was an
English County created on
1 April 1974 , by the
Local Government Act 1972 from the area of the former
Administrative County of
Herefordshire , most of
Worcestershire (except
Halesowen and
Stourbridge , which went to
West Midlands ) and the
County Borough of
Worcester Local Government Act 1972. 1972. c. 70.
It bordered
Shropshire ,
Staffordshire and the
West Midlands to the north,
Warwickshire to the east,
Gloucestershire to the south, and
Gwent and
Powys in
Wales to the west.
The and
River Severn .''Unpopular Name'', The Times. January 5, 1972 A commercial radio station for the area,
Wyvern FM was set up in 1982 using this allusion, it was also used much later by the
First Group who renamed their bus operations in the area
First Wyvern as opposed to the more historical First
Midland Red used previously.
Due to the disparity of sizes of the populations – Herefordshire had about 140,000 people,
VoB Herefordshire population much less than Worcestershire, which had a population of about 420,000
VoB Worcestershire population – it was perceived by Herefordshire as a takeover rather than a merger, and it never attracted the loyalties of residents. A "Hands off Herefordshire" campaign was set up, and the proposal was opposed by Herefordshire County Council. Herefordshire County Council. Advert: ''Herefordshire is in mortal danger''. The Times, March 25, 1972.
A
Hereford Bull was led down
Whitehall on
6 April 1972 , as part of a protest, which also involved a petition handed in at 10 Downing Street calling for the preservation of Herefordshire. ''Fair hearing for tale of two cities and one island.'' The Times. April 7, 1972.
Terry Davies , MP for Bromsgrove noted that the petition had been signed by 60,000 people.
Clive Bossom , the MP for Leominster in Herefordshire, supported the merger, noting "much of South Worcestershire is very like Herefordshire".
1
It was originally proposed to have a single large Herefordshire district within Hereford and Worcester. This was divided, with separate
Hereford ,
South Herefordshire and
Leominster districts, and part of Herefordshire in the
Malvern Hills district. ''Some proposed districts too big, councils say''
As part of the
1990s English Local Government Reform , the Local Government Commission under John Banham recommended that Herefordshire should become a
Unitary Authority , with the rest of the county retaining a two-tier structure. This came into effect on
1 April 1998 .''The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996'' - SI 1996/1867 A new Herefordshire district was formed from the Herefordshire parts of Malvern Hills and Leominster, along with Hereford and South Herefordshire, and became a unitary authority. The remainder of those two districts became a new Malvern Hills district, in the new two-tier
Non-metropolitan County of Worcestershire, along with the remaining districts.
Despite the abolition, some remnants of Hereford & Worcester's existence remain. For example, there is still a
Hereford And Worcester Fire Service and
Ambulance service. Also, the name is still used by some organisations, such as the
BBC local radio station
BBC Hereford And Worcester . There is also a Hereford and Worcester
Chamber Of Commerce .
Hereford and Worcester was divided into nine
Districts :
