Bromsgrove is a
townA town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in
WorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England. The town is about 16 miles (25.7 km) north east of
WorcesterThe City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
and 13 miles (20.9 km) south west of
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area) with a small
ethnic minorityA minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
and is in
Bromsgrove DistrictBromsgrove is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Bromsgrove.It borders the built up area of Birmingham to the north...
.
History
Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century as Bremesgraf. Later in the
Anglo-Saxon ChronicleThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
of 909 A.D. Bromsgrove is mentioned as Bremesburh. Then in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
Bromsgrove is referenced as Bremesgrave. The Breme part of the place name is almost certainly a Saxon personal name.
In the
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
times, Bromsgrove had a woodland economy consisting of hunting, maintenance of haies and pig farming.
At the time of
Edward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, the manor of Bromsgrove is known to have been held by Earl Edwin. After the conquest, Bromsgrove was held by the King. Among the manor’s possessions were 13 salt pans at Droitwich, with three workers, producing 300 mits. The King had the right to sell the salt from his pans before any other salt in the town.
It was at the centre of a very large parish and its church was certainly of minster status. Bromsgrove, along with all the towns in north
WorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, was committed to defending the city of
WorcesterThe City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
and is recorded to have contributed burgesses to Droitwich in 1086. There may also have been Anglo-Saxon or
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
fortifications in Bromsgrove, but other than in literature no physical archaeological evidence remains.
Bromsgrove was first granted the right to a market day in 1200, and in 1317 was given the right hold a Tuesday market and three day fair every 29 August at the Decollation of St John the Baptist. Market day changed several times over the period, settling on Tuesday from 1792 onwards. Fairs were held twice yearly, in June and October by the eighteenth century, with the modern pleasure fairs originating from the June horse and pleasure fair.
Bromsgrove and the area surrounding it was put under forest law when the boundaries of
Feckenham ForestFeckenham Forest was a royal forest, centred around the town of Feckenham, covering large parts of west Worcestershire and Warwickshire. As such, it was not entirely wooded, nor entirely the property of the King. Rather, the King had legal rights over game, wood and grazing within the forest, and...
were extended hugely by
Henry IIHenry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. Forest law was removed from the Bromsgrove area in 1301 in the reign of
Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
, when the boundaries were moved back.
In the later Middle Ages, Bromsgrove was a centre for the wool trade. Manufacture of cloth, particularly narrow cloth and
friezesIn the history of textiles, frieze is a Middle English term for a coarse woollen, plain weave cloth with a nap on one side. The nap was raised by scrubbing it to raise curls of fibre, and was not shorn after being raised, leaving an uneven surface. Panni frisi, "Frisian cloths", appear in medieval...
is first recorded in 1533. It fell into decline by the 1700s. By 1778, 140 hands (i.e., people) were employed in the manufacture of
linseyLinsey-woolsey is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woollen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey. The name derives form a combination of linen and woollen...
and
linenLinen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
employed 180. By comparison, nail making employed 900 hands by this time.
Nail making was introduced by the French
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s in the 17th century and became a thriving industry. At one point Bromsgrove was the world centre of nail making. Mechanisation quickly put the industry into decline.
The Bromsgrove Union
WorkhouseThe English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
, on the Birmingham Road, was opened in 1838 and closed in 1948 and is in use as an office building today.
In 1841,
Bromsgrove railway worksBromsgrove railway works was established in 1841 at Aston Fields, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England as a maintenance facility for the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway...
was established. It was primarily a maintenance facility but also built
steam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s. The works provided employment for people in Bromsgrove. In 1964, following a reorganisation of railway workshops, the works closed and was demolished. The site is now a
housing estateA housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
. One of the turntable pits still remains.
Major
restorationVictorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
of the
NormanAbout|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
and 13th century St. John the Baptist church was carried out in 1858 by Sir
George Gilbert ScottSir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
. In the churchyard here are the graves of two railwaymen, Tom Scaife and Joseph Rutherford who were killed when their steam locomotive blew up while climbing the steepest mainline railway gradient in England, at the nearby Lickey Incline, on 10 November 1840. The driver and his number two died instantly.
St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Worcester Road was built by
Gilbert BlountGilbert Blount was an English architect working mostly for Catholic Churches. He started his career as a civil engineer under Brunel and became superintendent of the Thames Tunnel works...
in 1858.
