes styled ' Odo,' he was doubtless a native, as Mr.
Freeman held,^ though I do not agree with that writer that he bore the

* Florence of Worcester, I. 211. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, II. 99.

' The Pershore annals state that he refrained from marriage in order that he might have
no heir to claim them. He very possibly bargained that the lands should remain his for life.

* ' His connection with the Hwiccian land and its monasteries points to Worcestershire,
or possibly Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, as the district under his charge.' {Norman
Conqueit [1870], II. 565-6.) * Ibid. pp. 564-5.

259

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

name of ^Ethelwine ' after his monastic profession.' The Pershore
annals give his epitaph, which speaks of him as originally ' iEdwinus
vocatus in baptismo,' and he may have adopted the name Odo (which
was Anglicized as ' Odda ') when he joined the foreign party. The
English chronicle describes him at his death as ' a good man and pure,
and very noble ' ; and Worcestershire, where he rests, may claim this
lord of Longdon as one of the earliest names that adorns its roll of
worthies.

It was probably the remoteness of its great estate in this part of
the world that led Westminster Abbey to enfeoff almost all its knights
there.^ For the obnoxious duty of providing knights was laid upon
it as on Worcester. It is a striking feature of the Domesday survey
of the abbey's lands in Worcestershire that the irrepressible sheriff
Urse is entered as its tenant in no fewer than fourteen places, holding
in all some 50 hides. This holding was represented, eighty years
later, by the seven knights' fees which his heir, William de Beau-
champ, then held of the abbey. ^ The largest of the abbey's manors
held, in Domesday, by Urse was that of 'Newentune' (10 hides), which
obtained from his heirs its name of Naunton Beauchamp. Next in
importance among the abbey's vassals in 11 66 was Hugh 'Puher,' who
held three knights' fees,^ representing some 20 hides which Walter
' Ponther ' held of the abbey in 1086.* It is remarkable that, as we saw
was the case with the Worcester fief, the Westminster return of knights
(1166) commences with the statement that the King himself owes the
Abbot the service of one knight in respect of ' Stokes in Wirecestrescira,'
that is of Severnstoke, which was then in his hands.^

Pershore Abbey, in spite of its large holding in the county (100
hides), was only called on to supply two or three knights — the Abbot
said two, and he seems to have carried his point.* The entry of its
Domesday fief, though by no means long, is interesting and instructive.
In no fewer than seven cases had Urse, the insatiable sheriff, obtained
lands on the fief, while his brother Robert, in addition, had secured
3^ hides at Wadborough. It is clear, however, that the Domesday
Commissioners overhauled the claims even of the dreaded Urse. In
one case his predecessor, they record, had only a life interest in the
land ; in another he was ' the third heir ' under a lease for three lives,
so that the land, they record, should revert to the abbey at his death.
In two cases he pleaded that the land was given him by the King, and
in one of these he admitted that he was bound to render the abbey
' service ' for it. Of his hide at Bransford, the county (court) asserted

* See the return of its knights in 1166 {Red Book of the Exchequer, pp. 188-9). And
compare the 1212 return in Testa de Nevill (p. 43).

2 Ibid. 3 Ibid.

* All in Worcestershire, save one hide in Gloucestershire (Domesday).

^ Red Book of the Exchequer, pp. 59, 132, 188. (It is not identified by the editor.) See
also The Commune of London and other studies, p. 265.

* The I2I2 survey states his lands to be free save Beoley and Caldecot, from which two
knights were due.

260

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

that ' it belonged to the church of Pershore in the time of king Edward,
and yet the abbot of Evesham was holding it on the day of king
Edward's death, but they knew not how.' Comparing the case of Acton
on the opposite page of Domesday, we shall hardly err in concluding
that, as alleged by the monks of Evesham, Bransford was among the
manors acquired by abbot iEthelwig,* and obtained, on the Abbot's death,
by bishop Odo. The Bishop must then have given it to Urse. The
Pershore lands he held in 1086 amounted only, in all, to g^ hides ;
in I 166 his heir, William de Beauchamp, is returned as holding one
of the two knights' fees created on the abbey's lands.

The list of the great Worcestershire houses is closed by Evesham
Abbey, which was charged with the service of five knights ^ in respect
of a fief comprising, we must remember, not only the 65 hides assigned
to it by Domesday in Worcestershire, but lands in three other counties.
Although as many as six ' Frenchmen ' [francigence) are found as tenants
on its Worcestershire estate, there is a singular absence of those cases in
which Normans had obtained possession, by subinfeudation, of church
lands. Indeed, except for the solitary hide held at Bengeworth by
Urse,^ the only case is at (Abbot's) Morton, of which the 5 hides were
held by ' Rannulf,' who was clearly the brother of abbot Walter men-
tioned in Heming's Cartulary as present at the great plea with Wor-
cester.* This Ranulf also held of the abbey 3 hides at Kinwarton,
Warwickshire, and is claimed, apparently with good reason, as the
founder of the house of Wrottesley.

The other church lands entered in the Worcestershire Domesday
are, comparatively speaking, insignificant. The bishop of Hereford, at
Inkberrow, in addition to the 5 hides which he held there of the bishop
of Worcester (fo. 173), had 15I hides belonging to his see, which ' Earl
Harold wrongfully held, but King William restored' (fo. 174). The
hide that St. Mary of Coventry held at Salwarpe had been virtually
absorbed by the sheriff in his park ; St. Peter of Gloucester had rights
in Droitwich ; St. Guthlac of Hereford one hide there ; and the priests
of the collegiate church of Wolverhampton retained their small estate at
Lutley. Of foreign religious houses the great abbey of St. Denis prob-
ably owed its rights at Droitwich to its possession of a large estate in
Gloucestershire appendant to its priory at Deerhurst, which would make
these rights useful to its monks. Of the abbey of Cormeilles I have
spoken above, so that there remains only the gift by Ralf ' de Todeni '
of 4 hides at Astley to the abbey of St. Taurin at Evreux, the monks of
which founded there a cell that became an alien priory.''

In Worcestershire we learn practically nothing of the parish churches
and their endowments from Domesday. Of priests, indeed, there is

* See p. 254 above. * Feudal England, pp. 303-4.
^ See p. 254 above.

* See p. 255 above, and Feudal England, p. 302.

* His gift of Alton in Rock to the abbey of St. Evroul (see my Calendar of Documents
preserved in France, p. 219. and Heming's Cartulary, p. 255) is not mentioned in Domesday.

261

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

frequent mention, but they are normally entered in connection with the
ploughs, at the head of the agricultural classes. At Pedmore the priest
is even entered between the villeins and the bordars (fo. 177), while in
another case (fo. 1771^) we read of '18 bordars and i priest with i
plough.' At Broughton there are entered '5 villeins and 10 bordars
and a church and a priest,' who have between them six ploughs (fo.
ijjb), and at Halesowen the villeins, bordars, ' Radmans,' 'and a church
with two priests' have between them 41 1 ploughs (fo. 176). It is
clear, therefore, that in this county Domesday is only interested in the
priests and churches as owners, with the agricultural classes, of the
all-important plough-oxen. There is occasional entry, however, of tithes
as bestowed on religious houses ; Westminster Abbey had received the
tithes of the King's revenues at Droitwich (fo. ij^b), and William Fitz-
Osbern had bestowed on his abbeys of Cormeilles and of Lyre those of
his Worcestershire estates (fo. i8o<^).^

Of the lay holders of land in the shire earl Roger claims precedence,
but his holding is chiefly of interest for his great manor of Halesowen
being, in consequence of that tenure, transferred to his own county of
Shropshire, only to be restored in modern times.^ His one other manor,
Salwarpe, was secured by Urse as under-tenant, and in its woodland he
made his park, which absorbed the church of Coventry's land there,
of which also he was under-tenant. Next to earl Roger we must rank
William Fitz Ansculf the lord of Dudley, Ralf de Tosni ('Todeni'),
Osbern Fitz Richard of Richard's Castle, and the terrible Urse the sheriff.
These four had considerable estates, but only the first and fourth need
special notice here. For Ralf and Osbern were Herefordshire lords,
the former holding Clifford Castle, while his chief seat appears to have
been at Flamstead in Hertfordshire. William Fitz Ansculf, whose
castle at Dudley and its ' castlery ' are mentioned, had succeeded his
father Ansculf, who had been sheriff of Surrey, and, apparently, of Bucks,
and who belonged to the great Picard house of the vidames of Picquigny.
From Ansculf's brother Ghilo descended the baronial house of 'Pinkeney,'
the head of whose barony was in Northamptonshire. William Fitz
Ansculf appears in Domesday as a tenant-in-chief in eleven counties, in
some of which, especially in Bucks, he held great estates. His
Worcestershire lands were but a small portion of the fief of which
Dudley was the head, and which was afterwards held, as the barony of
Dudley, by the families of Paynel and of Someri.

The dominant personality revealed to us, in Worcestershire, by
Domesday is that of Urse the sheriff. In Mr. Freeman's vigorous
words :

The terrible sheriff . . . Urse of Abetot was only the chief of a whole band
of Norman spoilers, who seem to have fallen with special eagerness on the lands of
the Church in this particular shire. But the sheriff was the greatest and most
daring offender of all. He built his castle in the very jaws of the monks of
Worcester so that the foss of the fortress encroached on the monastic burying-
ground.'

* See p. 240 above. * See p. 238 above. ^ Norman Conquest (187 i), IV. 171.

262

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

He then tells the ' famous tale ' of Ealdred, archbishop of York and
protector of the see of Worcester, examining the site and denouncing
Urse in the grim English lines :

Hightest thou Urse,
Have thou God's curse.*

Urse derived the surname which Worcestershire still preserves in
Croome d'Abitot and Redmarley d'Abitot from St. Jean d'Abbetot
some tw^elve miles to the east of Havre. In one instance, it is interesting
to observe, Domesday gives him the alternative name of Urse ' de
Wirecestre ' (fo. i6()b), an illustration of the practice by which sheriffs,
in the Norman period, were assigned the names of the capitals of their
shires. This is particularly well seen in the case of the sheriffs of
Gloucestershire, who held the office by hereditary right, and who, from
the Conqueror's reign, took their name from Gloucester till raised to an
earldom by the empress Maud in 1 141. There can be no question that
the shrievalty of Worcestershire also was hereditary, and that Urse was
succeeded in it by his son Roger.^ On the fief passing to Urse's son-in-
law, Walter de Beauchamp, he obtained the shrievalty also, and was
succeeded in it, as I have elsewhere shown, by his son William.^

It seemed desirable to explain this point at some length, because it
is asserted by Professor Freeman that Urse was sheriff of Gloucestershire
as well as Worcestershire.^ The statement has been copied by a local
writer, but it is without foundation. Durand (de Pitres), sheriff of
Gloucestershire at the time of Domesday, is there styled ' Durandus vice-
comes,'^ and his fief is headed 'Terra Durandi de Glowecestria.' The
interest of Urse in that county was limited to the one hide he held, as a
tenant-in-chief, at Seisincote ; Worcestershire alone was the scene of
his remarkable proceedings.^ The traces they left upon that county
were deep and of long duration. For the acquisition of his wide
possessions by his son-in-law, Walter de Beauchamp, founded a great
territorial house long mighty in Worcestershire and famous in our feudal
history. Although in Worcestershire he held of the Crown a fief at
least as large as that of any other lay tenant,' his real power, as a land-

' The authority for this story is William of Malmesbury's Gesta Pontificum, and its date,
as Mr. Freeman points out, must be anterior to Ealdred's death in Sept. 1069.

^ The charter of Henry I. in favour of the prior of Worcester and his monks is
addressed ' Waltero vicecomiti Gloucest[rie] et Rogero vicecomiti de Wirecestria ' (Hale's
Registrum Prioratus Beata Maria Wigorniemis^ p. 30).

^ In her charter to William (1141 ?) the Empress says : ' Dedi ei et reddidi vicecomitatum
Wigorn[ie] ... in feodo et hereditarie per eandem firmam quam pater eius Walterus de
Bellocampo inde reddebat' (Geoffrey de Mandeville, p. 313).

* ' We find that the two shires were put under a single sheriff, Urse of Abetot, who stands
conspicuous amongst the most oppressive of his class, and whose hand seems to have fallen
heavily on clerks and laymen alike' {Norman Conquest [1871], IV. 174). ' Urse, Ursus, Urso
of Abetot, appears in Domesday as sheriff of both Worcestershire and Gloucestershire ; and
we hear much of his evil deeds in both shires' {Ibid. [1876], V. 760).

^ fo. 168^, et passim.

® He had also, as a tenant-in-chief, holdings of no great consequence in Herefordshire
and Warwickshire. ' About 40 hides.

263

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

owner, in the county consisted in the vast extent of land he held as an
under-tenant. The baronial houses ofBeauchamp 'ofElmley,' Beauchamp
' of Powyk,' and Beauchamp ' of Holt,' all derived their names from
places which Urse or his brother Robert the Despencer held as under-
tenants of the churches of Westminster and Worcester. It would, indeed,
hardly be safe, at this stage of our history, to estimate the amount of
church land which thus passed to the Beauchamps, for Urse lived some
twenty years beyond the Domesday Survey, and seems to have secured
fresh lands between the survey and his death. But we have to remember
that he also held, on a small scale, of sundry others, of Nigel the
physician, of the bishop of Bayeux, of earl Roger, of Osbern Fitz
Richard, and of Ralf 'de Todeni,' besides securing nearly 12 hides on the
royal manor of Bromsgrove.

