Kidderminster is a large
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
and historic
minster town and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, south-west of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and north of
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
. Located north of the
River Stour and east of the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
, in the 2011
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, it had a population of 55,530.
[ The town is twinned with ]Husum, Germany
Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of t ...
.
Situated in the far north of Worcestershire (and with its northern suburbs only 3 and 4 miles from the Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
and Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
borders respectively), the town is the main administration centre for the wider Wyre Forest District
Wyre Forest is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, covering the towns of Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley, and several civil parishes and their villages. Its council was previously based in Stourport-on-Seve ...
, which includes the towns of Stourport-on-Severn
Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ce ...
and Bewdley
Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...
, along with other outlying settlements.
History
The land around Kidderminster may have been first populated by the Husmerae
The Husmerae were a tribe or clan in early medieval England, possibly forming an early settlement of the Hwicce subkingdom. Charter evidence also referred to the group as ''Wiogorna'' and was also considered a ''prouvincia'' or ''provincia'', an ...
, an Anglo-Saxon tribe first mentioned in the Ismere Diploma
The Ismere Diploma (London, British Library, Cotton Augustus ii. 3) is a charter of 736, in which Aethelbald of Mercia grants ten hides of land near Ismere to Cyneberht, his "venerable companion", for the foundation of a ''coenubium'' ( mins ...
, a document in which Ethelbald of Mercia granted a "parcel of land of ten hides" to Cyneberht. This developed as the settlement of Stour-in-Usmere, which was later the subject of a territorial dispute settled by Offa of Mercia
Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...
in 781, when he restored certain rights to Bishop Heathored. This allowed for the founding of a monastery or in the area.
The earliest written form of the name Kidderminster was first documented in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086, where it appears as ''Chideminstre'', meaning 'Cydda or Cydela's minster or monastery'. It was a large manor held by William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
, with 16 outlying settlements (Bristitune, Fastochesfeld, Franche, Habberley, Hurcott, Mitton, Oldington, Ribbesford, Sudwale, Sutton, Teulesberge, Trimpley, Wannerton and Wribbenhall). Various spellings were in use – ''Kedeleministre'' or ''Kideministre'' (in the 12th and 13th centuries), ''Kyderemunstre'' (13th–15th centuries) – until the name of the town was settled as Kidderminster by the 16th century. Between 1156 and 1162 Henry II granted the manor to his steward, Manasser Biset
Manasser Biset (sometimes Bisset or Manasseh Biset;Friend "Master Odo" ''Speculum'' p. 642 died 1177) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and royal official during the reign of King Henry II of England. Biset was one of the most frequent witnesses o ...
. By six decades later, the settlement grew and a fair (1228) and later a market (1240) were established there.
To the south by the River Stour, dating from the 15th century, is a single surviving tower of Caldwall (or Caldwell) Castle, a fortified manor house.
Kidderminster owes its growth to the early development of the cloth
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
industry, which was aided by its position upon the River Stour, and its location at the congruence of four main roads to Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
and Bewdley
Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...
and Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079.
History
B ...
. In a visit to the town sometime around 1540, King's Antiquary John Leland noted that Kidderminster "standeth most by clothing". Over the following centuries the town specialised in textile trades such as weaving, fulling, cloth working and milling, and was also home to numerous other trades including shoemaking, haberdashery, saddle making, dyers, tailors, tanners and glovers.
King Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
granted the Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of Kidderminster a Charter in 1636. the original charter can be viewed at Kidderminster Town Hall.
Kidderminster's position at the junction of several main roads made it a place of strategic importance during the English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, with several skirmishes taking place in and around the town.
In 1670–1 Kidderminster's cloth industry obtained a guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
by act of parliament and by 1677, the town had as many as 459 weavers and perhaps 3,000 spinners. Following King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
's revocation of the Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
in October 1685 and the subsequent renewed persecution of French Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
in France, many Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...
emigrated to Britain. The immigration and settlement of waves of industrious Huguenots brought the benefits of skilled artisans, merchants and manufacturers to Britain. They contributed to a preexisting but basic cloth weaving industry in towns and cities throughout England, in some cases establishing new businesses. In Worcestershire, the Huguenots established themselves at Worcester, Evesham
Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...
, Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
The ...
and Kidderminster.
In the early 18th century, carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...
weaving was introduced to Kidderminster, and this rapidly became the staple trade of the town. Its growth was aided by the opening of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
in 1771, and later the arrival of the railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
to the town in 1852.
Poor trade conditions in 1828, when 2,000 looms were not working for an 18-week period, led to riots where £3,000 of damage was done during one night.
The town's local government was reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...
, which incorporated Kidderminster as a municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
. This superseded the charter of 1636, and divided the borough into three wards represented by six aldermen and eighteen councillors, the number of wards was doubled in the 1880s. The current Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
on Vicar Street was built in 1877.
Kidderminster has two Commissioners' church
A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplie ...
es. The first was St George's Church, on Radford Avenue. This was designed by Francis Goodwin and built in 1821–1824,[''The Buildings of England: Worcestershire'', ]Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
, 1968 Penguin. p206 finally being consecrated in April 1824. Its grant of just over £17,000.00, was the third-largest given by the commission to any church outside London.
A History of Kidderminster
', Nigel Gilbert, 2004, Phillimore
Phillimore is the surname of:
People:
* Augustus Phillimore (1822–1897), Royal Navy admiral
* Claud Phillimore, 4th Baron Phillimore (1911–1994), English architect
*Egerton Phillimore (1856–1937), British scholar of Welsh literature and lang ...
, . p89 and p102 The second church was St John's Church, on the Bewdley Road. This was built in 1843 and the architect was Matthew Steele
Matthew Steele (19 February 1878 – 12 December 1937) was a Scottish architect, who worked principally in his hometown of Bo'ness and the surrounding area. He was an architectural designer in the Arts and Crafts movement, Arts and Crafts and Ar ...
; its grant was just over £4,000.
The Shrubbery was converted into a military headquarters towards the end of the 19th century.
In 1974 the old borough of Kidderminster was abolished and merged into the new Wyre Forest District
Wyre Forest is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, covering the towns of Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley, and several civil parishes and their villages. Its council was previously based in Stourport-on-Seve ...
. In December 2015 Kidderminster was established as a civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
with a new Town Council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
, following a public referendum.
The carpet industry went into decline in the 1970s, but still continues on a reduced scale.
Geography
The River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
both flow through Kidderminster town centre.
Economy
The modern carpet industry was founded in the area in 1785 by Brintons. The carpet industry became extremely important to the local economy, so much so that the local newspaper is still named '' The Shuttle'' after the shuttles used on the carpet loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...
s. A type of carpet was known as Kidderminster carpet or, in the United States, Ingrain carpet: this was a reversible carpet with no pile, with the pattern showing in opposite colours on the two faces, and was popular from the 18th to early 20th centuries. By 1951 there were over thirty carpet manufacturers in the town, including, for example, Quayle & Tranter (now defunct). They commissioned such notable artists as George Bain to create their traditional Celtic designs.
Aided by a 2004 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
, a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
dedicated to the Kidderminster carpet industry was officially opened by Lord Cobham in 2012.
Politics
Kidderminster Town is a civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
within Wyre Forest District
Wyre Forest is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, covering the towns of Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley, and several civil parishes and their villages. Its council was previously based in Stourport-on-Seve ...
, with Kidderminster Town Council created in the early 21st century to take on the duties of a parish council, following a referendum in May 2015. Prior to this, Charter Trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are ...
maintained the traditions of the town and elected a Mayor. As of the last election in 2019 for the Wyre Forest District Council, the Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
lost their majority and now no group dominates the council.
The area (initially as Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...