Bromsgrove was home for many years to the world-famous "
Bromsgrove GuildThe Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts was a company of modern artists and designers associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, founded by Walter Gilbert. The guild worked in metal, wood, plaster, bronze, tapestry, glass and other mediums....
", a company of craftsmen who produced many fine works of sculpture, ironwork, etc., including the gates of
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
(whose locks are stamped with the
GuildA guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
's name), the lifts on the
LusitaniaRMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
and the famous statue adorning the
Fortune TheatreThe Fortune Theatre is a 432 seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, built in 1922-4 by Ernest Schaufelberg for impresario Laurence Cowen. The façade is principally bush hammered concrete, with brick piers supporting the roof...
in
Drury LaneDrury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
.
Governance and local politics
- See also: Bromsgrove (UK Parliament constituency)
Bromsgrove is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system...
and Bromsgrove (district)Bromsgrove is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Bromsgrove.It borders the built up area of Birmingham to the north...
BromsgroveBromsgrove is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system...
's
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
is
Sajid JavidSajid Javid is an English Conservative Party politician. At the 2010 general election he was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for the Bromsgrove constituency....
. As a largely rural constituency with affluent residential areas, Bromsgrove District is strongly Conservative with further conservative seats being won in the local elections at the expense of 'other' candidates.
Bromsgrove constituency was last represented by Labour by T Davies, who defeated Conservative
Hal MillerSir Hilary Duppa "Hal" Miller , known as Hal Miller, is a British Conservative Party politician.Educated at Eton College, Miller graduated from Merton College, Oxford in 1956 and the University of London in 1962...
as the result of 10.1% swing in a by-election in 1971. Miller was elected to the new Bromsgrove and Redditch constituency in 1974, and represented Bromsgrove constituency from 1983 to 1992. He was succeeded by
Roy ThomasonKenneth Roy Thomason, known as Roy Thomason, OBE is a British Conservative Party politician who was a local government leader and served one term as a Member of Parliament.-Local government experience:...
, who was censured by the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges for failing to declare loans made to him. He decided not to re-stand after the local Conservative Association opened nominations to other candidates. He was succeeded by
Julie KirkbrideJulie Kirkbride is a British former politician. She was the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Conservative stronghold of Bromsgrove from 1997 until 2010-Early life:...
in 1997. She did not contest the seat in 2010 following the Westminster
expenses scandalThe United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, in which she was found to have over-claimed by £29,243.
Bromsgrove has its own youth branch of Conservatives called Bromsgrove
Conservative FutureConservative Future, abbreviated to CF, is the youth movement of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom for members aged up to 30 years old.Founded in 1998, Conservative Future is the largest political organisation on British campuses...
, a Labour Party and Labour club and Liberal Democrat Party. Labour voting is strongest in the Whitford, Sidemoor and Charford wards of the town.
Energy policy
In May 2006, a report commissioned by
British GasCentrica plc is a multinational utility company, based in the United Kingdom but also with interests in North America. Centrica is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the UK, and one of the largest suppliers of electricity, operating under the trading names "Scottish Gas" in...
showed that housing in Bromsgrove produced the 14th highest average carbon emissions in the country at 7,133 kg of
carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
per dwelling.
Geography
The solid
geologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
of Bromsgrove is that of the
TriassicThe Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
(late Scythian to early
LadinianThe Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between 237 ± 2 Ma and 228 ± 2 Ma...
) Bromsgrove
SandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. It shows red bed
faciesIn geology, facies are a body of rock with specified characteristics. Ideally, a facies is a distinctive rock unit that forms under certain conditions of sedimentation, reflecting a particular process or environment....
and was probably laid down by rivers flowing through an arid landscape or in
ephemeralEphemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....
, shallow lakes. The uppermost beds were deposited by a brief marine transgression. The soil is very good for
market gardeningA market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...
and growing
vegetableThe noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s due to
MarlMarl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
bands. The district is at a general elevation of between 200 feet (61 m) to 300 feet (91.4 m) above
sea levelMean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Climate
Bromsgrove experiences an
oceanic climateAn oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
(
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
Landmarks
There is a statue of Alfred Edward Housman in the high street, which was erected in 1985. There is also a sculpture of a
dryadDryads are tree nymphs in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies 'oak,' from an Indo-European root *derew- 'tree' or 'wood'. Thus Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general...
and
boarWild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
in the
high streetHigh Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
.