It is clear that Urse obtained several of those manors which the
bishop of Bayeux had made his own on the death of abbot iEthelwig.^
Two of those which he held in chief are the subject, in Domesday, ot
short narratives. Half a hide at Droitwich had been held, T.R.E., by
Evesham Abbey, to which it was given by the father of a youth who was
made a monk there in 1047-8. Then the Abbot granted it for life to an
uncle of his, on whose death at Stamfordbridge the abbey recovered this
land ' before king William came into England.' Abbot iEthelwig held
it till his death, and abbot Walter held it after him ' for more than seven
years.' But at the time of the survey Urse was in possession. We have
here an interesting note of time in connection with the date of Domes-
day.^ Of the manor which follows Domesday tells us that the abbot
of Evesham held it T.R.E., ' having bought it from a certain thegn who
had a right to sell it.' Here we are struck by the close correspondence
between the language of Domesday and that of Heming's Cartulary.^
These two manors are preceded by that of Upton (Warren), which was
held by Urse, though ' the county ' said that it had been held by abbot
iEthelwig, and ought rightfully to belong to the abbey (fo. lyjb). Now

' See p. 261 above.

^ The chronology of the abbots of Evesham, under the Conqueror, is by no means
clear. Abbot iEthelwig died of gout 16 Feb. ' 1077 ' (Chron. Evesham, p. 95), and ' tercio
quoque mense post discessum patris hujus Agelwii ' {Ibid. p. 96, and Harl. MS. 3,763, fo.
I'jib) there was appointed abbot Walter, Wfhose succession, therefore, is dated in 'May, 1077.'
Mr. Freeman reckoned the years of Walter's rule as ' 1077-1084 ' {Norman Conquest, IV. 388),
and observed of the Domesday entry that 'as Walter succeeded in 1077, ^^^ alienation is
fixed as late as 1084' [Ibid. V. 765). It is tempting to conclude that Urse had taken advan-
tage of abbot Walter's death to seize the manor. But what the Evesham MS. (Harl. MS.
3,763, fo. 171^^) says of Walter is that 'cum fere octo ann[is] isti ecclesie profuisset, diem
suum clausit extremum xiii kal. Febr. [20 Jan.] anno vero gracie millesimo lxxxvi.' {sic).
And this date is accepted by the editor of the Chronicle (p. 98) as 1086. As this would
assign Walter a rule of nearly nine (not ' nearly eight ') years, there must, on any hypothesis,
be an error somewhere. It is tempting, as I said, to connect the ' fere octo annis ' of the
Evesham MS. with the ' amplius quam vii annis ' of Domesday, and to conclude that abbot
Walter died in January ' 1085' (which may mean 1085 or 1086, just as his accession in
'1077' would be 1077 or 1078); but Florence of Worcester, a good authority, dates
Walter's death 20 Jan., 1104 ! In any case, Urse's possession of the land must have been
recent at the time of the Survey.

^ See p. 267 below.

264

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

these three manors are all among those of which, the Evesham Chronicle
asserts, the abbey was deprived by the bishop of Bayeux on the death
of abbot ^thelwig. So also were Acton (Beauchamp) and ' Lenche,'
which Domesday enters under ' the bishop of Bayeux's land' (fo. 176).
It tells us that the former had belonged to Evesham Abbey T.R.E., and
that Urse had received it from the Abbot in exchange for other land, and
that, in 1086, he held it ' of the bishop of Bayeux's fee.' The Evesham
Chronicle (p. 95) explains this by saying that Acton was the patrimony
of ^Ethelwig, who had given it, with ' Brainesford,' to Urse in exchange
for Bengeworth, which he occupied wrongfully,^ but that ' he detains
wrongfully all three.' And Domesday shows him accordingly, on the
opposite page (fo. 175^), occupying Bransford, which the 'county' said
had been held by the abbot of Evesham when king Edward died.^ The
last case is that of ' Lenche ' (which I identify with Sheriff's Lench),
held in 1086, of the Bishop's fee, by Urse. Domesday tells us that
Evesham Abbey ' was seized of it for many years, till the bishop of
Bayeux took it from the abbey and gave it to Urse.' The Evesham
Chronicle speaks of it as ' Leinch quam Ursini tenent contra Rotulum
Winton ' (p. 97), which must clearly refer to the above entry in
Domesday. In all these cases, therefore, the evidence of the Evesham
Chronicle is in virtual harmony with that of Domesday, the entries in
which, indeed, it helps to explain.

It should be observed that Urse had extensive rights at Droitwich ;
of the sixteen estates he held in chief, no fewer than ten entitled him to
a share in the proceeds of its salt, a total of 2 1 1 saltpans and 7 burgesses
being entered as his. The existence also of his ' park,' close by, at
Salwarpe points to his personal residence, while a careful examination of
fos. 172, 172*^, will show that he 'farmed,' as sheriff, the royal rights at
Droitwich, which were important and extensive enough to give him
much opportunity for oppression. Here we have the explanation of a
passage which has given rise to misapprehension. Domesday states that
Sodbury (Gloucestershire), then in the King's hands, had land in
(Droit) wich from which it was entitled to receive yearly 25 sestiers of
salt ; ' but the sheriff Urse has so impoverished (vastavit) the tenants that
they cannot now render the salt' (fo. 163-^).

Robert the Despencer, Urse's brother, occurs prominently in
Heming's Cartulary as a despoiler of the church of Worcester,' and
Domesday reveals him also as securing her lands at Piddle, Moor, and
Hill, a hide at Knightwick, and a house at Worcester. From Pershore
Abbey also he obtained an estate, at Wadborough, where he had his
' park.' His lands, therefore, in the main, lay about Pershore. In this
county, however, he was not a tenant-in-chief, as he was in some others.
I have elsewhere shown * that Robert's fief did not, as has been alleged,

* The chronicle here adds, 'sicut medietatem iterum postea fecit.' For Bengeworth,
and the fate of its two moieties, see p. 254 above. * See p. 261 above.

* At Lawern (p. 253), Elmley (p. 268), and Charlton (p. 269).

* Feudal England, pp. 175-6, 179, 194-5.

265

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

pass entire to the Marmions, but was divided, especially in Worcester-
shire, between them and the Beauchamps, the heirs of his brother Urse.
As for Urse himself, his rule in Worcestershire must have lasted nearly
forty years ; for it began, as we saw above, soon after the Conquest, and
he is still found acting as sheriff under Henry I. In the fate of Roger,
his son and heir, who incurred that monarch's vengeance, his contempo-
raries saw the fulfilment of Ealdred's curse, but his daughter brought to
Walter de Beauchamp the vast estates of which the history has yet to be
largely written from the great cartulary of the Beauchamp family now in
the British Museum.'

Of the smaller Worcestershire tenants-in-chief, who held from four
to six manors (or estates) apiece, Ralf de Mortimer and Roger de Laci
were great lords on the Welsh border, and Drogo Fitz Ponz, the
collateral ancestor of the Cliffords of Clifford Castle, will, like them, be
dealt with, more appropriately, in Herefordshire. Gilbert Fitz Turold,
however, though also a tenant on the March, may fairly claim, under
Worcestershire, some mention. For in this county we have proof of
what had, indeed, been suspected, namely, that Gilbert was one of the
followers of the great William Fitz Osbern, earl of Hereford. We read,
of Hadsor, in Heming's Cartulary, that ' after the Normans conquered
this country, earl William took it from the monastery (of Worcester)
and gave it to a certain officer of his, Gilbert by name.' ^ And Domesday
shows us Hadsor in possession of Gilbert Fitz Turold. Again, Domesday
tells us of Lench (fo. 176) that ' of this land Gilbert Fitz Turold gave
two hides to Evesham Abbey for the soul of earl William, by consent of
king William.' Gilbert's holding in capite within the shire was only
some 10 hides, but, as an under-tenant of the churches of Westminster
and Worcester, he was a larger holder than this at Comberton, Powick,
and Longdon. His seat, which had been given him by earl William,
was in Herefordshire on the Welsh border, and there he had a fortified
house and ' a great wood for hunting.'

We have now seen something of the Normans, into whose hands
there passed the estates of dispossessed Englishmen. The one manor
which Domesday shows us retained in English hands is that of Chad-
desley, which ' Eddeve ' (Eadgifu) still held as she had done before
the Conquest. Of the Normans who had come in under Edward
the Confessor, Osbern Fitz Richard had retained a manor he then held,
and had succeeded to four others which had been his father's ; Alvred of
Marlborough also had retained, and indeed increased his lands at Severn-
stoke. Otherwise the change was great. Worcestershire, however, had
not been a land of great thegns ; the extent of church lands made this
impossible. Eadwine, the local earl, had been succeeded by the King,
but his local estates were limited, apparently, to the great manor of
Bromsgrove and those of Suckley and Dudley. It should be observed
that he had established on some 12 hides appurtenant to Bromsgrove six

* Add. MS. 28,024. * Heming's Cartulary, I. 263.

266

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

thegns of his, whose names are given, and of whom a remarkable formula
records that they could not withdraw themselves from ' the lord of the
manor.' Feckenham also, with its lo hides, was held of him by five
thegns, who, on the contrary, ' could betake themselves with (their)
land whither they would,' ^ and of whom is made the remarkable state-
ment that they ' had under them four knights {niilites) as free as
they were themselves' (fo. i8o(^). Another of his thegns, 'Simon,'
is found on fo. 176^, and in my notes on the text I have shown his
identity with the ' Simund ' who held Crowle, and who, though
Domesday does not say so, we know from Heming's Cartulary to
have been a Danish thegn of earl Leofric. Two thegns of earl N\i-
gar are mentioned on fo. 176. Some English holders are styled
' thegns of king Edward,' as was the case with Bricsmar, who had
held Hadsor (fo. 177). A story told in Heming's Cartulary throws
a valuable light on the nature of this tenure. We read that Hadsor
had been held by Brihtwine, a wealthy man, ' who possessed it by
inheritance freely, having, that is, the power of giving it or selling
it to whom he would,^ as (being) his paternal inheritance, for which
he owed service to no one but the King.' This Brihtwine, we learn,
was succeeded by his son Brihtmar, the ' Bricsmar ' of Domesday,

Although Worcestershire lay within the sphere, not of the house of
Godwine, but of the house of Leofric, earl Godwine had held there the
valuable manor of Wichbold. When we turn from earls to ordinary
thegns, it becomes extremely difficult to ascertain their identity, except
where a story in Heming's Cartulary comes to our help. In a solitary
case, however, Domesday shows us an Englishman, Sawold, holding
freely T.R.E. two Worcestershire estates, which had passed in 1086 to
Ralph de Mortimer, but on one of which Sawold's son was then farm-
ing the land as Ralph's tenant. It is probable also that the Wulfmar
who occurs at the end of the survey as holding, at Hilhampton, a
wretched little waste virgate, was the man of that name who had pre-
ceded Ralf de Todeni and Drogo Fitz Ponz in certain other manors in
the same part of the shire. Something may here be said of the English
sheriff of the shire, Urse's predecessor, Kineward. He was a principal
witness at the great plea between Worcester and Evesham, when he
deposed to the practice in Oswaldslow under Edward the Confessor.'
His home was at Lawern, which the monks of Worcester asserted he
had held of them, and had restored to them at his death, having been
undisturbed there. But they had not held it long, they said, when
Urse's brother, Robert the Despencer, took it from them wrongfully
with other lands.* Domesday only shows us Robert as his successor

* That is to say, they could commend themselves to what lord they would.

^ ' possidebat liberaliter, habens videlicet potestatem donandi sive vendendi earn
cuicumque vellet' (I. 263). Compare, at the end of the Worcestershire Survey, abbot
^ffithelwig's purchase of a manor, 'a quodam taino qui terram suam recte poterat vendere
cui vellet' (fo. 177^).

^ Heming's Cartulary, I. 82. * Ihid. I. 253.

267

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

at ' Laure ' (Lawern) and in other lands which I suspect to have
been at Elmley (fo. 174). But in another quarter we find him, as
' Kynewardus de Lauro,' witnessing the charter granted, in 1072, by
Robert de Stafford to Evesham.' If, as there is no reason to doubt,
Kineward held Laugherne till his death, it is obvious that the story
told by the monks throws back the great plea between Worcester and
Evesham to a date several years earlier than that of the Domesday
Survey.

If Worcestershire is remarkable in Domesday for the amount of its
church land, it has also a peculiar and dominant feature in Droitwich
and its salt industry. It is not too much to say that Droitwich pervades
the survey of the shire. The actual ownership of the place was divided
in a quite peculiar manner between about a dozen tenants-in-chief,
who had, each of them, fractional holdings. But, in addition to
this, the tenants of many scattered manors possessed there ' burgesses,'
saltpans, or rights to a supply of salt. The clue to the Domesday
assessment of Droitwich is found in an entry at the foot of fo. 176,
that Ralf de Todeni 'holds in (Droit) wich i hide, out of 10 hides
that pay geld.'" A special survey of Droitwich, which was found
and printed by me,^ and which seems to belong to the latter part of
Henry I.'s reign, is headed ' Hee sunt x bids in Wich.' We have
then to recover from Domesday the constituents of 10 hides. They
seem to have been as follows :

Westminster Abbey

St. Denis' Abbey .

Coventry Abbey

St. Guthlac of Hereford .

St. Peter of Gloucester ,

King's Hall at Gloucester

Ralf de ' Todeni ' .

Harold, son of earl Ralf .

