Bromsgrove

Market town in Worcestershire, 20 km/12 mi southwest of Birmingham; population (2001) 87,800.

There is evidence of a 5th century Celtic settlement and a later Saxon settlement at Bromsgrove. In the 16th century the town's nail-making industry grew rapidly. It lasted for over 300 years but died out with the introduction of machine-made nails. In 1894, the Bromsgrove Guild, an internationally famous organization of highly-skilled craftsmen, was founded. They were later commissioned to design and produce the gates and railings for Buckingham Palace.

The poet and dramatist Laurence Housman was born in Bromsgrove in 1865. His brother, the poet A E Housman , attended school here.

Features include the church of St John the Baptist (12th century), built on the site of former Celtic and Saxon settlements, which has a 61 m/200 ft tower and spire, both dating from the 14th century. The Court Leet, an ancient form of local administration, is re-enacted every year. The ceremony includes a procession through the town and an Elizabethan Street Market. The Lickey Incline (274 m/900 ft) is the steepest gradient on the main lines of the British rail network; a headstone in the churchyard commemorates two engine drivers whose train engine exploded while trying to climb it in November 1840.