, then after 1983 as the Wyre Forest constituency) has been represented by Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs) Gerald Nabarro
Sir Gerald David Nunes Nabarro (29 June 1913 – 18 November 1973) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician who was an MP from 1950 until his death. Nabarro positioned himself on the right of the Conservative Party. Though h ...
1950–64, Tatton Brinton
Sir Esme Tatton Cecil Brinton (4 January 1916 – 26 September 1985) was a British Conservative Party politician.
At the 1964 general election, Brinton was elected as Member of Parliament for Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market a ...
1964–74, Esmond Bulmer
James Esmond Bulmer (born 19 May 1935) was a British Conservative Party politician. He is the son of Edward Charles Bulmer (b. 1907) and his wife Margaret Leigh (Roberts) Bulmer (b. 1908). His father a R.A.F Flight Lieutenant was killed in 1941 wh ...
1974–87, Anthony Coombs 1987–97, and Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP David Lock 1997–2001. In the 2001 United Kingdom general election
The 2001 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 June 2001, four years after the previous election on 1 May 1997, to elect 659 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party was re-elected to serve a second term ...
, the town returned Dr Richard Taylor as an independent MP for the Wyre Forest parliamentary constituency. Taylor had fought the election to protest against the proposed reduction in services at Kidderminster Hospital
Kidderminster Hospital is an acute general hospital in Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England. It is managed by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
History
The hospital has its origins in the Kidderminster Union Workhouse Infirmary w ...
. He held his seat at the 2005 election, the first independent MP to do so since 1949. Mark Garnier
Mark Robert Timothy Garnier (born 26 February 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and former banker. He was first elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre Forest at the 2010 general election. Garnier was re-elected at the ...
has held the seat of Wyre Forest
__NOTOC__
Wyre Forest is a large, semi-natural (partially unmanaged) woodland and forest measuring which straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire, England. Knowles Mill, a former corn mill owned by the National Trust, lies wi ...
since the 2010 election increasing his majority each time.
Demographics
At the 2011 census there were 55,530 residents in Kidderminster in 24,869 households, the median age of Kidderminster residents was 41.[
Kidderminster's population at the 2011 census was predominantly ]White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
(96.8%). The largest non-white groups were Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
at 1.7%, and mixed race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
at 1.2%.[
67% of Kidderminster residents identified as ]Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, with 24.7% stating they had no religion, and 6.6% not stating any religion. The largest non-Christian group were Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
at 0.8%, followed by Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
at 0.2% and Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and Sikhs
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
at 0.1% each, with others at 0.4%.[
]
Architecture and landmarks
Kidderminster's parish church of St Mary and All Saints' is a grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
building dating mostly from the 15th and 16th centuries. Another notable church is St John's Church, which is grade II listed, and dates from 1843. Other listed buildings of note in the town include the Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
of 1877. The Shrubbery, a 19th-century mansion, and the Kidderminster Register Office
Kidderminster Register Office is the former Register Office for the town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. As such, it was a designated venue for the performance of civil marriage ceremonies.
The listed building
In the United Kin ...
. Many of Kidderminster's historic buildings were lost from the 1960s onwards, this led to the creation of the Kidderminster Civic Society in 1993 to promote preservation of the town's heritage.
In the 1968 ''Buildings of England
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...
'' volume on Worcestershire, Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist
* Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo
* David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
described the town as; "uncommonly devoid of visual pleasure and architectural interest." Crown House, an early 1970s office block was particularly criticised, and was once rated among the top 10 ugliest buildings in Britain. Demolition was completed in April 2020, improving the Kidderminster skyline. In the 2007 revision of this volume, Alan Brooks wrote; "the 19th century mill buildings, together with the churches, provide most of the architectural interest in a town otherwise uncommonly lacking in visual pleasures."
Transport
;Rail
Two railway stations in the town share the same approach road and are located less than fifty metres apart. The main National Rail
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
station, operated by West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
, is Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...
