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Imagine walking along a quiet country lane in rural Worcestershire. Fields stretch away on either side, and the landscape feels peaceful and timeless. Yet over 1,100 years ago this same landscape may have been a place of uncertainty, where someone buried a small collection of coins in the ground and never returned to reclaim them....

This is the second post in a three-part series exploring the remarkable ninth-century Bickmarsh Hoard discovered in Worcestershire. Catch up on part one. The discovery of the Bickmarsh Hoard in 2022 revealed a small but remarkable collection of ninth-century coins buried in the Worcestershire countryside over 1,100 years ago. In this second blog in our...

A quiet field in south east Worcestershire. No visible traces of the past. No reason to expect what lay beneath. And then, a signal. Within hours, silver coins began to emerge from the soil, one after another, until it became clear that this was no isolated find, but part of a much larger story. By...

We are using some of the archival material that we hold to turn a spotlight onto True Crimes that have occured in this county. On Wednesday 15th April 2026 visitors can join us at The Hive for a fascinating evening looking at The case of Bella in the Wych Elm which has, for 83 years,...

An exhibition which summarised some of the records catalogued as part of the New Burdens Project was displayed until 31st March 2026. Whilst this has now passed, you can view images from the exhibition below. Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service secured £73000 in 2022 from The National Archives’ (TNA) New Burdens fund to catalogue and improve...

Did you know that Worcestershire Marriage Bonds and Allegations are now available to view on Ancestry.co.uk? Covering the years c.1630–1949, these fascinating records offer a valuable window into the lives of past generations. For family historians and genealogists, marriage licence records can reveal details that may not appear in traditional parish registers What Was a...

We are excited to introduce some of the women we will represent in an April 2026 display about women’s history. In this blog we would like to take a closer look at these Women of Worcestershire and share some of the stories we have discovered about them. Some of these local women are lesser known,...

By January 1886, as reported in the Berrow’s Worcester Journal an extension of Powick Hospital was completed which allowed for a further 210 patients admitted to the hospital, with the capacity of the previous buildings at just over 700 patients. With such a large number of patients and staff to receive daily meals, it is...

From English country houses to dramatic naval battles and foreign lands, we continue our look at the Sandys family’s extraordinary art collection. Many of the pictures at Ombersley came to the Court through Letitia Baroness Sandys, while others were bought directly from artists or collected abroad. From views of Chatsworth House to Spanish bullfighting scenes...

From Old Master paintings to prints, ceramics and furniture, the Sandys family’s art collection tells a story of politics, personal taste and ancestry. For centuries, the Sandys family collected art, turning Ombersley Court into something as much like a gallery as a home. Whilst a number were commissioned or purchased directly from artists, others were...