Visitors can now enjoy Worcester’s beautiful riverside park more than ever, thanks to colourful new information signs installed at its main entrances.
Sixteen new totem-style signs are being put in place to welcome visitors to the Green Flag-winning park. The new signage includes maps, information on walking and cycling routes, stories from the rich history of the area, and family-friendly facts on the wildlife that lives on, in and near the river.
They also include QR codes that visitors can scan with their mobile phones to find out more and to make the most of their visit to this beautiful location in the heart of Worcester.
The young ones can discover the adventures of Ollie the Otter, a fun character who encourages them to find out more about the riverside’s flora and fauna.
The Worcester City Historic Environment Record team have supported this work by providing heritage content for each of the 16 totems. This has given us the opportunity to highlight aspects of the city’s history that has previously been less known. We are especially pleased to have been able to share the story of a colourful character of Victorian Worcester who’s work was so prolific Worcester residents probably pass it every day without realising.
William Forsyth was an ecclesiastical and domestic sculptor based for more than 50 years at his studio in The Tything having moved to the county as a young man to train under Augustus Pugin at Eastnor Castle. William’s work included everything from the restoration of the Cathedral, Lloyd’s Bank on The Cross and The Hop Pickers frieze in Sansome Street, all the way through to tiny architectural details above the doorways of Victorian terraces and gravestones. He is responsible for some of the very grand burial vaults of the great and the good of Victorian society, and is himself commemorated by a very simple memorial in Astwood Cemetery, located in the shadow of the high Catholic cross which he himself created.
Examples of William’s work have been added to Know Your Place by his great grandson Rob Cocklin who has done extensive research on his and his brother James’s work and life. Use the search function on the map to see further examples including Pitchcroft gates where the totem featuring William is situated.
Know Your Place Worcester 