, from where trains run to Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
and London. The other station, Kidderminster Town, is the terminus of the preserved Heritage Railway line, Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
, from where trains run to Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079.
History
B ...
.
;Road
Several major routes run through the town, including the A456 which runs from Birmingham to just south of Woofferton
Woofferton is a village to the south of Ludlow, in Shropshire, England. It is one of Shropshire's most southerly villages and lies on the border with Herefordshire. It is part of the civil parish of Richard's Castle. The larger Herefordshire vi ...
, Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
; the A451 which runs from Stourbridge to Abberley
Abberley is a village and civil parish in north west Worcestershire, England.
It is situated on the northern slopes of Abberley Hill, which is tall, between the River Severn and River Teme. The village had a population of 830 in 2001.
Locati ...
; the A442 which runs from Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
The ...
to Hodnet
Hodnet is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The town of Market Drayton lies 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north-east of the village.
History
Evidence of a Bronze Age burial site was discovered during construction of the bypass in ...
, Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
, a few miles north of Telford
Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...
; the A449
The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire.
The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of th ...
which runs from Newport in south Wales to Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
and crosses the A456 at the Land Oak; and the A448 road which starts in the town and goes to Studley in Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, via Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...
and Redditch
Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...
. A major change in the town centre road infrastructure was the construction of the ring road in the 1970s and 1980s. This relieved the town's growing congestion but diverted traffic outside the centre, drawing off customers for businesses. The final phase of the ring road was never completed, which results in the town having a ring road that does not form a complete ring.
;Waterways
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
passes through the town.
;Bus
There are direct bus links with towns including Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
, Halesowen
Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England.
Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and from ...
, Bewdley
Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...
, Stourport
Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ce ...
, Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079.
History
B ...
, Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...
and Redditch
Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...
. The majority of the services in Kidderminster are operated by (previously ), while the rest is operated by Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Arriva Midlands North Operations
In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bus ...
, Finesse and Yarranton Brothers and Services 291 and 292 were operated by R & B Travel prior to the company surrendering its licence in January 2020.
Services 15A/C, S15, 294, 580 and 133were operated by Coniston Coaches prior to surrendering its licence in October 2020.
15A/C, S15 & 294 were passed onto Astons until 2021 and 2022.
Routes
Education
As part of educational restructuring in the Wyre Forest district
Wyre Forest is a local government district in Worcestershire, England, covering the towns of Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley, and several civil parishes and their villages. Its council was previously based in Stourport-on-Seve ...
, Kidderminster's schools were reorganised from a three-tier system of first, middle and high schools to the two-tier system more common in the UK as a whole, featuring primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
s and secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
s. In this process, several first and middle schools were closed or merged into new primaries. The three high schools of King Charles I School
King Charles I School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England.
Present day and Ofsted
King Charles I School is a specialist science college, and renewed their specialist ...
, Wolverley C E Secondary School, and Baxter College
Baxter College is a mixed secondary school with academy status located in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. Prior to September 2002 the school was known as Harry Cheshire High School. The school provides education for pupils aged 11 to ...
(formerly Harry Cheshire High School) became secondary schools that included sixth form
In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
s.
Independent schools include Heathfield Knoll School
Heathfield Knoll School and First Steps Day Nursery is a small independent non-denominational day school and day nursery in Wolverley, near Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England, for boys and girls aged three months to 18 years. The school i ...
in Wolverley
Wolverley is a village; with nearby Cookley (1 mi northeast), it forms a civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. It is 2 miles north of Kidderminster and lies on the River Stour and the Staffordshire and ...
. Formerly independent, Holy Trinity School became a state-funded free school in 2014. Kidderminster College
Kidderminster College is a post 16 Comprehensive College in Kidderminster, England providing full and part-time adult education. The College offers courses which specialise in hairdressing, engineering, creative industries, business administrati ...
is located in Market Street in the town centre, having moved from older premises in Hoo Road in 2003. Other local secondary schools include The Stourport High School & VIth Form Centre and The Bewdley School
The Bewdley School is a senior school and sixth form in Bewdley, serving north-west Worcestershire, England. Its campus is very close to the River Severn and lies on the border of the Wyre Forest national nature reserve.
