Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town. The town is twinned with the town of Husum, Germany.

The town centre area has undergone substantial redevelopment in recent years, with the commercial retail area of 'Weaver's Wharf' attracting many visitors and shoppers. 'Slingfield Mill', a Grade II listed building, has been converted into a retail outlet and incorporated into 'Weaver's Wharf'.

History

A parliamentary report of 1777 listed Kidderminster Borough as having a parish workhouse accommodating up to 70 inmates. Under the so-called Gilbert's Act of 1782 Kidderminster Union was established for the purpose of relieving the indigent poor.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, it was proposed for Kidderminster to be part of the West Midlands metropolitan county, but it was scrapped after the proposed county boundary was trimmed back to Stourbridge.

Geography

The River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal both flow through Kidderminster town centre.

Economy

The modern carpet industry was founded in the area in 1785 by Brintons, and the carpet industry became extremely important to the local economy, so much so that the local newspaper is still named The Shuttle after the shuttles used on the carpet looms. Although much declined in recent years, the industry is still a significant employer in the area, with Brintons still employing several hundred people and the biggest employer of the town.

Kidderminster is also the home of Victoria Carpets plc. The "Vic" has factories in Munster, Ireland and in Dandenong, Australia and is a worldwide exporter of bespoke carpets for hotels and large commercial venues. One notable user of Victoria carpet is the Eiffel Tower.

The local commercial radio station is The Wyre, which started broadcasting on 12 September 2005, and broadcasts from studio's in Kidderminster. It competes alongside Wyvern FM, whose presence is minimal in the town, Sunshine Radio, and BBC Hereford & Worcester.

There are several things which are key parts of the unique make-up of the town, one of these are the huge former British Sugar Corporation silos sited in their now redundant site on the Stourport Road, these silos can be seen from the Malvern Hills, nearly thirty miles away.

There is Co-op and a doctors surgery on Franche Road (A442) in Franche, a Morrisons on Oxford Street in the centre of the town, a Sainsburys on Carpet Trades Way near the river, Tesco and Aldi are in the town centre on either side of New Road.

In Summerfield on the outskirts of Kidderminster is the ROXEL site where solid rocket motors are manufactured. The site has manufactured the motors for the Rapier missile, Seawolf missile, Starstreak and ASRAAM missile systems. Over the years the site has been owned by IMI, Royal Ordnance and British Aerospace but is now part of the Roxel Group, headquartered in Paris and with a sister site outside Bordeaux.