Population: 588,400
District Area: 1,741 km2
Leader: Simon Geraghty (Conservative Party)
Name and Etymology:
Worcestershire is named after the city of Worcester. This in turn is a modern rendering of Old English "Weorgoran Ceaster" or "Fort of the people of the river."/p>
Economy:
Worcestershire traditionally lived on the cultivation of fruit and hops, as well as its crossing over the Severn River. It also at varying times was a center of wool and salt production. It is the home of Worcestershire sauce and for much of the nineteenth century was the center of the British glove industry.
History:
Worcestershire was the home of the Dobunni tribe during the Roman era, who were replaced by the Anglo-Saxon Weorgoran under the Kingdom of Hwicce in 577. It was incorporated into the Kingdom of England in 927. King John of Robin Hood fame is buried in Worcester Cathedral. Worcestershire was the site of the Battle of Powick Bridge in 1642, the first major skirmish in the English Civil War, and the Battle of Worcester in 1651 ended the third civil war.
