Kidderminster

Coordinates: 52°23′19″N 2°14′56″W / 52.3885°N 2.2490°W / 52.3885; -2.2490

Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of West Midlands, England. It is located approximately 17 miles (27 km) south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Worcester city centre. The 2011 census recorded a population of 55,530 in the town. The town is twinned with Husum, Germany and it forms the majority of the Wyre Forest Conurbation, an urban area of 99,000.

History

The land around Kidderminster may have been first populated by the Husmerae, an Anglo-Saxon tribe first mentioned in the Ismere Diploma, a document in which Ethelbald of Mercia granted a "parcel of land of ten hides" to Cyneberht. This became the settlement of Stour-in-Usmere, which was later the subject of a territorial dispute settled by Offa of Mercia in 781, where he restored certain rights to Bishop Heathored. This allowed for the creation of a monastery or minstre in the area, and the earliest written form of the name Kidderminster (Chedeminstre) was not seen until it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was a large manor held by William I with 16 outlying settlements (Bristitune, Fastochesfeld, Franche, Habberley, Hurcott, Mitton, Oldington, Ribbesford, Sudwale, Sutton, Teulesberge, Trimpley, Wannerton and Wribbenhall). Various spellings were in use – Kedeleministre or Kideministre (in the 12th and 13th centuries), Kidereministre (13th–15th centuries) – until the name of the town was settled as Kidderminster by the 16th century. Between 1156 and 1162 Henry II granted the manor to his steward, Manasser Biset, and as the settlement grew a fair (1228) and later a market (1240) were established there. In a visit to the town sometime around 1540, King's Antiquary John Leland noted that Kidderminster "standeth most by clothing". King Charles I granted the Borough of Kidderminster a Charter in 1636. the original charter can be viewed at Kidderminster Town Hall

Kidderminster (UK Parliament constituency)

Kidderminster was a parliamentary constituency in Worcestershire, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

History

The borough of Kidderminster returned two members to Parliament in 1295, Walter Caldrigan and William Lihtfot, but not to any subsequent one. From 1295 to 1832 Kidderminster had no separate representation from Worcestershire.

The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election and was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new Wyre Forest constituency.

Boundaries

1832–1868

The Reform Act 1832 enfranchised Kidderminster as a parliamentary borough. The constituency comprised the township of Kidderminster Borough and part of the township of Kidderminster Foreign. The Parliamentary Boundaries Act of the same year set out the boundaries in detail:

1868–1918

The Representation of the People Act 1867 (also known as the Second Reform Act) redrew parliamentary constituencies. The consequential Boundary Act of the following year extended the boundaries of the parliamentary borough. Three areas of the parish of Kidderminster and part of the parish of Wolverley were added.