Bromsgrove is home to
Grafton ManorGrafton Manor was established before the Norman Conquest...
which dates back to the 14th century. It has a rich history, with one of the daughters of
John Talbot-Nobles:*John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury , military commander in the Hundred Years' War*John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury *John Talbot, 1st Viscount Lisle *John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury...
married to Robert Wintour, who was involved in the
Gunpowder plotThe Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
.
Economy
In 2004, 33,175 people in
Bromsgrove DistrictBromsgrove is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Bromsgrove.It borders the built up area of Birmingham to the north...
were in employment. Manufacturing, retail, and services were the biggest sectors of employment in 2001.
Many of Bromsgrove's residents find employment in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
,
RedditchRedditch is a town and local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district had a population of 79,216 in 2005. In the 19th century it became the international centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry...
, Worcester and other places along the motorway network. MG Rover was a major employer of Bromsgrove residents until its collapse in May 2005. Bromsgrove is still home to LG Harris Ltd, a paint brush manufacturer.(Known locally as "Harris Brush" or just "The Brush"). Business parks in Aston Fields and Buntsford Hill are helping to revitalise the local economy, in addition to newer developments such as Saxon and Harris Business Parks. Bromsgrove District Council is aiming to create a technology corridor along the
A38The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...
to take advantage of the area's road links.
Municipal facilities
Bromsgrove has a public community library situated in the centre of the town. The library offers not only books but also music CDs, spoken word, foreign language tapes and videos & DVD for adults and children. There are 25 computers available with internet access.
Bromsgrove has a municipal park, Sanders Park. Facilities include: basketball courts, tennis courts, a skate park, children's play area and
football pitchAn association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...
es. A
bonfire nightGuy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in England. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding...
is held annually with a large fireworks display and
fair groundFair Ground is a Canadian Rock band.Fair Ground was formed by Canadian guitarists Pete Lesperance and Mike Turner, of the bands Harem Scarem and Our Lady Peace, respectively...
rides. Other events are held such as
big bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
afternoons featuring bands playing in the bandstand.
There is a large public leisure centre and sports centre in the town called The Dolphin Centre. It has two swimming pools and a large sports hall. Numerous activities and clubs are held here, such as the Bromsgrove Swimming Club. It is run by Wychavon Leisure and owned by
Bromsgrove District CouncilBromsgrove is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Bromsgrove.It borders the built up area of Birmingham to the north...
.
Transport
Bromsgrove is intersected by the
A38The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...
which was bypassed to the east of the town in 1980, the
M5 motorwayThe M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...
borders the west side and the
M42 motorwayThe M42 motorway is a major road in England. The motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre and Tamworth on the way. The section between the M40 and M6 road forms...
starts at the north of the town.
Bromsgrove railway stationBromsgrove railway station serves the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. It is located at the foot of the two-mile Lickey Incline which ascends at a gradient of 1-in-37.7 towards Barnt Green on the line between Birmingham and Worcester. The station opened as part of the Birmingham and Gloucester...
is situated to the south of the town. It sits at the foot of the
Lickey InclineThe Lickey Incline is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain and is situated south of Birmingham, in England. The climb is a gradient of 1-in-37.7 for a continuous distance of two miles ....
which is the steepest Incline on the British mainline network meaning most freight trains require assistance from a locomotive at the rear. Between 1919 and 1956 this was operated by a purpose built locomotive known by drivers as
Big BerthaIn 1919, the Midland Railway built a single 0-10-0 steam locomotive, No 2290 . It was designed by James Clayton for banking duties on the Lickey Incline in Worcestershire , England...
. There are frequent trains to Birmingham New Street,
Worcester Foregate StreetWorcester Foregate Street railway station, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860, is situated in the centre of the city of Worcester, in Worcestershire, England. It is physically the smaller of the two stations serving the city, but is more centrally located...
and
HerefordHereford railway station serves the city of Hereford, England. Managed by Arriva Trains Wales, it lies on the Welsh Marches Line between Leominster and Abergavenny and is the western terminus of the Cotswold Line.The station has four platforms...
. On 4 May 2007,
Network RailNetwork Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
announced that a new station would be built, to replace the existing structure, at a cost in the region of £10-12 million.
