Latest news

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...

Why Archaeologists No Longer Use the Term “Deviant Burial”- Evidence from Milestone Ground, Broadway In archaeology, terminology matters. The words we use shape how we interpret the past and how it is understood by the public. One term that is increasingly falling out of use is “deviant burial” – a description once commonly applied to...

In this our last post in the series around the 1921 census Claire gives an example of how things are not always as you’d expect and the need to be tenacious:  I was looking for my grandfather Albert Leslie Trussler born 1899 in Surrey. You would expect with a name like that it would  be...

Over the past year, we’ve been sharing lots about the archaeological discoveries from our work at Milestone Ground, Broadway. But one find, until now, has been kept very quiet. Our archaeologists uncovered a truly extraordinary artefact during the excavation – and we can finally talk about it. A unique late Roman bone box discovered on...

Delve into the establishment and history of Powick Hospital, along with the types of records we hold for those patients admitted. As we come towards the end of a 2 year project to catalogue a range of public records as a result of New Burdens funding, we turn our attention to records held on behalf...

The 1921 census helps Carol find out more about one of the residents of her village and a surprising connection between them. Colleagues were looking for the announcement of a birth in the Berrows newspaper of April 1931, when they found an obituary for Jane Brookes of Bishampton, who claimed to be the first female...