Worcester's past spans more than 1,500 years and it is this rich and varied heritage that has made the city what it is today - a vibrant, bustling regional centre combining the best of old and new, with many traditional skills and industries thriving alongside the new technology in the workplace of the 1990s.

Worcester owes its origins and much of its prosperity to the River Severn, which has helped to make the city an important place for trade and industry throughout the ages.

Since prehistoric times trade routes centred on Worcester and the Severn. Then in the 3rd or 4th century the Romans built a large iron smelting works in the north of the city. The name Worcester comes from the tribal name, Weagoram, with the English name for a Roman town, Ceastre. Weagoram Ceastre became Wirecester by the time of the Domesday Book and then eventually Worcester.

After being granted a Royal Charter in 1189, Worcester continued to grow due to its river and became a medieval walled city. Worcester was also an important centre for prayer and pilgrimage. A cathedral was first built on the current site in AD 680 when the Diocese of Worcester was created. This was rebuilt in 1084 by Bishop Wulstan and parts of this cathedral can still be seen.

In 1575 Queen Elizabeth 1 visited the city. Apparently, during her procession through the streets she saw a pear tree laden with enormous fruit. The Queen was so pleased that she bade the city to add the emblem of three black pears to its existing coats of arms depicting a three towered castle. It was here, according to tradition, that Worcester got its second, and unique, coat of arms.

It can also be said that the English Civil War began and ended at Worcester, and probably gave rise to the city's motto Civitas Fidelis - The Faithful City - because of its support of the Stuart cause.

One of the world's oldest surviving newspapers, Berrow's Journal, rolled off the presses in Worcester in 1690 and the start of the 18th century heralded the beginning of the Three Choirs Festival.

The city's impressive Queen Anne Guildhall was also built during this period and the racecourse opened in the early 1700s, making it one of the oldest in the country.

In 1815 trade was boosted further by the completion of the Worcester to Birmingham canal which linked the industrial Midlands to the Severn Valley. The glove industry was particularly significant: by 1825, some 30,000 people were employed in glove manufacture alone.