There is also a
bus stationA bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
adjacent to the high street. Buses operate to a wide area of
WorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
and the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
.
State schools
Bromsgrove schools use a three-tier education system (
First SchoolFirst school and lower school are terms used in some areas of the United Kingdom to describe the first stage of primary education. Some English Local Education Authorities have introduced First Schools since the 1960s...
,
Middle SchoolMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
,
High SchoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
).
Bromsgrove has 11
First SchoolFirst school and lower school are terms used in some areas of the United Kingdom to describe the first stage of primary education. Some English Local Education Authorities have introduced First Schools since the 1960s...
s in its district: Finstall First School, Charford First School,Dodford First School Milfields First School, St. Peters Roman Catholic First School, Stoke Prior First School, Blackwell First School, Sidemoor First School, Catshill First School, Tardebigge CofE First School, Fairfield First School, Hanbury CofE First School and Meadows First School.
There are five
Middle SchoolMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
s: Alvechurch Middle School, Catshill Middle School,
Aston Fields Middle SchoolAston Fields Middle School is a co-educational non-denominational middle school in south-east Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.-History:The school, which opened in 1969, has a catchment area which encompasses feeder first schools from Bromsgrove and surrounding villages. Parental preferences from...
, St John's Middle School and Parkside Middle School.
There are two high schools,
North Bromsgrove High SchoolNorth Bromsgrove High School is a High School and Sixth Form Centre located in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. It offers education for GCSE and A level courses...
and
South Bromsgrove High SchoolSouth Bromsgrove High School is a co-educational, comprehensive secondary school in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. It is located opposite the housing estate of Charford. The school holds Specialist Language College and Technology College College status...
opposite
CharfordCharford is a small village located close to the town centre of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.-History:Charford used to be farm land with a mill, Charford Mill provided employment by the manufacture of sanitary towels and wound dressings but was derelict for many years until it was demolished to...
. South Bromsgrove is a specialist school in foreign languages and I.T, noted for its extensive use of information technology. A previous headteacher, Philip McTague, was heavily involved in political action to reduce the gap in funding between Worcestershire state schools and others across the country. North Bromsgrove High School has now been classed for a
specialist statusThe specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
in media and
Creative ArtsCreative arts is the term used to describe different types of art. Specifically, to introduce fine art ideas, techniques, skills and media. It is generally used as an umbrella for Dramaturgy, Music , Graphic Arts/Cartooning, Performing Arts, Film and Publishing, Galleries and Museums and the Visual...
. They have both, very recently, been rebuilt by BAM (formerly known as HBG).
Independent schools
Bromsgrove is also home to
Bromsgrove SchoolBromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.-History:...
, a co-educational independent school founded in 1553 with three campuses catering for pupils from nursery to sixth-form that offers boarding facilities. Former pupils include
Digby JonesDigby Marritt Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham, Kt is a British businessman and politician, who has served as Director General of the CBI and Minister of State for Trade and Investment...
, head of the
CBIThe Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
for many years, and the actors
Ian CarmichaelIan Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
,
Richard WattisRichard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
and
Trevor EveTrevor John Eve is a British film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series Shoestring and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC television drama Waking the Dead.-Early life:Eve was born in Sutton Coldfield,...
.
Special schools
There are two special schools in Bromsgrove, one is Chadsgrove School and Specialist Sports College the other Rigby Hall School.
Further education
Bromsgrove is the main site of
North East Worcestershire CollegeNorth East Worcestershire College is a general further education college with campuses at Slideslow Drive in Bromsgrove and Peakman Street, Albert Street and Fishing Line Road in Redditch, Worcestershire. The College also offers outreach courses in community and employer premises across...
, better known as NEW College. NEW College has recently built a motorcycle academy with a £1.7 million grant from Advantage West Midlands, it has been extensively equipped by Harley Davidson.
Sport
Bromsgrove is home to:
- Bromsgrove Rugby Football Club, one of the oldest rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
clubs in the country. It was formed on the 28 September 1872.
- Bromsgrove Sporting
Bromsgrove Sporting F.C. are a football club based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. The club was founded in 2009 and played their first season, 2010-11, in Midland Football Combination Division Two where they ended third.-History:...
FootballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
Club. A fan owned club formed in 2009 by fans of the dissolved Bromsgrove RoversBromsgrove Rovers F.C. were a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference...
club.