Roger de Laci

William, son of Corbucion (in Witton)

Urse d'Abetot (in Witton)

ides

Burgesses

I
I

I
2

1 1

10 100

This would give us exactly 10 hides for Droitwich, a quarter of which
(2I) would be in Witton.*

* Salt (StafiFordshire) Arch. Coll., II. 178. In this charter (which is known to us only
from an Elizabethan translation) his name is followed by that of ' Harlebaldus,' a leading
result under-tenant of Urse. The sheriff Urse also is himself a witness.

' This is the entry that Professor Maitland misunderstood (see p. 241 above), with the
that he assigned 15^ hides to (Droit)wich and 2| to Witton.
^ Feudal England, pp. 177, 1 80. See also p. 330 below.

* It is right, however, to observe that Domesday states of Westminster Abbey's hide
that it had never paid geld, and that the later survey, though headed (as above) ' these are the
10 hides,' accounts for iif hides.

268

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

In addition to the hundred burgesses accounted for above, there are
13 others definitely assigned to Droitwich, and there are some whose
locale is not mentioned. The former were appurtenant to Wichbold,
and owed there reaping and other service (fo. ij6b). Houses also
are mentioned as held in Droitwich, in two or three cases, by owners
of other manors. But it is with the ' salins ' that we meet most
frequently. Some misapprehension has arisen from the entry of

• Salinas ' under other places, without the explanation that they were
situated in Droitwich ; the existence of local saltworks has been
wrongly deduced from these entries. As a matter of fact, many places
outside Worcestershire possessed ' salins ' or rights to salt at Droit-
wich. That Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire should
supply instances in point may not be surprising ; but so far afield as
Oxfordshire we have cases at Bampton^ and Rollright,^ while even
in Bucks (Prince's) Risborough had its saltworker at Droitwich.^ It
appears to me that these rights, belonging to manors at a distance,
must have been due to some extent to their lords having at Droitwich
also territorial interests. In Warwickshire, for instance, the Domesday
holders of Witton in Droitwich, William son of Corbucion and Urse
d'Abetot, held sundry manors. The former's chief seat was at Studley, to
which we find appurtenant a saltpan, which must have been at Droitwich,*
whence also salt was due to another of his Warwickshire manors.^ A
Droitwich saltpan similarly belonged to a Warwickshire manor of
Urse.® It is probable that Earl Eadwine, who had large interests at
Droitwich, had similarly bestowed rights there on distant manors of his
own before the Conquest.

Although the process of salt manufacture must be dealt with in the
section devoted to industries, it may be mentioned here that Domesday
contains several allusions to the process. In addition to the brine-pits,
the ' Salinas,' and the somewhat mysterious ' hocci,' we have, under
Bromsgrove 3 saltworkers and 6 leaden pans {plumbi) for their work ;
and two of these leaden pans are mentioned under Tardebigg as distinct
from the ' salinas.' A place for making these pans {fabrica plumbi) is
mentioned under Northwick (fo. ij^^)-, and 4 furnaces {furni) stood on the
Westminster Abbey estate. The consumption of wood at the saltworks
must have been very great. The Bishop's wood at Fladbury, we read
(fo. 173), supplied 'ligna ad salinas de Wich,' while Bromsgrove sent yearly

* *De . . . salinis de Wic ' (154^). * 'III summae salis ad Wich' (i6oi).
' 'Adhuc unus salinarius de Wicg reddens summas {sic) salis' (143^).

* ' Salina reddens xix summas salis ' (243). Studley was just over the Worcestershire
border, and William's heirs removed thither the religious house they had originally
founded at Witton. Thus it was that Studley Priory came to hold St. Peter's, Witton.
In addition to Witton, William held, as an under-tenant of Westminster Abbey, the valuable
manor of Dormston, Worcestershire, which was represented by the one knight's fee held of
the Abbey in 1 1 66 by Peter ' de Stodlega,' William's heir. In the Droitwich survey he
holds the two hides at Witton as Peter ' Corbezun,' the family being known by both names.

® (Binton): 'de Wich iii summas salis' (243). * 'Salina in Wich reddens iii solidos '

(243^). ' Salters' way ' was the road from Droitwich through Alcester to Stratford-on-Avon.

* Salt Street ' seems to have run south-east towards Stow-on-the-Wold.

269

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

300 cartloads, which produced 300 ' mits ' of salt. This was probably
the usual proportion, for a ' salina ' of the Bishop is entered as producing
'100 "mits" of salt for 100 cartloads of wood ' (fo. 173^). The monks
of Westminster also obtained 100 ' mits,' and sent 100 cartloads of wood
from (Martin) Hussingtree (fo. 174^). Three measures seem to have
been used for the salt produced, namely the horse-load {sutnma), the
' sestier ' [sextarium), and the ' mit ' (jnitta). The meaning of the last, a
local word, has been, fortunately, preserved for us by Habington in a
passage which explains several of the words used by Domesday in this
connection :

The saltwater drawne out of the wells is in a singular proportion of Justyce con-
veyghed into seates called anciently Salina . . . wheare after it is boyled in
leaden pans and converted to salt, it is dryed in barowes made of twigs and sally,
somewhat open, so as the moysture may run from the salt. Foure of these barowes,
conteygninge about towe bushells of Salt are named a Mit}

The Worcestershire woodlands were of value for more than as a
source of fuel for the saltworks. Their uses are suggestively described
in the cases of two of the Bishop's manors. At Fladbury, besides the
wood for Droitwich, he had the hunting and the honey (as he also had at
Bredon) ; in Malvern chase he used to have, in the woods belonging to
his manors of Ripple and Upton, the hunting and the honey, and still
had ' the pannage and (wood for) firing and for repairs.' In another of
his manors it is mentioned that his tenant at Whittington had ' only
woodland (sufficient) for firing' (fo. 173). Pannage was a source of
substantial profit when great herds of swine were kept to provide the
pork of which such large quantities were then salted for food. Stretch-
ing back from Hanley (Castle) were woods from which six swineherds
brought to their lord the king sixty swine a year (fo. i^ob). On the
other side of the county, at Inkberrow, the bishop of Hereford received
a hundred from a broad stretch of woodland (fo. 174). Crowle, in the
heart of the county, had 'woodland for a hundred swine' (fo. ij6b).
Honey was a product of more importance in those days than now. The
great royal manor of Pershore, under Edward the Confessor, had supplied
50 sestiers of honey, in addition to its money-rent. A rent of one sestier
of honey was still paid at the time of Domesday by a mill at Cleeve
(Priors), by a priestly tenant at Witley, and by each of three ' coliberts '
at Powick, while a freeman at Wolverley paid two sestiers as his rent.
Nor was the honey that of wild bees only ; at Suckley (fo. i%ob) we
find a bee-master [castas apium) with twelve hives.^ Mr. Seebohm has

^ Habyngton's Survey, II. 297. In Halli well's Dictionary of Archaic fVords, he cites
Kennett (MS. Lansd. 1,033) ^'^ ''^^ effect that 'At Nantwich and Droitwich, the conical
baskets wherein they put the salt to let the water drain from it are called barrows. A barrow
contained about six pecks.' This would make the ' Mit ' about six bushels — a very different
reckoning. It should be added that a ' Mit ' was considered equivalent to a horse-load
according to Hale's Registrum (34(7), ' invenient singulis annis equos diebus Dominicis ad
portandum sal de Wich apud Wigorniam . . . quilibet equus portabit unam mittam.'

^ This was the old English ' beo-ceorl,' on whom see the valuable remarks in Andrews'
Old English Manor, pp. 205-8.

270

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

drawn special attention to the prevalence of honey-rents in Wales and
on the Welsh border, and has explained that ' honey had two uses,
besides its being the substitute for the modern sugar — one for the
making of mead, which was three times the price of beer ; the other for
the wax for candles used in the chief's household, and on the altar of the
mass.'^

In Norman eyes, however, the value of the woodland for hunting
was even greater than in those of Edward the Confessor and his thegns.
Earl William had installed huntsmen at Feckenham in the east of the
county and at Bushley and Hanley (Castle) in the west ; king William,
his friend and lord, had taken into the royal forest many a stretch of
woodland, and the ' huntsman ' mentioned under Lippard belonged
perhaps to that portion which ran almost, if not quite, up to Worcester
on the east/ The woods at Chadwick in Bromsgrove, Kidderminster,
and Malvern (the Bishop's portion) are specially stated to have been
added by the King to the forest, as is half the woodland at Alvechurch,
together with that at Woodcote. At Shelve (fo. 176^) the wood had
been ' missa in defenso,' and on fo. 180^ we read that the woodland
of Feckenham, ' foris est missa ad silvam regis,' as had been the ' park
for beasts of the chase,' with all the woodland in HoUoway adjoining.
The great stretch of woodland behind Hanley (Castle) had been taken
into Malvern Chase {missa est foris), and the King had also laid his hands
on the woods of Queenhill near by and of Eldersfield to the south-west
(fo, i8oi^). Thus the forests of Feckenham and of Wyre and the chase
of Malvern were all gainers under William. In the woods belonging
to Bromsgrove were four ' eyries of hawks,' and in that of Hanley
(Castle) one (fo. 180^). The 'hay' or hedged enclosure 'in which
wild animals were captured' (fo. lybb) is mentioned at Holt, at
' Chintune,' and at Hanley Castle (fo, 163^). At Lawern, the home of
Kineward, the last English sheriff, the survey records ' 1 2 oaks,' an entry
perhaps unique in Domesday.

In some counties the amount of woodland is reckoned, in the great
Survey, by the number of swine that could feed there or that it was
worth ; in others it is somewhat obscurely reckoned in leagues {lewce)
and furlongs {quarentena) . Worcestershire belonged to the latter class,
its woodland being almost exclusively measured in these terms. Mr.
Eyton, who devoted to these measures much attention, held strongly
that the ' lewa ' was equal to 12 ' quarentens,' that is 2,640 yards, or a
mile and a half.* So far as Worcestershire, however, is concerned, we
never find a higher figure than 3 ' quarentens ' below the ' lewa.' The
inference certainly is very strong that this was because the ' lewa ' con-
sisted of only 4 'quarentens,' that is of half a mile. Such a modification
of Mr. Eyton's conclusion* would reduce very greatly the amount of

* English Village Community, pp. 207— 8, 211, 213.

* The woods at Warndon, Cadley, and Pirie (in St. Martin's, Worcester), Bredicot,
Churchill, and Aston White Ladies were all 'in the forest' (fo. 173^).

* Key to Domesday : Dorset, pp. 25-28. ■* It is also that of other antiquaries.

271

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

woodland in the country. On the other hand, it is possible, and even
probable, that the woodland then, as in later times, was measured by a
larger perch than that which was in common use ; but our knowledge
of the measures then prevailing in different districts, and for different
purposes, is too slight to enable us to speak with confidence on this
point. In any case it will be obvious to intelligent students of the
Survey that measurement in such terms as these could be only of a
crude nature, and that we cannot accept it as more than a rough
estimate.^

Several fisheries are mentioned, but their value was not great.
Their proceeds, contrary to what might be expected, are always, when men-
tioned, eels, of which Martley annually supplied nearly three thousand.
This number was quite exceptional, and it was more usual to find a mill
liable for a small render of eels from the mill pool. There is a curious
incidental allusion to the method of fishing, at the time, in the Severn
in the story which the monks of Worcester tell of Ribbesford (near
Bewdley). The villeins there had been bound, they said, to make for
them hedges to capture fish.^ This ancient practice is described by Mr.
Seebohm, who aptly quotes a statute relating to the Severn and Wye
fisheries : ' If any person shall make, erect, or set any bank, dam, hedge,
stank, or net across the same.' ^ He observed that the Tidenham
custumal binds the geneat (the later ' villein ') to do his share of ' weir-
building,' and mentions that ' this clumsy process of catching salmon is
the ancient traditional method used in the Wye and Severn fisheries,'
and was kept up tenaciously.*

All sources of revenue, however, were dwarfed in importance by
the plough. The Inquisitio Eliensis contains what are usually taken to
represent the instructions given to the Domesday Commissioners ; ^ and,
although this cannot be asserted as a fact,* it is probably true in sub-
stance. In this passage the Commissioners are described as having
inquired ' how many ploughs are in demesne, how many the men have,
and if more can be had (from the land) than is (now) had." The
Worcestershire Survey does not tell us, as we are told in many coun-
ties, how many 'plough-lands' an estate contained;^ but it normally
enters the number of ploughs in (the lord's) demesne, and then tells
us how many were held by the various tenants. If more ploughs
could be employed on the estate, the fact is mentioned, and the

* The question of forest measures is also dealt with in the introduction to the Domes-
day Survey in the Victoria History of Northamptonshire.

' ' Captatorias sepes piscium et alias venatorias instaurare debita lege debebant '
(Heming's Cartulary, I. 256).
^ I Geo. I. cap. 18, sec. 14.

* English Village Community, pp. 153—5.

* See Domesday Book (Ed. Record Commission), III. 497 ; Stubbs, Select Charters and
Const. Hist. (1874), I. 385-6; Ramsay's Foundations of England, II. 129, and other works.

® See Feudal England, pp. 133-5.

