Redditch
town in north-east Worcestershire, England
Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. In 2021, the town had a population of 81,637 and the district had a population of 87,037. In the 1800s, it became a centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry; by the end of the century,
90% of the world's needles were manufactured in the town and its surrounding areas.
In the 1960s, it became part of the new town planning movement which included it expanding into neighbouring villages and hamlets surrounding the town. It is the second largest settlement in Worcestershire, after Worcester.
History
The first recorded mention of Redditch (La Rededich, thought to be a reference to the red clay of the nearby River Arrow) is in 1348, the year of the outbreak of the Black Death. During the Middle Ages, it became a centre of needle-making and later prominent industries were fish-hooks, fishing tackle, motorcycles and springs, the last of which was notably undertaken by Herbert Terry and Sons. Redditch was designated a new town on 10 April 1964, and the population increased dramatically from 32,000 in 1964 to over 70,000 by 1984. Housing developments such as Church Hill, Matchborough, Winyates, Greenlands, and Woodrow were created to accommodate a large overspill from the industrially expanding Birmingham. Redditch was built as a "flagship" town using new methods and new town planning: all the main roads (mostly new dual carriageways as well as a ring road for the town centre) were banked to reduce noise to the new housing estates, and the whole of Redditch was landscaped.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Redditch” as town in north-east Worcestershire, England. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as town in north-east Worcestershire, England. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q865716. VIAF identifies the subject as 139572084. The Library of Congress control number is n82020622. Authority coordinates are 52.307, -1.949. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 1348, 1964 and 1984.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Redditch”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Redditch primary sources, Redditch archive and Redditch research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Redditch”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Redditch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.