- Bromsgrove Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, HockeyHockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
and TennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
Club.
- Mercian Divers Scuba Diving Club - affiliated to the BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club).
- North East Worcestershire Ravens rugby league club, who play in the Midlands Rugby League
The 3vSport.com Midlands Rugby League is a summer rugby league tournament in the Midlands region of England. It is a feeder league to the Rugby League Conference and a successor league to the Midlands Merit League...
.
- Bromsgrove Indoor Bowls Club (also providing outdoor bowls) based in Charford
Charford is a small village located close to the town centre of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.-History:Charford used to be farm land with a mill, Charford Mill provided employment by the manufacture of sanitary towels and wound dressings but was derelict for many years until it was demolished to...
Attractions
Avoncroft Museum of Historic BuildingsAvoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings is an open-air museum of rescued buildings which have been relocated to its site in Stoke Heath, a district of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1963 and opened in 1967, the museum was conceived following the dismantling of a 15th-century...
has its home in Bromsgrove. This museum includes the National telephone kiosk Collection. The Bromsgrove Museum in the building of the Tourist Information Office near the centre of town is currently closed.
The
Worcester and Birmingham CanalThe Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
which runs close to Bromsgrove, is a destination for leisure activities such as walking and
coarse fishingCoarse fishing is a term used in the United Kingdom and Ireland for angling for coarse fish, which are those types of freshwater fish other than game fish . The sport and the techniques used are particularly popular in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.-History:The term "coarse fishing"...
and there are several
narrowboatA narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
hire centres situated in nearby villages. The
TardebiggeTardebigge is a village in Worcestershire, England.The village is most famous for the Tardebigge Locks, a flight of 36 canal locks that raise the Worcester and Birmingham Canal over 220 feet over the Lickey Ridge. It lies in the historic county of Worcestershire.-Toponymy:The etymology of the...
lock flightA lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
, with 30
locksA lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
, is the longest in the UK. Bromsgrove is 5 miles (8 km) away from the historic country house
Hanbury HallHanbury Hall was built by the chancery lawyer Thomas Vernon in the early 18th century. Thomas Vernon was the great grandson of the first Vernon to come to Hanbury, Worcestershire, Rev Richard Vernon...
, which is open to the public. The town's leisure venues include a
nightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
featuring a mixture of styles, and pubs in the town centre include a
WetherspoonsJ D Wetherspoon plc is a British pub chain based in Watford. Founded as a single pub in 1979 by Tim Martin, the company now owns 815 outlets. The chain champions cask ale, low prices, long opening hours, and no music. The company also operates the Lloyds No...
pub, a Slug and Lettuce pub and a number of traditional pubs.
Bromsgrove is close to the countryside attractions of the
Lickey HillsThe Lickey Hills are a range of hills in Worcestershire, England, eleven miles to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey and Barnt Green...
, the
Clent HillsThe Clent Hills lie 9⅓ miles southwest of Birmingham city centre in Clent, Worcestershire, England. The closest towns are Stourbridge and Halesowen, both in the West Midlands conurbation. The Clent Hills range consists of, in order from north-west to south-east: Wychbury Hill, Clent Hill , and...
, the Waseley Hills.
Entertainment and arts
Bromsgrove is host to a centre for the arts, "Artrix". This is a
theatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and a
cinemaA movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, located in School Drive. It hosts relatively recently-released films, rock concerts, stand-up comedians and classical music concerts from Bromsgrove Concerts.
Several pubs including The Hop Pole, The Wishing Well, The Black Cross, The Dog and Pheasant, The Queens Head, and the Slug & Lettuce offer live entertainment.
Bromsgrove Festival
Since 1960, Bromsgrove has held an annual classical music festival, with an international reputation.
Court Leet
Although with no official function, Bromsgrove’s Court Leet continues to exist as a ceremonial body.
Bromsgrove Society
The
Bromsgrove Society is a charity formed in 1980 to protect the built and natural environment of the town. Although working with a small income, it has published a number of books and donated money to local history projects including
Avoncroft Museum of Historic BuildingsAvoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings is an open-air museum of rescued buildings which have been relocated to its site in Stoke Heath, a district of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1963 and opened in 1967, the museum was conceived following the dismantling of a 15th-century...
and
RosedeneRosedene is a cottage built as part of the Great Dodford Chartist settlement. It is the best preserved example of a Chartist cottage built by the National Land Company is a listed building, and is owned by the National Trust.-History and usage:...