' 'quot carruce in dominio, quot hominum, . . . et si potest plus haberi quam
habeatur.*

^ Except in two or three exceptional cases noted in the text.
272

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

amount of the arable land thus indicated. A sweeping entry on the
fief of the bishop of Worcester tells us that ' In omnibus his Maneriis
non possunt esse plus carucas quam dictum est' (fo. 174)/ But in
the next column we read of Bockelton, a manor of the bishop of
Hereford, that ' ibi possunt esse plus iiii carucx.' There were
several manors on the fief of Osbern Fitz Richard short of their
complement of ploughs, Elmbridge, for instance, having only ten,
though it ought to have had twenty (fo. ij6b). At Hagley, a manor
of William Fitz Ansculf, there were but six ploughs, eight short of the
complement ; and at Churchill, another of his manors, though six
ploughs could be employed, there was but one, which was ' in
demesne' (fo. 177). One has to render caruca by plough, but its
really important element was the team of eight oxen,^ and the
stocking of a manor consisted chiefly in providing oxen for its
ploughs. A curious entry under OfFenham (fo, 175(^) informs us
that there were there ' oxen for one plough ' {i.e. a team of eight),
' but they drag stone to the church' ; that is, doubtless, the new build-
ings which had risen at Evesham under abbot Walter.

When we turn from the land to the men who dwelt on it, we are
confronted by a hierarchy of classes bewildering enough in its variety.
Indeed, it would be difficult in any county to find a greater variety.
Working downwards, we have first the ' barons ' or tenants-in-chief,
and then their under-tenants,^ with whom we must group the name-
less ' milites,' who would hold of the ' barons ' by knight-service. Next
would come the class described vaguely as ' Francigenas.' Beyond the
fact that they were Frenchmen by birth, it is not easy to say of whom
this class was composed. In Heming's Cartulary we read that the great
abbot iEthelwig ' was dreaded even by the Frenchmen themselves,' *
while the Ely document spoken of above (p. 272) describes the Domes-
day Survey as made on the oaths ' of the sheriff and of the barons and
of their Frenchmen (Jrancigenarum) , and of the whole county, etc'
The word seems, indeed, to be a ' wide' one, for of the 26 ' francigenas '
allotted by Ellis to Worcestershire two (at Snodsbury) are entered as
' francigeuce servientes ' (fo. 174^). It is interesting, in connection with
this entry, to note that Domesday, at Church Lench, enters one 'franci-
gena' (fo. 175), and that the parallel entry in an Evesham cartulary styles
him ' quidam serviens.' ^ It is probable that many of these ' francigens'
were 'Serjeants' of various kinds whose services were rewarded by land.

Of the ' Radchenistres ' or ' Radmanni ' something has been said

* Professor Maitland inadvertently states that this entry is found *at the end of the
account of the bishop of Worcester's triple hundred of Oswaldslaw ' {Domesday Book and
Beyond, pp. 423-4). This is not so ; the entry covers several places outside that Hundred.

^ Thus the Lippard entry (fo. 174) : ' i caruca et vi boves,' is equivalent to i| plough
(teams).

* These, as in the striking case of Urse, were themselves also, sometimes, tenants-in-
chief elsewhere.

* 'et ab ipsis Francigenis timebatur' (I. 270).
6 Cott. MS. Vesp. B. XXIV. fo. 6.

I 273 T

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

above (pp. 250-251), and it was there suggested that they were some-
times here indistinguishable from the free tenants, who are usually
termed ' liberi homines,' but in two instances, it should be observed,
' franci homines.'^ From these there is a sharp drop to the village group
and its officers. Ellis allowed but one ' bedellus ' and seven ' prepositi '
to Worcestershire ; but these figures have to be doubled when we include
the manors on fo. 180^.^ For then the bydel and the gerefa of Old
English days are found to have respectively, in all, five and eleven repre-
sentatives.^ The village smith, an important functionary, seems to be
mentioned eight times, and the miller occasionally. Here, as elsewhere,
the villeins {yillani) vfCVQ the backbone of the rural community. Ellis
reckoned their number at 1,520, but I make it, adding those on fo. 180^,
to be 1,666. In a somewhat inferior position to them were the class
known as bordars (bordarii), whom I similarly make, by adding those
omitted by Ellis, to have numbered 1,821, not 1,728,

The ' bovarii ' are a class deserving of attention, for their occur-
rence in Domesday seems to be restricted to a group of adjacent coun-
ties: — Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, and South
Lancashire, the same district (with the exception of Gloucestershire)
as that in which occur the ' Radchenistres ' and ' Radmans.' On the
Evesham Abbey manor of Ombersley we find it the duty of the ' bovarii '
to have charge of the oxen, to plough, and to guard any thieves.* At
Wickhamford, each of the four ' virge bovariorum ' sent two men ' ad
carucam.'^ At Hampton (by Evesham), we learn definitely that each of
the ' virge bovariorum ' found ' two men for the lord's plough,' that is
the plough on the lord's demesne.* At Blackwell (in Tredington), a
manor held by the monks of Worcester, the ' bovarii ' similarly held half
virgates, and had charge of the Prior's ploughs, and of such prisoners as
there were.' These ' bovarii ' appear to have escaped the notice of Domes-
day commentators,* but an entry in the Glastonbury Inquisition (1189)
tells us that ' Peter the bovarius . . . has charge of the lord's oxen, and
goes with (ad) the plough.' * ' Bovarii ' also occur in a district even fur-
ther from that in which we find them in Domesday ; for the Peterborough

* At the end of Pershore Abbey's lands we read of ' unaquaque hida ubi francus homo
manet' (fo. 175^) ; and at the end of those of Westminster Abbey we read of the ' placita
francorum hominum' under the Confessor (fo. 175).

^ See p. 239 above,

^ For the gerefa and the byde/, see Andrews' Old English Manor, pp. 130-143.

* ' Quatuor sunt virge bovarionmi. Isti custodiunt boves, et arant per v dies . . .
Preter hoc isti debent custodire latrones si fuerint in curia' (Harl. MS. 3,763, fo. jSd).

6 Ibid. fo. 72.

^ ' Per totum annum virga debet invenire duos homines ad carucam domini et autump-
no ii homines ad ebdomada et ad Wedhoc,' etc. [Ibid. fo. 79).

' ' sunt ibi iiij bovatae terrae, scilicet duae virgatae, quarum tenentes tenebunt et fugabimt
et custodient carrucas Prioris . . . Bovarii, si non custodient carrucas, et cotarii debent
custodire prisones ' (Hale, pp. 66a, 66b).

^ They are not mentioned in the Indexes to Ellis' Introduction to Domesday, Maitland's
Domesday Book and Beyond, or Seebohm's English Village Community.

^ ' Petrus bovarius . . . custodit boves domini et vadit ad aratrum,'
274

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

Liber Niger {temp. Henry I.) has some entries on them. At Oundle there
were six,^ who were classed with the villeins ; and on three other man-
ors " we find four, six, and eight ' bovarii ' connected respectively with
two, three, and four ploughs in the lord's demesne, and holding five,
nine, and ten acres each on these manors respectively. The abbey's
' bovarii ' are found even on its Lincolnshire estate.^ Here then
we have distinct evidence that this class existed in a part of England
where Domesday ignores it, and, here again, we draw the inference that
the silence of Domesday is no proof of actual non-existence, and that
the system of its entries varied according to the district. But we have
more than this. The Peterborough evidence distinctly proves that
the ' bovarii ' were connected with the ploughteams of the lord, each of
them consisting of eight oxen, and that to each such team there belonged
two ' bovarii.' Now, when we turn to Worcestershire in Domesday,
we are able to trace a similar connection. At Ombersley, for instance,
Evesham Abbey had five ploughs in the demesne, and there were ' lo
bovarii' ; at Church Lench its ploughs in the demesne were two, and
there were four ' bovarii.'* But it is when we turn to the Evesham
cartulary (Cott. MS. Vesp. B. XXIV.) that the evidence becomes over-
whelming. In a 1 2th century list of its manors (fos. 49^ and 53) we
find in every case 2 ' bovarii ' to a plough. In the light of this evidence,
it becomes highly probable that Domesday uses the terms ' bovarii ' and
' servi ' alternatively. The Evesham cartulary, for instance, enters under
Badby, Northants, 5 ploughs and 10 'bovarii,' where Domesday gives
us, in the demesne, ' 4 ploughs and 8 serfs.' Under Badsey, Worcester-
shire, the former document records 3 ploughs and 6 ' bovarii,' while
Domesday assigns to its demesne 2 ploughs, and adds that there are 4
' serfs.' There are several other instances in Worcestershire of 2 ' bovarii '
to the demesne plough.^ We thus obtain fresh light on a class otherwise
obscure and an explanation of its character. While on the subject, I
would point out that, in Northamptonshire, there were 8 ' bubulci ' to
the 4 demesne ploughs at Pytchley, and at Aldwincle 4 ' bubulci ' to the
2 demesne ploughs.® This appears to imply clearly the identity of
' bubulci ' and ' bovarii,' although this ' is contrary to the usual inter-
pretation."

* It should be added that on this manor there were three ploughs in the demesne.
^ Liber Niger, pp. 1 62-3.

^ Ibid. pp. 164-5.

* See, for both these instances, Domesday, fo. 175^.

^ At'Hortune' (fo. 177^1) we read : 'In dominio sunt ii carucae et iiii bovarii.' At
Hadsor there were 4 'bovarii' and 2 demesne ploughs, and at ' Tichenapletreu * (in Hamp-
ton Lovett) the same; at Hampton, i demesne plough and 2 'bovarii'; at Clent i^
demesne ploughs and 3 ' bovarii ' ; at Queenhill, i demesne plough and 2 ' bovarii '; at Elders-
field 3 demesne ploughs and 6 ' bovarii.'

* Liber Niger, pp. 162, 1 66.

' Dr. Andrews' Old English Manor, p. 218. Dr. Andrews, who had specially studied
the work of the 'ox-herd,' identified him as the ' bubulcus,' and stated (in error) that this
servant is not mentioned in the Liber Niger. He considered the duties of the hovarius to be
distinct.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

The ' bovarii ' of Worcestershire, to resume, were connected with
the plough teams on the lord's demesne, two 'bovarii' having charge
of the team of eight oxen. I have rendered ' bovarii,' therefore, by
' oxmen,' forming the word by analogy from the ' horsemen ' of the
modern farm. They had, probably, small holdings of five to ten acres
each (though possibly, in Worcestershire, half a virgate), and we may
further gather, from the Peterborough evidence, that some were still of
servile status,' though others were free and paid 'chevage,'* The same
evidence suggests that it may have been their wives' duty to winnow the
lords' corn.

On the border-land of servitude and freedom was ' the small but
interesting class of buri^ burs, or coliberti.'' ^ Though Worcestershire,
apparently, had only nine of them, the Powick entry concerning them
is important as containing the word ' coliberti ' interlined above ' buri,'
which implies the identity of the two. One should perhaps place next
the cotmanni and cotarii of the Survey, for the typical Domesday cotter,
though he held some five acres, appears to have had no concern with
the all-important plough-oxen.* Professor Maitland has drawn attention
to the fact that the Worcester Register distinguishes between the cotmanni
and cotarii, so that the Domesday terms must be slightly different in
meaning.*

It has been argued, with some elaboration, that the number of
serfs and bondwomen ('ancills') recorded by Domesday in Worcester-
shire was due to the proximity of the county to Wales, and that the
members of this servile class, especially its female members, had been
actually acquired by the monks of Worcester and other holders of land
within the shire in the course of ' forays against the Welsh.'* But the
problems raised by the existence of this servile population require for
their solution a wider outlook than a single county can afford. They
have to be studied in the light of the valuable Domesday maps compiled
for Mr. Seebohm's work' from the calculations of Ellis, who gave, in
his Introduction to Domesday, the number respectively of ' servi ' and
' ancills ' for every county in which they occur. Mr. Seebohm ob-
serves that, as shown by his map, the serfs ' were most numerous towards
the south-west of England, less and less numerous as the Danish districts
were approached, and absent altogether from Yorkshire, Lincolnshire,
and bordering districts.' * The two best studies on the subject are those

' Compare the lOth century dialogue of ^Ifric : 'Oh, my lord, hard do I work. I go
out at daybreak driving the oxen to field, and I yoke them to the plough . . . every day
must I plough a full acre or more. . . . Verily then I do more. I must fill the bin of
the oxen with hay, and water them, and carry out the dung . . • hard work it is,
because I am not free ' (Sir E. M. Thompson's Translation).

^ 'bovarii liberi ' are mentioned in Herefordshire (fo. 183^).

* Maitland's Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 36-8, where the character of this class is
discussed.

* See, for the cotters, Andrews' Old English Manor, pp. 170-5.

* Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 40. ® Architectural Societies' Reports, XXII. 102-105.
'' The English Village Community (1883). « Ibid. p. 89.

276

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

of Professor Maitland in his Domesday Book and Beyond,^ and of Dr.
Andrews in The Old English Manor? Both these writers used, of
necessity, Mr. Seebohm s maps,^ but neither they nor Mr. Seebohm him-
self have drawn attention to the singular constancy, in a large group of
counties, of the ratio borne by the serfs to the rest of the population.
This ratio, according to the map, was in Worcestershire, Buckingham-
shire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire 15 per cent., in Hants and Dorset
16 per cent., in Shropshire 17 and in Devon 18 per cent., while in
Oxfordshire it was 14 and in Warwickshire and Herefordshire 13 per
cent. Here, however, it may be well to observe that the whole of these
calculations rest on the figures given by Ellis, and these are affected by
a misapprehension from which Ellis suffered. He altogether failed, I
find, to understand the Domesday formula ' inter servos et ancillas,' which
only meant that the numbers of the class were given jointly, instead of
separately. Ellis imagined that, in these cases, no numbers at all were
given,* and he omitted them accordingly. In Worcestershire this
formula occurs on two manors of the church of Worcester which follow
one another in the Survey (fo. 174), Wolverley and Alvechurch, on
which there were 1 3 serfs and bondwomen. It is found again at Rushock
(fo. \']']b) and Chaddesley Corbett (fo. 178), which had twelve more
between them. But to these we must add the serfs and bondwomen on
the Worcestershire manors entered on fo. i8o(^.^ As these amounted to
no fewer than 45, we have to increase the servile population allotted by
Ellis to the county by 70 in all, making it 848 instead of 778. It
would be only by a careful examination of the whole Survey, county by
county, that the effect of his misapprehension on the figures he gives
could be determined ; but in Herefordshire it must have excluded, on
the lordship of Leominster alone, the 82 'inter servos et ancillas' who
were there on the eve of the Conquest. The same formula occurs in
several cases in Gloucestershire, and as at Tewkesbury alone there were
50 ' inter servos et ancillas,' Ellis' calculations, for that county, must be
gravely affected.