Bewdley is an educationa ...
.
Sport
Cricket
Kidderminster CC is a local cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
club at whose home ground of Chester Road North Ground Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team has been rebranded ...
play occasional County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
and county 2nd XI games.
Football
Formed in 1886, Kidderminster Harriers F.C.
Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...
is the town's professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club. Local rivals of the Harriers were traditionally Worcester City
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane.
Worcester City's ...
and Bromsgrove Rovers, and in recent years also Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
and Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
. As of 2013 Cheltenham are in a division above Kidderminster.
In 2005 the Harriers were relegated to the Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
after five years in the Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
division. They had reached the Football League as Conference champions in 2000, and are Worcestershire's only representative in the league. They had won the title in 1994 but were denied promotion then as their stadium did not meet Football League capacity requirements. That same year they eliminated Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
from the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
; they eventually reached the 5th round of the competition (just missing the quarter-finals), where they hosted Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
side West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, narrowly losing 0–1. Prior to Lincoln City's run in the competition in 2017, Harriers were the last non-league side to reach round five of the FA Cup. Harriers were relegated to the National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
in 2016.
The Kidderminster & District League has operated since 1984 and draws teams from Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
and South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settlements ...
.
Rugby
Kidderminster Carolians RFC is a local rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
club, currently playing at level 6 in Midlands 1 West.
Hockey
Kidderminster Hockey club was founded in 1892 and in 2010 there are five men's hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
teams, a women's team and a junior team.
Local attractions
Located in Kidderminster is the Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
a heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
. The Museum of Carpet opened in 2012, showcases the town's contribution to the carpet industry. To the west of Kidderminster towards Bewdley
Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...
is the West Midlands Safari Park
West Midland Safari and Leisure Park is a safari park located in Bewdley in Worcestershire, England. It was opened under the name of West Midland Safari Park in spring 1973.
The park holds over 165 species of exotic animals, among other attracti ...
.
Local media
The local newspaper covering Kidderminster is '' The Shuttle''.
The Wyre
107.2 The Wyre was a local commercial radio station serving Kidderminster, Bewdley, Stourport-on-Severn, Stourbridge and Bromsgrove in England. The station was owned by MNA Broadcasting but was sold to UTV Media and merged on Monday 26 March ...
was the town's first local commercial radio station; it began broadcasting on 12 September 2005 from studios in Kidderminster. Other radio stations providing local coverage are Free Radio, Sunshine Radio and BBC Hereford & Worcester
BBC Hereford & Worcester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and online via BBC Sounds from studios on Hylton Road in Worcester.
According to RAJ ...
. The Wyre ceased broadcasting in 2012, and Signal 107 was launched on 26 March 2012 (it now broadcasts as Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire).
Climate
The town is noted for its particularly high record lows. Despite an average July low of 11.7 °C, the temperature has never fallen below 5 °C in that month. The coldest and warmest July nights were both recorded in 2015.
Notable residents
* Jonathan Riley was brought up in Kidderminster, he was the winner of the Ferrari Velas e-sports series 2022 grand final.
* Mo Anthoine
Julian Vincent "Mo" Anthoine (1 August 1939 – 12 August 1989) was a British mountaineer who climbed extensively in the Himalayas in the 1970s and 80s.
Early life
Born in Kidderminster, he left King Charles I School at the age of sixteen to ...
was born and brought up on Marlpool Lane in Kidderminster. He was a mountain climber famed for his technical skill.
* John Wyer
John Wyer (11 December 1909 in Kidderminster, England – 8 April 1989 in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States), was an English automobile racing engineer and team manager. He is mainly associated with cars running in the light blue and orange ...
was born in Kidderminster, went on to manage repeat victories at Le Mans 24 hours.
* Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...