ChartistChartist may refer to:*Chartist , a person who uses charts for technical analysis*Chartist , a British social democratic periodical*An adherent of Chartism, a 19th-century political and social reform movement in the UK...
cottage. Its first President was
Alfred Wood CBEAlfred Cecil Wood was Professor of Modern History at the University of Nottingham from 1951 to 1960.-Life:...
, the architect of Birmingham Airport.
The Society regularly comments on developments in the town in the local press, runs regular history talks in the town. and presents architectural awards.
The Society produces a newsletter three times a year, looking at local developments, anniversaries and matters of historical interest as well as the
Rousler, detailing local history and personal recollections of Bromsgrove residents. The Society has also published a number of books. See further reading below.
Other societies
The Bromsgrove Society of Model Engineers was formed in 1982 and operates a track at the
Avoncroft Museum of Historic BuildingsAvoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings is an open-air museum of rescued buildings which have been relocated to its site in Stoke Heath, a district of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. Founded in 1963 and opened in 1967, the museum was conceived following the dismantling of a 15th-century...
. The Bromsgrove Photographic Society was formed in 1950 and organises talks in Stoke Prior.
'The rotary club of Bromsgrove' formed in 1936 and chartered in 1937 a Fellowship of business and professional people of both genders who are also involved in community and international projects and fund raising. It has five daughter clubs three of which are in the Bromsgrove district. The club was one of two sponsoring Rotary clubs which started Probus a Fellowship for retired people now represented in over 100 countries worldwide.
Town twinning and friendship links
In May 1980, Bromsgrove was twinned with the German town of
GronauGronau is a city in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, approx. 10 km east of Enschede.- Notable persons :...
. A formal friendship link document was signed between Bromsgrove and the district of
Saint-Sauveur-LendelinSaint-Sauveur-Lendelin is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-References:*...
in
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, France, in July 1999. Annual exchange visits are made by Bromsgrove and District Twinning Association members to each town with great success.
Twinning GronauGronau is a city in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, approx. 10 km east of Enschede.- Notable persons :...
, Germany
Friendship Link Saint-Sauveur-LendelinSaint-Sauveur-Lendelin is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-References:*...
,
MancheManche is a French department in Normandy named after La Manche , which is the French name for the English Channel.- History :Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, France
Notable residents
- See also: People from Bromsgrove District and People from Bromsgrove
Medieval
- Edmund de Grafton, Member of Parliament for Worcestershire
Worcestershire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented until 1832 by two Members of Parliament, traditionally referred...
in several early Parliaments.
- Richard Bromsgrove
Richard Bromsgrove , was a monk of the Benedictine abbey of Evesham.Bromsgrove, who doubtless derived his name from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire as his birthplace...
, Abbot of EveshamThe Abbot of Evesham was the head of Evesham Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Worcestershire founded in the Anglo-Saxon era of English history. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540:-List:...
- Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton, died 1449 fighting the Cade rebellion
Jack Cade was the leader of a popular revolt in the 1450 Kent rebellion during the reign of King Henry VI in England. He died on the 12th July 1450 near Lewes. In response to grievances, Cade led an army of as many as 5,000 against London, causing the King to flee to Warwickshire. After taking and...
and character in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2Henry VI, Part 2 or The Second Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...
.
- Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton, executed in at Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
in 1486 for the rebellionThe Stafford and Lovell rebellion was the first armed uprising against Henry VII after he won the crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The uprising was led by Viscount Lovell and the Stafford brothers, Humphrey and Thomas, and occurred during Eastertime 1486.-Rebellion:The conspirators against...
against Henry VIIHenry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
.
1500-1700
- John Talbot of Grafton
Sir John Talbot of Grafton, Worcestershire was a prominent recusant English Catholic layman of the reigns of Elizabeth I of England and James I of England. He was connected by marriage to one of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, and by acquaintance or family ties to other important Catholic figures...
, Catholic recusant suspected wrongly of involvement in the Gunpowder PlotThe Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
- Gertrude Wintour, née Talbot, daughter of John Talbot. She was the wife of the Robert Wintour executed for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot
- Francis Talbot
Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, 11th Earl of Waterford was an English peer, the second son of the 10th Earl of Shrewsbury....