Breadth of view, however, is essential in Domesday study, and it is
not probable that the necessary correction would materially affect the
distribution of the servile population in the country. If, therefore, the
proportion of serfs was about the same in Worcestershire as it was in
Buckinghamshire and Hampshire, it can scarcely be contended that their
numbers in the first of these counties were due to its proximity to the
Welsh border. It seems probable that the servile population was re-
cruited from several distinct sources. Capture in warfare was but one ;
crime reduced some to serfage, and others voluntarily entered that state,

^ pp. 26-36. Reference may also be made to the chapter on ' The Unfree ' in The
History of English Law by Professors Maitland and Sir F. Pollock ; but this applies mainly
to the servitude of a later period.

* Macmillan & Co. (1892), pp. 181-201.

^ Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 23 ; The Old English Manor, pp. 182-3.

* Introduction to Domesday, II. 454 (note 4), 500 (note i).
^ See p. 239 above.

277

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

driven by poverty to take the step. Birth, however, was probably its
cause in most cases, for the servile status of the serf's children was rigidly
enforced. The recognised existence, at Bristol, of a slave mart was only
typical of a traffic that must have prevailed in other places also ; at
Lewes, which, it may be pointed out, must then have been a port, the
toll on the sale of a man was fourpence. Men thus sold as slaves may
obviously have come from anywhere, and there was nothing to prevent
slaves from Bristol being brought up the Severn to Worcester. We are
told of the Domesday ' servus ' that ' earlier and later documents oblige
us to think of him as a slave, one who in the main has no legal rights ;
he is the theow of the Anglo-Saxon dooms.' ^ The density of the servile
population in Devon and Cornwall supports the obvious presumption
that the conquered Britons supplied, throughout the West of England,
the bulk of the original serfs ; and, in his valuable chapter on the sub-
ject. Dr. Andrews pointed out that the earliest gloss for ancilla ' is wyln,
and it is also the most frequent, thus showing the use to which the
Welsh women were put who were captured in the conquest.'^ But this
reduction of the conquered race, in the West of England, to slavery needs,
of course, to be carefully distinguished from the subsequent acquisition
of serfs by purchase or capture in war. Above all is caution needed in
dealing with the bondwomen ('ancillae') of Domesday, of whom Worces-
tershire is said to contain the largest number, Mr. Eyton, a great
Domesday student, argues, possibly with good reason, that the absence
of 'ancills,' on the pages of the Survey, is no evidence of their non-
existence :

The Ancilla, or female serf, is never spoken of in the Somerset Survey, only once
in the Dorset Survey, only once in the Survey of StafiFordshire. What follows ?
Surely . . . that in certain counties the serf-wfife w^as hardly ever reckoned
among the agricultural staff of an estate.^

It must be remembered that the instructions given, so far as we know
them, to the Domesday commissioners* directed a return of the ' servi,'
but not of the ' ancillee.' There may therefore have been uncertainty
as to whether they ought to be entered or not, and a consequent
diversity in practice. Professor Maitland even hints that the serfs
themselves may in some districts have been omitted rather than non-
existent,' while in others their numbers may be swollen by embracing a
wider class."

' Maitland's Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 27.

* The Old English Manor, p. 198.
^ Staffordshire Domesday, p. 6.

* See p. 272 above.

® Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 23-4.

® ' Nor can we be sure that the enumeration of the servi is always governed by one
consistent principle. In the shires of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester we read of
numerous ancilla — in Worcestershire of 677 servi and loi ancilla — and this may make us
think that in this district all the able-bodied serfs are enumerated, whether or no they have
cottages to themselves ' [Ibid. p. 34). The Professor's figures, as explained above, are those
given in error by Ellis.

278

THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

Apart from the main Domesday classes at which we have glanced
above, we have a miscellaneous group comprising the swineherds
(fo. i8oi^), with the ' rustici porcarii ' at Oldberrow, the cowherd at
Bushley, the foresters, of whom we have already heard, and the dairymaid
{daia), who is found at Bushley and Queenhill. The very irregular
mention of such classes as these suggests the need for caution in accepting
the number given/ Indeed the omissions must be so serious that it
would be a futile task to estimate the population of the county on the
basis of the Domesday figures. Droitwich, probably, had many salt-
workers, though only three or four are mentioned, and the eight
burgesses, which is all that Ellis allows to Worcester, is a total obviously
absurd. The swine, again, must have needed herds in more than the
two or three places where we find them mentioned, and the ' newly-
planted vineyard ' at Hampton by Evesham must have had its vineyard
man.^

On agricultural services, the information in Domesday requires to
be largely supplemented by the surveys of the monks of Worcester's
manors in Archdeacon Hale's Registrum, and those of the Evesham
manors in the cartularies of that abbey. There is an interesting entry
in Domesday (fo. 1761^) of burgesses of Droitwich owing reaping service
at Wichbold ; and although on the Westminster Abbey manors there is
mention of some substantial landholders being required to mow for a day
yearly in the meadows of their lord, it must be remembered that the
labour was due from the land, not from its holder himself. Even villeins
could find substitutes, for at Blackwell, in Tredington, the villeins as a
body could send six men to mow, at Worcester, the meadow of their
lord the Prior.^

In discussing the affairs of the local monasteries and their disputes
with the new settlers and with one another, we have seen something of
the questions raised concerning the title to land. Worcestershire affords
numerous illustrations of the risk incurred by leasing church lands to
laymen, as was usual, for three lives. Of this practice bishop Oswald
had set a dangerous example, and we gather from Heming's Cartulary
that another bishop, Brihtheah, had done his best to follow it. It is to
this practice that we owe the curious record of a nuncupative will
found in the Worcestershire Domesday (fo. 177), the predecessor in
possession of William Fitz Ansculf being there alleged to have thus
obtained a church manor, and to have exhorted his friends, on his death-
bed, to see that the church regained it after his widow's death. Another
curious story, which may have escaped notice, is that which accounts

^ The surveys, for instance, of Hanley Castle, on fos. 163^, i8oi, do not tally in details ;
and the '6 swineherds' of the latter entry are wholly omitted in the former. The I2th cen-
tury survey also of the Evesham manors in Cott. MS. Vesp. B. XXIV., strongly suggests
the omission of many villagers in Domesday.

^ The population also must have been increased by the inmates and dependants of the
monasteries. A good idea of the officers and servants in the pay of a monastery may be
formed from a list of those of the monks of Worcester in Hale's Registrum (pp. 119-20).

3 Hale, p. 65*.

279

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

for Bushley, though within the Hundred of Oswaldslow, being in the
King's hands at the time of the Domesday Survey. The church of
Worcester gives its version on fo. 173, and that of the Crown is found
on fo. i8o/^. It was alleged on behalf of the latter that the great
Tewkesbury thegn, Brihtric son of iElfgar, had ' bought it of Lyfing
bishop of Worcester for three marcs of gold {£1^), together with a
house in the city of Worcester paying a marc of silver (13J. 4^.) yearly,
. . . all which he so bought and held undisturbed that he did no
service for it to any man.' ^ The church of Worcester, on the other
hand, alleged that Brihtric used to pay an annual ' ferm ' to the Bishop.
It would certainly appear that Lyfing, ' the patriot bishop of Worcester,'*
had no right to alienate the land in perpetuity ; but the fact that he had
to recover his see, in 1 041, 'at the price, we are told, of money paid to
the King'^ (to be held ' in plurality'), suggests that he may have needed
money. The Crown, in any case, retained the manor, as its subsequent
history proves.

The only point remaining to be dealt with is the important entry
at the very end of the survey of the county stating that the lands at
Feckenham and Holloway ' scripts sunt in brevi de Hereford,' and that
those at Martley and Suckley, although in Dodingtree Hundred for
purposes of jurisdiction and taxation, render their ferm at Hereford, ' et
sunt scriptse in breve regis.' The ' breve ' here spoken of needs to be
carefully distinguished from the ordinary King's writ ('breve regis')
placing a man in possession. It was explained by me in Feudal England
(pp. 135-6) that 'though the word Breve in Domesday Book normally
means the King's writ, there are passages which seem to have been over-
looked, and in which it bears another and very suggestive meaning.'
Foremost among these is the passage above, in which the word is used
' of a return, not of a writ.' A similar usage is found in Huntingdon-
shire (fo. 203), where we read of geld being paid 'secundum hidas in
brevi scriptas.' The best parallel, however, is in Cambridgeshire, where
we read, ' In Saham habet rex W. vi hidas et xl acras in breve suo '
(fo. 1 89*^), while a parallel record states, under Kingston, that the King
has there i| hides 'in brevi suo.'* The above Worcestershire passage
refers us to the Domesday return of the manor of Hereford, then in the
King's hands, in which we accordingly find the surveys of these Worcester-
shire lands. Their addition to the Worcestershire text, as in the
translation below, renders the Domesday Survey of the shire complete.

* <ut inde non serviret cuiquam homini.' Compare Brihtwine's tenure of Hadsor,
' nulli inde aliquid servitium nisi regi faciens ' (Heming, I. 263).

^ So styled by Mr. Freeman {l<Iorm. Conq., II. 81), because he was a friend of God wine.
3 I hid. I. 509.

* Inquisitlo comitatus Cantahrtgiensh, p. 85.

280

NOTE

The reader should bear In mind throughout that the
date of the Domesday Survey is 1086 ; that King Edward,
to whose time it refers as ' T.R.E.', died January 5, 1066 ;
that the ' hide ' was the unit of assessment on which the
(Dane)geld was paid, and that the 'virgate ' was its quarter.
The essential portion of the plough ('caruca') was its
team of oxen, eight in number. The ' demesne ' was the
lord's portion of the manor, the peasantry holding the rest
of it under him ; and a ' berewick ' was an outlying estate
dependent on the chief manor. The woodland measures
and the names of the agricultural classes are discussed in
the Introduction.

281

[WIRECESTRESCIRE]

fo. 172.

In the city of Worcester {Wirecestre) , king Edward used to
have this customary due {consuetudineni). When the coinage {moneta)
was changed, each moneyer gave twenty shillings at London on
receiving the dies of the money. When the county paid geld, the
city was reckoned at {se adquietabat pro) 15 hides. From the said city
the King himself used to have ten pounds and earl Eadwine eight pounds.
The King took no other due there except the charge {cemum) on the
houses according to the liability of each.

King William has now in demesne both the King's share and
the Earl's share. For this the sheriff renders twenty-three pounds and
five shillings by weight, for the city ; and for the demesne manors of the
King he renders a hundred and twenty-three pounds and four shillings by
weight. For the county he renders seventeen pounds by weight ; and
he further renders ten pounds of pennies, twenty to the ounce, or a
Norway [Norresc) hawk ; and to the Queen also a hundred shillings by
tale ; and twenty shillings, of twenty (pence) to the ounce, for a
sumpter horse. These seventeen pounds by weight and sixteen pounds
by tale are for the pleas of the county (court) and for the Hundreds, and
if he does not receive (so much) from that source {inde), he pays it out of
his own (means). In the county there are twelve Hundreds ; seven of
these are so exempt {quieti), the shire (court) says, that the sheriff has no
rights [nichil) in them, and therefore, as (he) says, he loses much on the
ferm {in firmd) .

In this county, if any one should have wittingly broken the peace
given by the King with his (own) hand, he is adjudged an outlaw
{utlaghe) ; but if any one should have wittingly broken the King's peace
given by the sheriff, he shall pay a fine of (emendabii) a hundred
shillings. He who shall have committed ' forsteal' ('forestellum ')^ shall
pay a fine of a hundred shillings ; he who shall have committed
' hamfare ' {heinfaram) a hundred shillings ; (for him) who shall have
committed rape, let there be no amend but corporal punishment {non
sit emendatio alia nisi de corpore justicia) .^ These forfeitures belong to the

' ' Forsteal ' was waylaying or (attack from) ambush (with malice prepense) ; ' himfare '
(like ' hams6cn ') was attack on a man's house. These, like the breach of the peace which
precedes them, were the special pleas of the Crown usually reserved. {History of English Law
[1895], II. 451-56, 466, 491.)

^ Compare Ibid. II. 453, 488-90. This is almost the only mention of the above
offence in Domesday Book, possibly because where it could not be atoned for by a fine, it did
not contribute to the profits of jurisdiction.

282

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

King in this county except (in) the land of (the abbey ot) St. Peter of
Westminster, to which king Edward gave all his rights there, says
the county (court).