(12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691); Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
minister. He began his ministry in Kidderminster in April 1641 and served there for the next 19 years. A memorial statue of him was erected outside Saint Mary's parish church, where he was based. The inscription states his wish "for unity and comprehension in religion". Prior beginning his ministry in Kidderminster, Baxter lived in Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079.
History
B ...
from 1640 to 1641.
* Mark Birch, former guitarist with Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular albums included ''Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage'' (1971), '' Argus'' (1972), ''Wishbone Four'' (1973), ''There's the Rub'' (1974), and '' ...
, was born and brought up in Kidderminster.
* Robbie Blunt
Robert William Blunt (born 4 March 1951) is a rock guitarist who has worked with a variety of bands, most notably with Robert Plant's solo band in the 1980s. Since leaving Plant's band in the mid 1980s, Blunt has provided session work for a nu ...
, solo guitarist, Robert Plant collaborator, has associations with Kidderminster.
* Edward Bradley, the English humorist of the mid-Victorian era, was born in Kidderminster in 1827. He died on 11 December 1889.
* Lant Carpenter
Lant Carpenter, Dr. (2 September 1780 – 5 or 6 April 1840) was an English educator and Christian Unitarianism, Unitarian Minister (Christianity), minister.
Early life
Lant Carpenter was born in Kidderminster, the third son of George Carpenter ...
was born in Kidderminster on 2 September 1780.
* Gilbert Claughton Chairman of the London North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the L ...
* Peter Collins, former Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
driver was born in Kidderminster on 6 November 1931. During his career Collins drove for the HWM, Vanwall
Vanwall was a motor racing team and racing car constructor that was active in Formula One during the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall bearings ...
, Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
and Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
teams and won 3 of his 33 Grands Prix. Tragically his promising career was cut short during the 1958 German Grand Prix, when Collins spun off the track and sustained a fatal head injury in the accident that followed.
* Sammi Davis
Samantha "Sammi" Davis (born 21 June 1964) is an English actress.
She gained considerable praise for her performances in ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), as a teenage prostitute, and Ken Russell's '' The Rainbow'' (1989). She also had significant roles ...
(born 1964), film actress, was born in Kidderminster.
* Tony De Vit
Antony de Vit ( ; 12 September 1957 – 2 July 1998)
- accessed May 2011 was an English DJ and music producer. He is consi ...
, Birmingham-based nightclub DJ and singer, was born in Kidderminster, died in Birmingham in 1998.
* Alun Evans
Alun William Evans (born 30 April 1949) is an English former footballer who made his name as a centre forward in the Liverpool side rebuilt by Bill Shankly at the start of the 1970s. He was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Career
Evans ...
, English football's first £100,000 teenager, was born in Kidderminster.
* Richard Eve
Richard Eve FRGS (6 December 1831–7 July 1900) was a solicitor and notary in Aldershot in Hampshire in the 19th century and a prominent Freemason who was the Grand Treasurer of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1889, and the Chairman o ...
, Grand Treasurer of the United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron T ...
in 1889 was born in Kidderminster.
* Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (1716–1777)
Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (8 August 1716 – 18 November 1777), was a British landowner and politician.
Foley was the son of Thomas Foley MP and his wife Hester (née Andrews) and was educated at Westminster School (1724–732) and Trini ...
, MP for Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
The ...
and Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, created ''Baron Foley, of Kidderminster in the County of Worcester'' in 1776.
* Paul Frampton
Paul Howard Frampton is an English theoretical physicist who works in particle theory and cosmology. From 1996 until 2014, he was the Louis D. Rubin, Jr. Distinguished Professor of physics and astronomy, at the University of North Carolina at Ch ...
, theoretical physicist, was born in Kidderminster and educated at King Charles I School.
* Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw (c. 1705 – 28 September 1775),Chester Chronicle, ''The Chester Chronicle, or Commercial Intelligencer'', Monday 2 October 1775. also known as James Albert, was an Atlantic slave trade, enslaved African man who is conside ...
