St Johns, Worcester

St Johns is a large suburb of Worcester, England, west of the city centre and the River Severn.[1] There is also a road of the same name, part of which is the A44.

Contents

Location

St Johns is the home of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club. The New Road cricket ground and surrounding area is frequently affected by flooding.

Within the suburb of St Johns are several traditional pubs including The Brewers Arms, The Bush, The Bell, The Fox, and The Crown. It has a sport centre, several shops, and a large Sainsburys supermarket, which opened in early 2009.|

St Johns encompasses a high percentage of students from the University of Worcester, who mainly live in rent-based accommodation in the west and north of the area.

History

St Johns played a role in the English Civil War. The Parliamentary commander Fleetwood forced his way across the River Teme, to the south of the parish and successfully managed to force his way into St Johns, pushing back Royalist forces. Parliamentary soldiers plundered the nearby parish church and set it on fire. The soldiers also used the church walls to sharpen their pikes and even today the scars are still visible on the sandstone. The tower was also used by the soldiers as an observation post, but the spire was shot off by cannon fire, most likely being hit by Cromwell's artillery bombardment on the city, from Red Hill and Perry Wood across the river on the western heights of the city. When the civil war was over, Parliament gave £80 towards its restoration.

St Johns Parish was once an independent township having only been part of Worcester since 1837. St Johns was able to expand and flourish because of its location on the roads leading from the city centre, westwards into Mid Wales. It was also situated close to the River Severn Bridge which was a very important crossing on the River Severn linking the city to Western areas of the country and other western towns, such as Hereford. This attracted many people to trade and settle in St Johns. The parish also provided lodging for Welsh people trading with the city, who were not permitted to sleep on the streets within the city walls. The Parish was allowed its own fayre and bullring, maintaining its independence from the city. The bullring was located on the eastern side of the parish, outside the city walls. In the bullring, cattle were enraged before being slaughtered because this was believed to improve the quality of the meat.

St Johns was the first suburb of Worcester to have high rise flats, three of these dominate the St Johns skyline.

References

http://www.worcester.gov.uk/index.php?id=1907

External links