When the King marches against the enemy, should any one sum-
moned by his edict remain (behind), if he is a man so free that he has
his soke and sake, and can go where he will with his land,^ he is at {in)
the King's mercy with {de) all his land ; but if the free man of another
(man who is his) lord should remain (behind), and his lord should bring
another man in his place, then he shall pay for his offence [emendabif)
forty shillings to his lord, as having been summoned ;^ but if no one at
all [ex toto) goes in his place, he himself shall give forty shillings to his
lord, and his lord shall pay for his offence {emendabit) as many shillings to
the King.

* i.e. commend himself to whom he will.

^ The words ' domino suo qui vocatus fuit emendabit ' appear to leave doubtful the
very important point whether the summons was addressed to the lord or to his man. Pro-
fessor Maitland assumes the former, which is probably the right view {Domesday Book and
Beyo7id, p. 159). With this definition of free tenure should be compared p. 267, note 2,
above.

283

HERE ARE ENTERED

THE HOLDERS OF LAND

IN WIRECESTRE SCIRE

I King William
II The church of Worcester
III The bishop of Hereford

nil The church of St. Denis
V The church of Coventry
VI The church of Cormelies

VII The church of Gloucester
VIII The church of Westminster
IX The church of Pershore
X The church of Evesham
XI The bishop of Bayeux

XII The church of St. Guthlac

XIII The clerks of Wolverhampton*

XIV Earl Roger

THE KING'S LAND

King W[illiam] holds in demesne Bre-
MESGRAVE [Bromsgrove] with i8 berewicks :
— Museleie [Moseley], Nortune [Kingsnor-
ton], Lindeorde [Linthurst], Warthuil [Wit-
hall ?], Witeurde [Whitford], Hundesfeld
[Houndsfield], Thessale [Tessall farm],
Weredeshale Lea [Lea end ?],

Comble [Cobley ?], Bericote [Burcot], Asse-
berga [ ], Tothehel [Tutnall Cross],

Tuneslega [ ], Focheberie [Foch-

bury], Suruehel [Surehole farm], Vdecote
[Woodcote], Timbrehangre [Timberhanger].^

1 ' Wrehantone.'

^ There is, admittedly, much difficulty in
identifying some of the ' berewicks ' {i.e. out-
lying estates) entered above as dependent on
Bromsgrove. For some of the identifications
in the text I am alone responsible. ' Lin-
deorde ' I make to be Linthurst, 2 miles
north-east of Bromsgrove ; ' Thessale ' is
clearly Tessall (farm) between Chadwick and
King's Norton ; and ' Hundesfelde ' can be
identified as in King's Norton by the Hun-

2S5

XV Ralf de Todeni

XVI Ralf de Mortemer

XVII Robert de Stadford

XVIII Roger de Laci

XIX Osbern Fitz Richard

XX Gilbert Fitz Turold

XXI Drogo Fitz Ponz

XXII Harold Fitz Ralf

XXIII William Fitz Ansculf

XXIV William Fitz Corbucion
XXV William Goizenboded

XXVI Urse de Abetoth

XXVII Hugh Lasne
XXVIII Eldeve

Between (them) all, together with the manor
(itself), there are 30 hides. Earl E(a)dwine
held this manor T.R.E.

In demesne there are now 2 ploughs, and
(there are) 20 villeins and the reeve {prepositus)
and the beadle with the priest and 92 bordars,
having between (them) all 77 ploughs.

dred Rolls (ii. 283). We also have a refer-
ence in Habington's Survey (II. 220) to
' Haunckesfield's Graunge ' as ' the syte of
the mannor of Hownesfeild ' in 36 Hen.
VIII., and the Monasticon shows us Bordesley
Abbey as holding land at ' Houndefeld ' when
dissolved. Among the five ' chapels ' de-
pendent on Bromsgrove were Moseley and
Withall, which, therefore, we must recognise
in 'Museleie' and 'Warthuil.' Habingdon
(ii. 218) wrote of ' Moseley aunciently called
Mounsley ' in King's Norton, but Moundsley
Hall in King's Norton is quite distinct from
Moseley. ' Suruehel ' appears to me to be
Surehole (farm) close to Hall Green. Cobley
(Hill) is two miles east of Burcot 'Tutnall
and Cobley ' are now combined.

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

There are 9 serfs and 1 bondwoman {ancilla),
and 3 mills worth [de) 13 shillings and 4
pence. The wood(land) is 7 leagues {leiva)
long and 4 leagues tsroad, and 4 eyries {airis)
of hawks are there. To this manor belong
13 saltpans (jaiiriie) in (Droit)wich and 3 salt-
workers who render, from these saltpans, 300
' mits ' [mittas) ^ of salt, for (making) which
they used to be given 300 cartloads of wood
by the keepers of the wood(land) T.R.E.
There are 6 leaden vats [plumbi).

To this manor (there) belonged, T.R.E.,
SucHELEi [Suckley], a manor of 5 hides, but
earl William (of Hereford) took (it) thence
and put (it) in the ferm of Hereford.^

In all it used to pay, T.R.E. , a ferm of 18
pounds. Urse the sheriff paid 24 pounds by
weight {ad pets) so long as [dum) he had the
wood.^

To this manor (there) belonged and belong
Grastone * [Grafton manor], where are 3^
hides, and Cochesei [Cooksey] where are 2^
hides, and Willingewic [VVillingwick] where
are 2 hides and 3 virgates, and Celdvic [Chad-
wick] where are 3 hides ; in all 12 hides less
I virgate.*

These lands were held by 5 thegns {teini)
of earl E(a)dwine, Erniet, Alwin', Brictredus,
Frane, Alwold, who could not withdraw {rece-
dere) from the lord of the manor. ^ They are
now held of Urse the sheriff by 4 knights,
(the) 3! hides by Roger, the 2| hides by
William, the 2 hides and 3 virgates by
Walter, (and) the 3 hides by Alvred.

In these lands there are in demesne 5^
ploughs, and (there are) i ' radchenistre ' '
and 29 bordars who have 11^ ploughs.
There are 2 serfs and 6 oxmen {bovarii),^ and
there can be (employed) i plough more. In
Willingewic and Celdwic there are 4 leagues
{/eiuedes) of wood, but the King has put (them)
in (his) forest. In Droit(wich) there is 1

* See Introduction.

^ That is to say, among those manors which
paid their ferm in a lump sum at Hereford.
Suckley, which is on the Herefordshire bor-
der, is surveyed accordingly on fo. 180^, as
will be seen below (see p. 323).

* i.e. for the saltworks.

* The chapels of Grafton and Chadwick
were dependent on Bromsgrove.

* This, it will be seen, implies the regular
Domesday equation : i hide = 4 virgates.

® That is, could not ' commend ' them-
selves to another lord.
^ See Introduction.
» Uid.

286

saltpan worth {de) 10 shillings. In all it was
worth 6 pounds and 13 shillings T.R.E. ;
now 100 shillings in all.

Of the land of this manor William Fitz
Ansculf holds 3 virgates in Willingewic, and
Baldwin (holds) of him.* Wulfwine {Ulwi-
nus) a thegn of earl E(a)dwine held (it).
There is i villein with half a plough, and
a plough and a half more could be (em-
ployed) there. It was worth 5 shillings ;
now 2 shillings.

King William holds in demesne Chide-
MINSTRE [Kidderminster] with 16 berewicks :
— Wenuerton [Wannerton], Trinpelei
[Trimpley], Worcote [Hurcote], Frenesse
[Franche], and another Frenesse [Franche],
Bristitune [ ], Harburgelei [Hab-

berley], Fastochesfelde [ ], Gurber-

hale [Wribbenhall ?], Ribeford [Ribbesford],
and another Ribeford [Ribbesford], Sudtone
[Sutton], Aldintone [Oldington], Mettune
[Mitton], Teulesberge [ ], Sud-

wale [ ]. In these lands, together

with the manor, there are 20 hides. The
whole of this manor was waste.

In (the) demesne is i plough, and (there
are) 20 villeins and 30 bordars with 1 8 ploughs,
and 20 ploughs more could be (employed)
there. There are 2 serfs and 4 bondwomen
{ancilla) and 2 mills worth {de) 16 shillings,
and 2 saltpans worth {de) 30 shillings, and a
fishery worth {de) 1 00 pence. There is wood-
land extending to {de) 4 leagues {lewis). In
this manor the reeve holds the land of one
' Radchen[istre '] and has there i plough and
I mill worth {de) 5 ounces (of silver). To
this manor belong a house in (Droit)wich
and another in Wirecestre [Worcester] pay-
ing 10 pence.

The whole manor used to pay, T.R.E., a
ferm of 1 4 pounds ; it now pays 1 pounds
and 4 shillings by weight {ad peis). The
king has put the wood(land) of this manor in
(his) forest.

Of the land of this manor William holds

1 hide and the land of one ' Radchenistre,'
and has there i villein and 8 bordars who
have 4^ ploughs. It is worth 1 1 shillings.

Of the same land Aiulf holds one virgate.
There (are) i plough and 2 serfs. It is worth

2 shillings.

In WiCH [Droitwich] king Edward had
1 1 houses, and in 5 brinepits {puteis) king
Edward used to have his share. In one
brine-pit — Upewic" — (there are) 54 saltpans

* Compare p. 316 below. *" Interlined.

THE HOLDERS OF LANDS

and 2 * hocci ' (which) pay 6 shillings and 8
pence. In another brine-pit, Helperic, (there
are) 17 saltpans. In a third (' iii ') brine-
pit, MiDELWic, (there are) 1 2 saltpans and two-
thirds of a ' hoccus ' (which) pay 6 shillings
and 8 pence. In 5 other brine-pits there
are 15 saltpans.'

From all these king Edward used to have
a ferm {de firma) of 52 pounds.

to. JTab.

In these brine-pits earl E(a)dwine used to
have 51^ saltpans {salinam), and from the
' Hocci ' he used to have 6 shillings and 8
pence. All this used to pay a ferm {de firma)
of 24 pounds. Now king William has in
demesne both what king Edward and what
earl E(a)dwine used to have. The sheriff (has)
paid thence 65 pounds by weight {ad pels) znd
2 ' mits ' {mittas) of salt while he has had
(the) wood.^ For without the wood, he says,
he could not possibly pay that (amount).

For {de) Chenefare [Kinver] he pays 100
shillings of twenty (pence) to the ounce.
This land is in Stadfordscire, so also is
SuiNESFORDE [King's Swinford]. For {de) this
manor and two others which are in Wire-
cestrescire, — that is Terdesberie [Tardebigg]
of 9 hides and Clent of 9 hides, — for these 3
manors the sheriff pays 15 pounds of pennies
at {de) 20 to the ounce.'

In Came Hundret

King William holds Terdeberie [Tarde-
bigg]. King Edward held (it). There are
9 hides. In (the) demesne is i plough and
another can be employed {fieri). There are

* These five brine-pits in three localities can
be traced four centuries later, for Habington
says in his Survey (II. 296) that under Hen.
VII. there were ' fyve salt wells springinge in
three severall places, one named Upwich, the
other Middelwich, the last Neather Wich.'
The ' five other brine-pits ' of Domesday
are somewhat obscure.

^ For the saltworks.

' The entries following show that this
sum was made up of 11 pounds from Tarde-
bigg and 4 pounds from Clent. Thus
Domesday contradicts itself when it states
that the 15 pounds were the proceeds of
* three ' manors, of which ' Swinford ' was
one. From this it follows that the rent of
' Swinford ' must be sought elsewhere, namely
on fo. 246, where it is seen to be King's
Swinford. Old Swinford (Wore.) will be
found below on the fief of William Fitz
Ansculf.

2 villeins and 28 bordars with 12 ploughs.
In (Droit)wich * are 7 saltpans and 2 lead
vats {plumbi), and they pay 20 shillings and
100 'mits' (mittas) of salt.

The sheriff of Stadfordscire receives, and
pays in Suinesford [King's Swinford], the
ferm of this manor, that is 1 1 pounds of
pennies (at) 20 to the ounce.

In Clent Hundret

King William holds Clent [Clent]. King
Edward held (it). There are 9 hides. In
(the) demesne is a plough and a half and there
are 12 villeins and 3 bordars with 9^ ploughs.
There are 3 oxmen {iovarii), and of wood-
(land there are) 2 leagues {lew').

The ferm of this manor, 4 pounds, is paia
in Suinesford [King's Swinford] in Stadford-
scire.

In (Droit)wich is half a hide which be-
longs to the (King's) hall at {de) Gloucester.*

THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF
WIRECESTRE

II. The church of St. Mary of Wire-
cestre [Worcester] has one Hundret, called
OswALDESLAW, in which are {jacent) 300
hides. ^ In these {de quibm) the Bishop of that
church has, by ancient {antlquorum temporum)
custom, all revenue from jurisdiction {socharum)
and all customary dues there belonging for (his)
demesne support {dominicum victum) and the
King's service and his own, so that no sheriff''
can have any claim there, either in any plea
or in any other matter {causa). The whole
county (court) testifies to this. These said
300 hides were of the actual {ipso) demesne of
the church, and if any portion of them was
leased {prestitum) to any man,* for service to
be done for it to the Bishop, he who held
that land on lease could not retain for himself
any customary due from it whatsoever except
by permission of {per) the Bishop ; nor could
he retain the land beyond {nisi usque ad) the

* i.e. belonging to this manor.

* A blank space follows here in the MS.

^ In Heming's Cartulary (pp. 287-8) this
return of the Bishop's privileges in Oswaldslow
is specially entered with the heading, ' Indicu-
lum libertatis de Oswales Lawes Hundred,'
and with a few slight additions noted below.

'' ' Or officer demanding service for the
King ' (exactor regalis serviiii) is added here in
Heming's Cartulary.