, known also as James Albert, lived with his family in the town in the 1760s and 1770s. An African prince and freed slave, he worked on his autobiography in Kidderminster, with a secretary from Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...
. Published at Bath in about 1772, this was considered the first Black African autobiography published in Britain.
* Robert Hamer
Robert Hamer (31 March 1911 – 4 December 1963) was a British film director and screenwriter best known for the 1949 black comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets''.
Biography
Hamer was born at 24 Chester Road, Kidderminster, along with his twi ...
, film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
and screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
, known for his 1949 comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets
''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' is a 1949 British crime black comedy film. It features Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness; Guinness plays nine characters. The plot is loosely based on the novel ''Israel Rank: The Auto ...
'', starring Dennis Price
Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...
and Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
, was born in Kidderminster on 31 March 1911.
* Jowe Head
Jowe Head (born Stephen Bird) is a British guitarist, singer, and visual artist, who was a member of Swell Maps before joining the Television Personalities. He has also released a large amount of material as a solo artist and as leader of group ...
(born 1956), as Joe Hendon in Kidderminster, bass guitarist, singer and visual artist was a member of Swell Maps
Swell Maps were an English experimental DIY, early punk or post-punk rock group from Birmingham, England, active in various forms between 1972 and 1980. Influenced by bands such as T. Rex and the German krautrock groups such as Can and Faust ...
before joining the Television Personalities
The Television Personalities are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 by London singer-songwriter Dan Treacy.Earp, Joseph.The Missing Man Of Music: A Search For The Elusive Dan Treacy Of Television Personalities. ''The Brag'', 26 July 2016 ...
.
* Sir Rowland Hill
Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his soluti ...
, the inventor of the Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom (referred to in philatelic circles as Great Britain), on 1 May 1840, but was not valid for use until 6 May. ...
and the modern postal system, was born in Blackwell Street on 3 December 1795. There is a statue, sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock
Sir Thomas Brock (1 March 184722 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
His mos ...
, to him in Vicar Street outside the town hall. There is a pub in the Bull Ring called ''The Penny Black'' in his honour.
* Henry Eliot Howard
Henry Eliot Howard (13 November 1873 – 26 December 1940) was an English amateur ornithologist, noted for being one of the first to describe territoriality behaviours in birds in a detailed manner. His ideas on territoriality were influential ...
, director of a steelwork in Worcester, and amateur ornithologist, was born at Stone House near Kidderminster.
* Eustace Jotham
Eustace Jotham VC (28 November 1883 – 7 January 1915) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
...
, served as a captain in the Great War, winning the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
in 1915; was born in Kidderminster.
* Kevin Keelan
Kevin Damien Keelan MBE (born 5 January 1941) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the majority of his career with Norwich City, though he also played for Aston Villa, Stockport County, Wrexham, New E ...
, footballer played for Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
.
* Walter W. Law
Walter William Law (November 13, 1837 – January 17, 1924) was a businessman and the founder of the 8,000-person village of Briarcliff Manor, New York. He was a vice president of furniture and carpet retailer W. & J. Sloane, and later founded t ...
was born in Kidderminster in 1837 to a carpet dealer, and worked as a carpet manufacturer. He later immigrated to the United States, where he founded Briarcliff Manor, New York
Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor inc ...
, and died in 1924.
* Melissa Lawley, Liverpool F.C. Women
Liverpool Football Club Women is an English women's football club, founded in 1989 as ''Newton LFC'' and subsequently renamed ''Knowsley United WFC'' and ''Liverpool Ladies''. A founding member of the top-tier FA Women's Super League in 2011, ...
Forward, who signed for the club in 2019.
* Iskra Lawrence
Iskra Arabella Lawrence (born 11 September 1990) is a British model.
Early life and education
Lawrence was born in Wolverhampton and grew up in Kidderminster, Worcestershire from the age of 6 weeks. Lawrence attended Holy Trinity School, Kidder ...