, who died as the result of a duel at Barn ElmsBarn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.It is located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham....
with the Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
over his wife
- Anna Talbot
Anna Maria Talbot was Countess of Shrewsbury from 1659 to 1668, by virtue of her marriage to Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury....
, wife of Francis and famous beauty
- William Dugard
William Dugard, or Du Gard, was a respected schoolmaster and printer. During the English Interregnum, he printed many important documents and propaganda, first in support of Charles I and later of Oliver Cromwell...
, schoolmaster, seventeenth century
19th century
- Benjamin Bomford
Benjamin Bomford was a prominent Worcestershire farmer in the mid-19th century. He joined the Royal Agricultural Society in 1847 while living at Great Dodford which he later sold to the Chartist National Land Company....
, farmer
- Alfred Edward Housman, 1859, poet.
- Laurence Housman
Laurence Housman was an English playwright, writer and illustrator.-Early life:Laurence Housman was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, one of seven children who included the poet A. E. Housman and writer Clemence Housman. In 1871 his mother died, and his father remarried, to a cousin...
, brother of Alfred, illustrator, playwright, writer and left-wing political activist
- Clemence Housman
Clemence Housman was an author, illustrator and activist in the womens’ suffrage movement. She was the sister of A. E. Housman and Laurence Housman. She was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Her novels included The Were-Wolf, Unknown Sea and The Life Of Sir Aglovale De Galis...
, sister of Alfred, author and suffragette
- Benjamin Maund
Benjamin Maund was a British pharmacist, botanist, printer, bookseller, fellow of the Linnean Society and publisher of the Botanic Garden and The Botanist...
, botanist and chemist, publisher and bookseller
- Elijah Walton, artist, lived in Lickey, died there in 1880
- George Cadbury
George Cadbury was the third son of John Cadbury, a Quaker who founded Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company.-Background:...
, creator of Cadbury chocolates.
20th and 21st century
- Singer/actor, Michael Ball
Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
, was born in Bromsgrove.
- Some members of Beat Union
Beat Union was a pop-punk band from Birmingham, Bromsgrove and Redditch, United Kingdom. They were formerly known as Shortcut to Newark. The group has garnered comparisons to Elvis Costello and The Jam, as well as pop punk groups like Green Day....
were born in Bromsgrove and RedditchRedditch is a town and local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district had a population of 79,216 in 2005. In the 19th century it became the international centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry...
.
- Michael Buerk
Michael Duncan Buerk is a BBC journalist and newsreader, most famous for his reporting of the Ethiopian famine on 23 October 1984, which inspired the Band Aid charity record.-Early life:...
, BBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
presenter and journalist, once worked for the local 'Bromsgrove Messenger' newspaper.
- Dan Bull
Dan Bull is an English rapper and songwriter known for his politically orientated lyrics and specific addressing of high profile figures in his music...
, internet activist and musician.
- Joyce Carpenter, of Charford
Charford is a small village located close to the town centre of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.-History:Charford used to be farm land with a mill, Charford Mill provided employment by the manufacture of sanitary towels and wound dressings but was derelict for many years until it was demolished to...
, smallest woman in Britain; subject of ATV Today interview recently reviewed as part of Disability Film Festival Day
- Andy Smith
Andrew Smith is a darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events. He uses the nickname Pieman for his matches...
, 1967, a professional darts player with a nickname known to fans as the 'pie-man', was born here.
- Nicola Charles
Nicola Charles is an actress, primarily known for her role in Australian soap opera, Neighbours.-Career:...
, 1969, actor.
- Sally Price
Sally Price is an American anthropologist, best known for her studies of so-called “primitive art” and its place in the imaginaire of Western viewers.- Career :...
, Photographer.
- Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
, author, was born in Lickey in 1961.
- Fyfe Dangerfield
Fyfe Antony Dangerfield Hutchins is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots.-Early life:...
, musicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
- Nicholas Evans
Nicholas Evans is an English journalist, screenwriter television and film producer and novelist. Evans was born at in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and educated at Bromsgrove School but before studying at Oxford University, he served in Africa with the charity Voluntary Service Overseas...
, author, best known for The Horse WhispererThe Horse Whisperer is a 1998 American drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nicholas Evans...
.