* Heming's Cartulary has here : ' howso-
ever, or to whomsoever, they were leased.'

287

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

completion of the term agreed upon between
them, or betake himself anywhere ^ with that
land.8

In this Hundred the Bishop of that church
holds Chemesege [Kempsey]. There are 24
hides that (pay) geld. Of these hides 5 hides
are waste. In (the) demesne are 2 ploughs
and (there are) 15 villeins and 27 bordars
with 16 ploughs. There are a priest and 4
serfs and 2 bondwomen and 40 acres of
meadow. The wood(land) is a league {lewd)
long and half a league wide. In (the) demesne
are 13 hides. It was worth 16 pounds
T.R.E. ; now 8 pounds.

Of this manor Urse the sherifiF holds 3
berewicks of 7 hides, Mucenhil [Mucken-
hill],* Stoltun [Stoulton], Ulfrintun
[Wolverton]. There are 7 ploughs and 7
villeins and 7 bordars and 7 serfs and 16
acres of meadow. For these three estates
(terris) rent [firma) was rendered T.R.E., for
they were always assigned to {de) the support
(of the monks). They are worth 100 shil-
lings.

Of this same manor Roger de Laci holds
2 hides at Ulfrintun [Wolverton] and Aiulf
(holds them) of him. They were in demesne
T.R.E. , and Alric' was still holding them in
the time of king William and was rendering
thence all the customary rent {consuetudines
firma) that his predecessors used to render
except the peasants' labour {rustico opere) as it
could be obtained [cleprecari) from the reeve.
There are 2 ploughs with i villein and (there
are) 2 serfs and a mill worth {de) 40 pence.
It was worth 50 shillings T.R.E. ; now 40
shillings.

Of the same manor Walter Ponther (holds)
2 hides at Widintun [Whittington]. They
were in demesne T.R.E., (and) Ailric held
them in the same manner {ratlone) as the
above hides.* In (the) demesne are 2 ploughs
and 4 serfs, and (there are) 3 villeins and 7
bordars with 4 ploughs and a fishery worth
{de) 4 shillings and 1 2 acres. The wood(land)
is I league {lewa) long and half (a league)
wide. It was worth 30 shillings T.R.E. ;
now 40 shillings.*

^ i.e. commend himself to another lord.

^ Heming's Cartulary here adds : ' to retain
it by usurping an hereditary right, or claim it
as his fee {feudam) except in accordance with
the Bishop's wish and in accordance with their
agreement.'

^ Now Mucknell Farm.

* i.e. at Wolverton.

® The monks' story was, that iEthelric (the

In the same hundred the said Bishop holds
WicHE [Wyke episcopi].® There are 15
hides that (pay) geld. In (the) demesne are
4 hides less a virgate, and 4 ploughs are there ;
and (there are) 12 villeins and 12 bordars
with 12 plcmghs, and 2 mills worth {de) 12
shillings and 2 fisheries worth 6 shillings and
8 pence and 60 acres of meadow. The
wood(land) is 2 leagues {lewa) long and i
league wide. T.R.E., as now, it was worth
8 pounds.

Of this manor Urse the sherifiF holds 5
hides at Holte [Holt]. Ailric' held them
in the above manner.'' In (the) demesne are
2 ploughs, and (there are) 12 villeins and 24
bordars with 10 ploughs and a fishery worth
{de) 5 shillings and, in (Droit)wich i saltpan
worth 13 pence, and (there are) 12 acres of
meadow. The wood(land) is half a league
{lewa) long and the same in width. There
is a hay {haie) * there.

The said Urse holds one hide at Witlege
[Witley], and Walter (holds it) of him. In
(the) demesne is one plough, and (there is) a
priest and 2 bordars with i plough. The
wood(land) is 3 furlongs {quar") in length and
2 in width. Arnwine the priest ® held (it
and) rendered to the church all the customary
rent {consuetudines firma) and one ' sestier '
{sextarium) of honey. It is and was worth 10
shillings.

The same Urse holds i hide at Che-
ciNWiCHE [Kenswick] '" and Walter (holds
it) of him. In (the) demesne are 2 ploughs
and (there are) 6 bordars and 4 serfs. Wulf-

' Ailric' or 'Alric' of the above entries), was
a brother of bishop Brihtheah (' Brihtegus '),
from Berkshire, who obtained from the Bishop
' Wlfrintun ' and ' Hwitintun,' together with
Himbleton and Spetchley (see below), but
was deprived of them in his lifetime by earl
William of Hereford (Heming's Cartulary,
p. 266). This is to some extent confirmed
by the Domesday statement that iEthelric
was still holding them after the Conqueror's
accession.

^ In St. John's, Worcester.

' i.e. as at Wolverton and Whittington.

^ A hedge surrounding an enclosure into
which animals were driven for capture.

^ The monks of Worcester stated that this
man (' Earnwius ') was the priest of the famous
Eadric the Wild, at whose request Witley
had been given him by Ealdred, then bishop,
and Wulfstan, then prior (Heming's Cartulary,
I. 256.

'° A constablewick in Wichenford (Nash).

THE HOLDERS OF LANDS

wine ('Ulwinus') held (it and) rendered all the
customary payment to the reeve (in charge) of
the ' ferm.' The wood(land) is half a league
{lewa) long and half (a league) in width. It
was worth 20 shillings T.R.E. ; now 15
shillings.

The same Urse holds i hide at Cloptune
[ ]. In (the) demesne is i plough

and (there are) 1 bordar and 6 acres of
meadow. Brictmar held (it and) rendered all
that the abovesaid (tenants) did.* It was
worth 20 shillings T.R.E. ; now 15 shillings.

The same Urse holds 3 virgates at Laure
[Lawern]. He has there in demesne i
plough and 2 bordars. Sawine held it (as) of
the Bishop's demesne. There are 6 acres of
meadow. It was and is worth 7 shillings.
There also Urse (holds) i virgate of the
Bishop's demesne; (it is) worth 6 shillings.

The same Urse holds i hide at Gremanhil
[Grimley], and Godfrey (holds it) of him.
There 2 bordars have i plough. Eddid held
(it and) rendered what the abovesaid tenants
rendered. It was and is worth 6 shillings.

Of the same manor Robert the Despencer
{dispensator) holds half a hide at Laure
[Lawern], where he has i plough with i
bordar and a mill worth [de) 5 shillings and 6
acres of meadow and 12 oaks. Keneward
held (it) and performed such service as (de-
serviebat sicut) the Bishop willed.^ It was and
is worth 20 shillings.

Of the same manor Osbern Fitz Richard
holds I hide at Codrie [Cotheridge], where
he has i plough in (the) demesne ; and (there

* This was probably the ' Bricsmar ' whom
Urse is found succeeding at Broughton (fo.
175), for he is said to have obtained all the
land of iElfwine son of Brihtmar (Heming,
L 261).

* This Keneward, as is shown in the
introduction, was known as Keneward 'of
Lawern,' where probably he resided. The
monks claimed that Lawern, which had
been held by his parents before him of their
house, reverted to them at his death, but was
wrongfully seized by the above ' Robert,
brother of Urse the sheriff' (Heming's
Cartulary, p. 253). Whether this wealthy
' Kinwardus,' as they styled him, was the
Worcestershire sheriff of that name before the
Conquest is, as explained in the Introduction,
perhaps doubtful. He was, however, clearly
the Keneward who had held of the church of
Worcester at Wyre Piddle and at Elmley
Castle (which latter similarly passed to Robert
the Despencer), for the monks expressly state
that he had held other lands of them.

are) 6 villeins and 4 bordars with 4 ploughs,
and a mill worth {de) 5 shillings. There are
1 2 acres of meadow and 3 * quarentines ' of
wood(Iand). Richard * held it by such
service {ad servitium) as the Bishop willed.

In the same Hundred the same Bishop holds
Fledebirie [Fladbury]. There are 40 hides
that (pay) geld. In demesne are 7 hides,
where are 9 ploughs, and (there are) a priest,
who has half a hide, and 23 villeins and 17
bordars with 19 ploughs. There are 16 serfs
and 3 bondwomen, and a mill worth {de) 10
shillings and 20 ' stichs ' of eels,* and 50
acres of meadow. The wood(land) is 2
leagues {lewte) long and half (a league) in
width, and the Bishop has all its proceeds in

fo. 173.

hunting and honey and timber {lignis) for the
saltpans of (Droit)wich, and 4 shillings (also).
It was worth ^^lo ; now £<).

Of this manor the bishop of Hereford holds
5 hides at Inteberge [Inkberrow],* where he
has a priest and 7 villeins, with 4 ploughs,
and meadow for the oxen. Bishop Walter ^
held it T.R.E., performing {ad) all the service
due to the bishop {episcopi) of Wircestre. It
was and is worth 30 shillings.

Of the said manor Urse holds 5 hides at
Abeleng [Hob Lench] ' where he has 2

* i.e. Osbern's father. Of Cotheridge
(' Coddarycge ') the monks alleged that they
had lost it through Arnwig a former and
wealthy reeve, who had given it to his dearly
loved brother ' Spiritus,' who had been high
in favour with Cnut's sons and successors,
Harold and Harthacnut. On ' Spiritus ' being
subsequently expelled from England and exiled,
the land was seized by Richard ' Scrob,' and
the monastery thus lost it (Heming's Cartulary,
p. 254). Domesday, it will be seen, only
mentions that Richard (Scrob) had held the
land T.R.E., but it contains in another place
(fo. 252*) a curious reference to the exile of
' Spirtes ' (' quum fuisset exsulatus ab Anglia')
in Edward's days. Heming's story, therefore,
relates to that Spirtes (or Spirites) the priest,
the bulk of whose possessions, under William,
passed to Nigel the physician (on whom, see
p. 308 below).

* i.e. from the mill pool. There were 25
eels in a * stich,' according to a Canterbury
MS.

* He also held land there in capite (see
below). The above 5 hides were probably
Little Inkberrow.

« Of Hereford.

' Formerly Habbe Lench.

289

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

ploughs in (the) demesne, and (there are) 7
villeins and I bordar and i Frenchman
{Jrancigena) ' with 6 ploughs. There are 4
serfs and 2 bondwomen and meadow . . .*
The wood(land) is 2 furlongs long and 2 fur-
longs wide. It was and is worth 4 pounds.
Godric held (it) doing (such) service for it to
the bishop (on such terms) as he could ob-
tain {deprecari).

The same Urse holds 7 hides at Biscopes-
LENG [Rous Lench] ^ and Alvred holds (them)
of him. He has there in (the) demesne 3^
ploughs, and (there are) a priest and 5 villeins
and 8 bordars with 5^ ploughs. There are
2 serfs and 2 bondwomen and a mill worth
{de) 4 shillings and 6 acres of meadow. It
was worth 6 pounds ; now 7 pounds. Frane
held 5 hides performing all the service (due),
and the Bishop had 2 hides in demesne.

Of this same manor Robert the Despencer
{dispensator) holds 5 hides at Pidele and
More and Hylle [Piddle, Moor, and Hill].*
In (the) demesne are 4 ploughs and (there
are) 4 villeins and i bordar with i plough.
There are 3 serfs and 24 acres of meadow.
It was and is worth 60 shillings. Keneward
held (it) in the same manner as the preceding
{al'iam supradictam).

Of this same manor JSAfnc {Alricus) the
Archdeacon holds i hide at Bradelege [Brad-
ley] where he has i plough in (the) demesne,
and there are 3 villeins and 3 bordars, with
if ploughs, and i serf. It was and is worth
20 shillings. Archbishop Ealdred {Eldredus)
leased it {prastitit) to his reeve T.R.E. and
took it from him justly when he would.

Of the same manor Roger de Laci holds
10 hides at Bisantune [Bishampton] and two

* Compare Domesday Book and Beyond, p.
46.

» A blank in the MS.

^ It would seem desirable to deal here with
the whole question of the Lenches, on which
there has been much confusion. As to
' Abeleng ' there is no question, for it became
' Habbe Lench ' and then ' Hob Lench.' (It
has latterly been converted into 'Abbot's
Lench,' presumably because it never belonged
to an abbot !) ' Biscopesleng ' is positively
asserted by Nash to be Church Lench (II. 80),
although the latter name appears below, under
Evesham Abbey, as ' Circelenz.' I hesitated
to reject Nash's identification, not knowing
what grounds he might have for it, until I
traced his assertion as probably derived from
a guess by Habington (I. 324), who wrote,
under Church Lench, ' This Biscopesleng I
thincke was Churchlench.' Oddly enough,
it is Habington's work which supplies us with
evidence to the contrary. For he elsewhere
(I. 317) notes, under Rous Lench, 'that
William de Beauchamp, in the Red book of
the Bishopricke of Worcester healde seavne
Hydes heere of our Byshop,' and again (I.
319) that 'Roger de Lench heald of William
Beauchamp seeaune hydes of Land in Lench '
(so also II. 171). It is quite clear that these
were the ' seven hides ' at ' Biscopesleng' held
of the Bishop by Urse, whose heirs the
Beauchamps were. From Randolf de Lench
(compare Heming, p. 291), who held it under
them, it took the name of Lench Randolf,
and, on passing from his descendants, the
Lenches, to the family of Rous, it became
Rous Lench.