, model, grew up in Kidderminster.
* Rustie Lee
Rustie Lee (born 22 May 1949) is a Jamaican television personality, television chef, actress and singer. She participated on the Channel 5 reality-television show ''Celebrity Super Spa'' in 2013; ITV's ''Who's Doing the Dishes?'', hosted by Brian ...
, TV personality and celebrity chef, used to live on the outskirts of the town.
* Sir Josiah Mason, an English pen-manufacturer, was born in Mill Street on 23 February 1795.
* Walter Nash
Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...
, former Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, was born in the town.
* James O'Brien, radio talk show host of LBC and journalist, was brought up in Kidderminster.
* Job Orton
Job Orton (4 September 1717 – 1783) was an English dissenting minister.
Life
He was born at Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He entered the academy of Dr Philip Doddridge at Northampton, became minister of a congregation formed by a fusion of Presbyt ...
, English dissenting minister, lived in Kidderminster in retirement from 1766 until his death in 1783.
* Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in '' Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998.
Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...
, journalist and broadcaster, was born in West Bromwich but grew up in Kidderminster.
* Ewan Pearson
Ewan Pearson (born 1 April 1972) is an English electronic music producer/remixer who works under various aliases including Maas, Sulky Pup, Villa America, World of Apples, and Dirtbox. He is also in Partial Arts with Al Usher. He has remixed ...
, DJ and record producer, grew up in Kidderminster.
* Ernest Perry, first-class cricketer, died in Kidderminster in 1996.
* Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...
(born 1948), English musician who was the front man of the 1970s English rock band Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, grew up in Kidderminster and has had associations with Kidderminster College
Kidderminster College is a post 16 Comprehensive College in Kidderminster, England providing full and part-time adult education. The College offers courses which specialise in hairdressing, engineering, creative industries, business administrati ...
.
* Stuart Matthew Price
Matthew Price (born 6 August 1983 in Kidderminster, England) is a British actor, dancer and West End stage and concert singer known for playing Riff Raff in three European tours of ''The Rocky Horror Show''. He is also a composer, having writt ...
, singer and composer, was born in the town.
* Jess Roden
Jess Roden (born 28 December 1947) is an English rock singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Biography
Roden's first band was The Raiders followed by The Shakedown Sound which also included the guitarist, Kevyn Gammond, and keyboard player, August E ...
, singer, was born in Kidderminster.
* Mike Sanchez
Jesus Miguel "Mike" Sanchez (born 17 February 1964) is a British rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The ter ...
(born 1964), rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
pianist and vocalist, is a long-time resident of Kidderminster.
* Sir Herbert Smith, 1st Baronet (1872–1943), Kidderminster carpet manufacturer and owner of Witley Court
Witley Court, Great Witley, Worcestershire, England is a ruined Italianate mansion. Built for the Foleys in the seventeenth century on the site of a former manor house, it was enormously expanded in the early nineteenth century by the architect ...
(see Smith of Kidderminster baronets)
* Alf Tabb, Kidderminster cycle maker and rider of miniature cycles
* Tom Watson (born 8 January 1967), is a former Labour Party Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for West Bromwich East
West Bromwich East is a constituency that is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Nicola Richards of the Conservative Party, who was first elected at the 2019 United Kingdom general election.
Members of Parliament
...
and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. He was educated at King Charles I High School in Kidderminster.
* Stan Webb, blues guitarist and founder of Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb (guitar and vocals), Andy Silvester (bass guitar), and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect (later McVie) (vocals and keyboards) in 1967. ...
, resides in the town.
* John Francis Young
John Francis Young (14 January 1893 – 7 November 1929) was a Canadian soldier who served in the First World War. Young was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to Brit ...
, served as a soldier in the First World War and won the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
as a private in 1918; was born in Kidderminster
References
Further reading
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External links
Kidderminster Town Council
Kidderminster Workhouse
{{Authority control
Towns in Worcestershire