- Craig Fagan
Craig Anthony Fagan is an English footballer who plays for Bradford City. He can play as a forward or on the wing.-Early career:Fagan began his football career as an under-nine with Birmingham City...
, Hull CityHull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
.
- Walter Gilbert (sculptor)
Walter Gilbert was an English sculptor.-Biography:Walter Gilbert was born in Rugby, England. He studied at the Birmingham Municipal School of Art under Benjamin Creswick in the early 1890s....
of the Bromsgrove Guild
- Geoffrey Hill
Geoffrey Hill is an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be among the most distinguished poets of his generation...
, 1932, poet.
- Ritchie Neville, member of boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
FiveFive were an English boyband put together in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The five members were Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, J Brown, Abs Breen and Sean Conlon. Signed by Simon Cowell, they were a manufactured band and held several...
attended Bromsgrove SchoolBromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.-History:...
.
- Richard Orford, TV Presenter.
- Ernest Anthony Pratt (or Anthony E Pratt) (1903–1994), the inventor of the board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
CluedoCluedo is a popular murder/mystery-themed deduction board game originally published by Waddingtons in Leeds, England in 1949. It was devised by Anthony E. Pratt, a solicitor's clerk from Birmingham, England. It is now published by the United States game and toy company Hasbro, which acquired its U.S...
, is buried in Bromsgrove Cemetery.
- Matthew Priest, Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
- Pat Roach
Francis Patrick "Pat" Roach was an English actor, wrestler and author, from Birmingham. His most famous role is that of West Country bricklayer Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He also played a memorable role as General Kael in Willow...
(1937–2004), wrestler and actor is buried in Bromsgrove Cemetery.
- Gary Rowett
Gary Rowett is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. In May 2009 he was appointed assistant manager to Paul Peschisolido at Burton Albion.-Career:...
former professional footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and now assistant manager at Burton Albion.
- David Rudkin
James David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford...
, playwright, taught at North Bromsgrove High SchoolNorth Bromsgrove High School is a High School and Sixth Form Centre located in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. It offers education for GCSE and A level courses...
in the early 1960s. His play Afore Night ComeAfore Night Come is a play by the British playwright David Rudkin, first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962. While the subject matter of the play meant that any production in a public theatre would likely have been vetoed by the Lord Chamberlain, the RSC was able to mount the play at...
(1962) was inspired by his experiences in the countryside close to Bromsgrove.
- Alan M. Smith
Alan Martin Smith is an English former football striker. He played for Leicester City and Arsenal at professional level, and won thirteen caps for England.-Leicester City:...
, 1962, footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
.
- Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...
was born in Bromsgrove.
- Jim Swire
James Swire is an English doctor best known for his involvement in the aftermath of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, in which his daughter Flora was killed.-Early life and career:...
, 1936, doctor and father of LockerbieLockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
victim.
- Clifford T. Ward
Clifford Thomas Ward was a popular English singer-songwriter, best known for his career as a solo artist.-Early life:...
, singer/songwriter who lived in nearby Stourport, taught English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
in Bromsgrove before resigning to concentrate on his solo career.
- Mark Williams
Mark Williams is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter and presenter. He is best known as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show The Fast Show, as well as for his role as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films....
, 1959, actor, famous for portraying Arthur Weasley in the Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
film franchise.
- Serial killer Russell Williams, former colonel in the Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
and former commander of CFB TrentonCanadian Forces Base Trenton , is a Canadian Forces base located northeast of Trenton, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is the hub for air transport operations in Canada and abroad...
was born in Bromsgrove.
Further reading
- Bromsgrove (Images of England) - ISBN 0-7524-1146-2
- Glory Gone: The Story of Nailing in Bromsgrove - ISBN 0-9513525-1-2
- Bygone Bromsgrove, a collection of essays about aspects of local history, including Grafton Manor
Grafton Manor was established before the Norman Conquest...
, local watermills, railways, canals and the nailmaking industry, first published in 1981. ISBN 9780950947143
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Benjamin Sanders, Buttonmaker of Bromsgrove ISBN 9780950947129
- The Bromsgrove Guild
The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts was a company of modern artists and designers associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, founded by Walter Gilbert. The guild worked in metal, wood, plaster, bronze, tapestry, glass and other mediums....
- an Illustrated History, edited by Quintin Watt ISBN 9780950947167
External links