THE persecution of the Jews, priest-hunting pursuivants and a general's 'deal with the Devil' speak of Worcestershire's darker history.
The county has a rich but turbulent heritage, replete with bloody tales of murder, rebellion, revenge and rampant Antisemitism which are not for the faint of heart, let alone the weak of stomach.
Worcestershire is in the heart of England and sometimes has proved the very hinge upon which its history - and sometimes the world's - has turned, for good and ill.
The county is the resting place of King John, the Magna Carta king, and the site of battles which turned the tide of history and sowed the seeds of the liberties we enjoy today.
The Battle of Worcester in 1651 and the Battle of Evesham in 1265 are still considered watershed moments in the slow and painful birth of democracy - the labour pains of our cherished liberties - which we have exported to the US and other countries around the world.
But these freedoms were hard won and the cost was measured in bodies and in blood. The old tyrannies did not yield easily and often only at the point of a sword or, with the advent of gunpowder, after the relentless bombardment of muskets and cannon.
READ MORE: A guide to the oldest and most interesting pubs in Worcestershire
READ MORE: Best canalside pubs in Worcestershire
To illustrate the point, in the aftermath of the Battle of Evesham, the rebel Simon de Montfort's body was mutilated in a royalist frenzy which included his decapitation, dismemberment and emasculation.
Hindlip Hall (now the HQ of West Mercia Police) also illustrates the county's links to the doomed Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605.
Up until its destruction, the house had an unfavourable reputation, having been built by Catholic Recusant John Abington whose family became wrapped up in both the Babington and Gunpowder plots.
A spokesperson for Museums Worcestershire said: "His son Sir Thomas added eleven expertly concealed priest holes throughout the house to hide Catholic priests, who were threatened with severe punishment for not adhering to the Anglican doctrine.
"After the plot was discovered many of the conspirators fled to the Midlands, pursued by Sir Richard Walsh, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire, who eventually caught four Jesuit priests who were suspected of involvement in the plot at Hindlip Hall in January 1606 after twelve days of searching the property."
(1) Worcester Cathedral
The Diocese was hostile to the city's small Jewish community, the stance of past bishops condemned by the current incumbent, The Right Reverend Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester, last year during a plaque unveiling.
Peter of Blois was commissioned by a Bishop of Worcester, probably John of Coutances, to write a significant anti-Judaic treatise Against the Perfidy of Jews around 1190.
William de Blois, as Bishop of Worcester, imposed particularly strict rules on Jews within the diocese in 1219. Jews were officially compelled to wear rectangular white badges, supposedly representing tabulae.
In most places, this requirement was waived as long as fines were paid.
Worcester was one of 26 Jewish centres to have an archa or official document store for Jewish records.
The introduction of archae was part of the reorganisation of English Jewry ordered by King Richard I in light of the massacre of Jews in 1189-1190.
The massacres resulted in a heavy loss to Crown revenue partly as a result of Jewish financial records being destroyed in order to conceal evidence of debts.
The archa was intended to safeguard the royal rights in case of future disorder.
All Jewish possessions were to be registered and certain cities, including Worcester, were designated to serve as the centre for all future Jewish business operations.
In 1263, during the Baronial Wars, Worcester’s Jewish community was attacked by the Earls of Leicester and Derby.
(2) The Infirmary Museum and George Marshall Medical Museum
The collection includes ten death masks on display in the medical museum of Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Two are thought to be of the same man, probably Thomas Wyre, hanged in July 1888 for throwing his son “Little Jimmy” down a well at Wolverley, near Kidderminster.
Between 1814 and 1919, 38 Worcestershire criminals were executed at Worcester, at least twelve of them being quickly trundled across, or more likely under, Castle Street to the Infirmary for anatomical research.
That process also included taking casts of their heads as an aid for the then-popular pseudo-science of phrenology.
These casts were rescued from the basement by surgeon George Marshall for his own collection, and donated to the Charles Hastings Education Centre before his death in 2001. The early 19th century masks were discovered in the 1950s in a gloomy room next to an underground tunnel leading between Worcester County Gaol in Love's Grove and the infirmary in Castle Street.
The tunnel, now blocked up, was once a bustling thoroughfare for the corpses of executed murderers, rapists and cattle rustlers.
(3) The Commandery, Sidbury, Worcester
The Royalist headquarters during the Battle of Worcester, the Commandery contains a number of grisly mementoes, not least a death mask of Oliver Cromwell. The Parliamentarian commander was reputed to have made a Pact with the Devil in Perry Wood before his soldiers emerged victorious and Charles II fled the city.
Some of Cromwell's more superstitious critics said he had purchased victory on September 3, 1651 by selling his soul to the Devil. Even now, the Commandery is reputed to be haunted by shadowy figures which glide across the Minstrel's Gallery in the Great Hall. The helmets and breastplates of soldiers hang on the walls, a grim reminder of the more than 3,000 men who died in the battle.
In medieval times, the Commandery was a monastic hospital. It is believed the first building on the Commandery site was constructed in the 11th century on the orders of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester (later Saint Wulfstan), as a hospital or almshouse (today a hospice) for the terminally ill and the destitute and pilgrims
(4) Harvington Hall, near Kidderminster
The medieval moated manor contains more priest holes or hides than any other house in England. The old stones and creaking chambers are still soaked with the paranoia and intrigue of the Elizabethan age, a time of whispered conspiracies and treasonous plots.
Visitors can still sense the fear which must have gripped the Roman Catholic priests and imagine the tapping of the pursuivant's cane.
The hides, some in quite ingenious locations, give an impression of the oppressive climate of fear and distrust which permeated the Elizabethan age following England's painful break with the Mother Church.
Humphrey Pakington inherited the estate in 1578.
Being Catholic, Humphrey was subject to the harsh penal laws of the age. Humphrey was a recusant, meaning he refused to attend the Church of England service on Sundays.
From 1585 it was illegal for a Catholic priest to step foot in England, making it necessary for Humphrey to fit Harvington with priest holes. Some were the handiwork of the master carpenter Nicholas Owen.
(5) Fleece Inn, Bretforton
The Fleece Inn in Breforton is known for its 'witch marks' or 'witch circles' thought to protect the medieval building from unwanted supernatural intrusions. The ritual marks are intended to stop witches and diabolical forces from entering the building which has stood since before the Wars of the Roses. Think of it as a sort of ancient insurance policy, taken out against ghosts, ghouls and other undesirables who might enter by less conventional means - usually not the front door like your average visitor.
Nigel Smith, the landlord of the pub, has shared his thoughts on the unique white circles painted on the floor at the bottom of the fireplaces which may give pause for thought on a winter's night when it could still be imagined witches are stirring abroad.
He said in a video: "The idea is that the evil spirits who are looking for a new home would try and come down the chimney but get mesmerised by the circles and get stuck and not come into the building."
The circles are believed to be medieval in origin or possibly slightly later. The beautiful half-timbered former farmhouse is now owned by the National Trust.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here