Church Lench ' (Circelenz) will now

present no difficulty,' nor will Atch Lench
(' Achelenz '). Both of these were held in
Domesday, by Evesham Abbey ; and I
suspect that Atch Lench was the Lench
' sacriste ' that occasionally appears. There
remains only the 'Lenche' which Urse had
got into his hands as of the bishop of Bayeux'
fee (fo. 1 76). Habington inserted the Domes-
day entry of it under Rous Lench (I. 316), to
which he clearly thought it related. But its
subject was evidently the ' Lenz (or Leinch)
Bernardi' of the Evesham MS. (Vesp. B.
XXIV. fos. 6, lo-ii), and I identify it with
Sheriffs Lench, of which we read under
Edward I. ' Comes Warrewic tenet Shyrreve-
lench pro dimidio feodo. Set quia est in manu
potentis nichil Abbati facit nisi homagium, et
homines de Lench sectam apud Blakehurst,'
(Harl MS. 3,763, fo. 168^). Habington
observes that ' the Earles of Warwick, de-
scending from the Beauchamps, had within
the paryshe of Churchlench a manor called
Shreulensh (II. 252). I conclude that the
Beauchamps (who inherited the hereditary
shrievalty from Urse) kept the above four
hides in their own hands, and that this Lench,
therefore, took its name from their office.

Among the Lyttelton charters is one,
temp. Henry III., which brings together the
names of Chirchelench, Habbelench, Lench
Ranulf and Achelench.

It is perhaps significant that, when Lench-
wich is excluded, the Lenches, added together,
amount to 25 hides exactly. Lenchwick
itself is entered at 10 hides in an early
Evesham Survey (Vesp. B. XXIV. fo. 49).

* Hill and Moor are a chapelry of Flad-
bury.

290

THE HOLDERS OF LANDS

Frenclimen {^francigence) of him. In (the)
demesne are 2 ploughs, and (there are) a
priest, who has half a hide, and 8 villeins and
2 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 4 serfs
and 4 bondwomen and a mill worth [de) 12
pence and 20 acres of meadow. It was worth

12 pounds ; now 10 pounds. Four free men
held (it) of the Bishop, rendering all proceeds
of jurisdiction [iocam et sacam) and church-scot
{circset) and (fees for) burials, and service by
land and water [expedlt'wnes et navigia) and
(attendance at) pleas at (the court of) the
aforesaid Hundred, and the present holders
do likewise.*

In the same Hundred the same Bishop holds
Breodun [Bredon]. There are 35 ^ hides
that (pay) geld. In demesne are 10 hides
and 3 ploughs, and (there are) 33 villeins and

13 bordars with 20 ploughs. There are 6
serfs and a mill worth {de) 6 shillings and 8
pence and 80 acres of meadow. The wood
(land) is 2 leagues {lewie) long and a league
and a half wide. The Bishop has from it 10
shillings and all its proceeds in honey and
hunting and (all) else. It was worth j^io
T.R.E. ; now 10 shillings less.

To this manor belong {jacent) 3 hides in
Teotintune [Tedington] ^ and i hide at
MiTUNE [Mitton],* and they belong to {sunt
de) the support of the monks. There are in
(the) demesne 5 ploughs, and (there are) 12
villeins and 6 bordars with 9 ploughs. There

^ In addition to the places enumerated above
Throckmorton, which is not mentioned in
Domesday, was a member of Fladbury,
and I hide was held in Fladbury, of the
Bishop temp. John {Testa de Nevill, p. 41).
One virgate of this hide was then held by
'Henricus filius Johannis' {Ibid.), who, as
'Henricus filius Johannis de Trochemerton[e],'
acknowledged the grant by bishop Mauger
(11 99-1 2 1 2) of half a hide claimed by him
in Fladbury, the deed being assigned by Mr.
Poole to circ. 1200 (14th Report on Hist.
MSS., App. 8, p. 194). Another virgate was
then held by Adam, son of Robert, possibly
the Adam ' de Trokemertun[e] ' who occurs
in 1 220-1 22 1 (Hale's Register of Worcester
Priory, p. 5417). The first of the house,
perhaps, to emerge is the ' Reoland Trokemard-
tune ' who appears as a juror for the Hundred
of Oswaldslow in the middle of the I2th
cent. (Heming, p. 291).

* 5 is interlined above 30.

* A detached hamlet of Overbury, almost
surrounded by Gloucestershire.

* A chapelry in Bredon.

are 10 serfs and 3 bondwomen and 40 acres
of meadow and 2 * quarantenes ' of wood. It
was and is worth ^^4.

Of this manor jEilric the archdeacon holds
2 hides at Codestune ^ [Cutsdean], and he
has there 2 ploughs and a priest, and 4 villeins
and 7 bordars, with 3 ploughs. It was and is
worth 30 shillings. Bishop Bricsteg* had
leased {prestiterat) this land to Dodo, but
archbishop Ealdred {/Eldredus) proved his right
to it in the time of king William.

Of this same manor Urse holds 7 hides at
RiDMERLEGE [Redmarley d'Abitot],'' and
William (holds) of him 2 hides out of these.
In (the) demesne are 4 ploughs, and (there
are) 23 villeins and 9 bordars with 10 ploughs.
There are 6 serfs and 2 bondwomen and a
mill worth 5 shillings and 8 pence. The
wood(land) is i league {lewa) long and half
(a league) wide. It was worth 1 pounds ;
now 10 shillings less. Azor and Godwine
held (it) of the Bishop and performed (their)
service {deserviebant).

The same Urse holds 2 hides at Peonedoc^
[Pendock], where he has 2 ploughs and 3
bordars, and 3 serfs and i bondwoman. The
wood (land) is half a league {lewd) long and
half (a league) wide. It was worth 30 shil-
lings ; now 4 shillings less. Godwine held it
on the same terms as above.*

The same Urse holds 3 hides at Wase-
BURNE [Little Wash born e],'" where he has 2

* A chapelry of Bredon on the Cotswold
Hills.

^ i.e. Brihtheah.

■^ Nash says it was 'surnamed D'Abitot,
from Robert d'Abitot, steward of the house-
hold to William the Conqueror, and brother
to Urso d'Abitot the sheriff.' But, like
Cromb, it was probably named from the
later D'Abitots, who held these manors under
the Beauchamps.

^ This place gave the name to the family
of ' de Penedok,' which held the 4 hides at
Westmancot for several generations.

* The monks' story was that ' Peonedoc '
had been given them by a certain ' Northman '
with his son, in the time when bishop Wulf-
stan was dean. They claimed this as an
act of restitution, though it was given that
Northman's son might be received as a monk.
The monastery, they said, held it till Ralf
de Bernai (' Rawlfus vicecomes ') seized it
by the help of William Fitz Osbern, together
with other lands, of which he violently de-
prived them.

*" A detached hamlet of Overbury sur-
rounded by Gloucestershire.

291

A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE

ploughs, and (there are) 5 villeins and 4 bor-
dars with 2 ploughs. There are 5 acres of
meadow. It was and is worth 40 shillings.
Elmer held (it) and afterwards became a monk.
The Bishop received his land.

The same Urse holds 4 hides at Westmone-
COTE [Westmancot],^ where he has 3 ploughs,
and (there are) i villein and 2 bordars with i
plough. There are 14 serfs and 12 acres of
meadow. It was worth 50 shillings ; now 60
shillings. Brictuine held it, and did service
(deserviebat) for it to the Bishop (on such terms)
as could be obtained {deprecari).

Of the same manor Durand holds 2 hides
at NoRTUNE [Bredons Norton], where he has
I plough, and (there are) 2 bordars with i
plough, and 6 acres of meadow. Leofwine
{Lewinus) held it and served [fuit) for it as
Bishop's ' radman.'

Of this same manor Brictic son of Algar ^
held of the Bishop i hide at Biselege [Bush-
ley]^ and paid rent for it to the Bishop {inde
firmabat ipsum episcopum) every year ; and yet
he rendered to the Bishop {ad mam episcopt)
whatever he owed to the King's service. It
is now in the hands of king William.* It
is and was worth 40 shillings. There are
20 acres of meadow and wood(land) half a
league (Jewa) long and 3 furlongs wide.

In the aforesaid Hundred the same Bishop
holds RiPPEL [Ripple] with one (appurtenant)
member, Uptun [Upton-on-Severn]. There
are 25 hides that (pay) geld. Of these, 13
are in demesne, where are 4 ploughs ; and
there are 2 priests who have i\ hides with 2
ploughs; and (there are) 40 villeins and 16
bordars with 36 ploughs. There are 8 serfs
and I bondwoman and a mill and 30 acres of
meadow. The wood(land) is half a league
[lewa] long and 3 furlongs wide, (and is) in
Malferna [Malvern] ; from it (the Bishop) had
the honey and the hunting and all profits
{quicguid exibat), and 10 shillings over and
above ; it is now in (the King's) forest ; but
the Bishop has its pannage,* and (wood for)

* A hamlet in Bredon.

* This was the great English thegn, Brih-
tric son of jElfgar, whose connection with
Worcestershire is alluded to in the Introduction.

^ Formerly Bysseley. It is confused with
Bisley (Gloucestershire) in the Index to the
Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Series),
and is oddly spoken of by Nash as a ' name
now lost' (I. 557).

* See further for this estate, Domesday fo.
i8oi (p. 321 below), and the Introduction.

* Payment for feeding swine on the mast.

firing and repairs [domorum emendationem). It
was and is worth 10 pounds.

Of this manor Ordric holds I hide at
Crumbe [Earl's Crombe] where he has 3
ploughs and 3 villeins and 5 bordars with 3
ploughs. There are 24 acres of meadow and
3 ' quarentenes ' of wood. It was worth 20
shillings ; now 40. Godric held (it) and
performed (his) service to the Bishop [de eph-
copo deservivit). Archbishop Ealdred {Eldre-
dus) received it rightfully (Jure) from him.'

There also at Crumbe [Crombe d'Abitot]
Siward holds 5 hides, where he has 1 plough,
and (there are) 6 villeins and 4 bordars with 4
ploughs. This land was held of the Bishop,
T.R.E., by Sirof, on whose death the Bishop
gave his daughter, with this land, to a certain
knight of his, who was to support (pasceret)
her mother and to render the Bishop service
{serviret) for the land. It was and is worth
40 shillings.

Of this same manor Roger de Laci holds 4
hides at Hilcrumbe [Hill Crombe], where he
has I plough, and (there are) 8 villeins and 4
bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 30 acres
of meadow. The wood(land) is half a league
{lewa) long and 2 furlongs wide. It was
worth 3 pounds ; now 4 pounds.

Of the same manor Urse holds i hide at
HoLEFEST [Holefast],' where he has i plough

^ There has evidently, and naturally, been
some confusion between the Crombes. Nash
makes the one hide held by Ordric to be Crombe
d'Abitot {alias Crombe Osbern) and the 5
hides held by Siward to be Earl's Crombe
{alias Crombe Simon). So far as Domesday
is concerned, the Crombes are treated as one.
There is, however, sufficient evidence even in
Nash's pages that Crombe Simon (which took
its name from a tenant about a century later)
was reckoned at i hide, and was not held of
the Bishop by the Beauchamps, though it was
subsequently obtained by the earls of War-
wick, whence it is named Earl's Crombe. On
the other hand Crombe d'Abitot (named from
Osbern d'Abitot, who held it under the
Beauchamps) must have been 5 hides, for the
survey temp. Henry I. shows us Walter de
Beauchamp holding 6 hides 'in Rippel et
Uptune.' One of these was at Holefast, for
Urse had held it as above, and the other 5
would be at Crombe d'Abitot. This identi-
fication, which is the opposite to that of Nash,
is in harmony with the feodary temp. John,
which shows us one Crombe held of the
Bishop by Beauchamp, and the other by Adam
* de Crumba' {Testa de Nevill, p. 41).

' Now ' Holdfast.' A chapelry in Ripple.

292

THE HOLDERS OF LANDS

and (there are) 7 bordars with i plough.
There are 5 acres of meadow and 2 ' quaren-
tenes ' of wood(land). It was and is worth
20 shiUings. Two priests held it of the Bishop.

Of this same manor Ralf de Bernai^ had i
hide at Cunhille [Queenhill].^ Ailric held
it T.R.E., and did service for it to the Bishop.
It is now in the King's hand(s). And there
are 8 acres of meadow and 2 ' quarentenes '
of wood(land). It was worth 40 shillings.

Of the same manor Brictric son of Algar^
held I hide at Burgelege [Bursley]* on the
same terms as the abovesaid (hide), and it was
worth 15 shillings. It is now in the King's
hand(s).

In the same Hundred the same Bishop
holds Blochelei [Blockley]. There are 38
hides that (pay) geld. Of these, there are in
demesne, 25^ hides, where are 7 ploughs ;
and there are a priest, who has i hide, and 4
' radmans,' who have 6 hides, and 63 villeins
and 25 bordars ; between (them) all they
have 5 1 ploughs. There are 1 4 serfs and 1 2
mills, worth [de) 52 shillings less 3 pence, and
24 acres of meadow. The wood(land) is half
a league [lewa) in length and in width. It
was worth 16 pounds ; now 20 pounds.

Of this manor Richard holds 2 hides at
DiCFORD [Ditchford],^ where he has i plough,
and (there are) 2 villeins and i bordar and 2
serfs with i plough. There are 4 acres of
meadow. It was and is worth 30 shillings.
Alward held (it) and rendered service (for it).

Ansgot holds i^ hides of the land appro-
priated to the villeins {propria terra villanorum\
and has i plough with i bordar. There are
3 acres of meadow. It was and is worth 15
shillings.

To the abovesaid manor belongs [jacet) i
hide at Iacumbe [Icomb] apportioned {pertinens)

^ A follower of earl William of Heref