TWO of American history's most famous statesmen visited Worcester and declared part of the city as "holy ground", a historian has discovered.

To the surprise of archaeology experts in the city, in a previously unrecorded trip, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams - the second and third presidents of America - came to Worcester in 1786.

According to an Adams diary entry unearthed by a PhD student, the pair took in Fort Royal Hill, next to Fort Royal Park, and were so impressed declared: "All England should come in Pilgrimage to this Hill".

But while Adams and Jefferson - then the equivalents of US ambassadors in London and Paris respectively - left in awe of the atmosphere, they were unimpressed by the level of appreciation shown by city folk for their history.

"The people in the neighbourhood appeared so ignorant and careless at Worcester that I was provoked and asked 'And do Englishmen so soon forget the ground where Liberty was fought for?'" the diary entry reads.

"Tell your neighbours and your children that this is holy ground, much holier than that on which your churches stand. All England should come in Pilgrimage to this Hill, once a year."

City record officer Sheena Payne said: "It's an important piece of Worcester's history that's never been brought to light before.

It's loaded with significance for Worcester at all sorts of levels. In historical terms alone it's a real find, with national importance.

Commandery manager Amanda Lunt added: It's yet another remarkable piece of the puzzle which strongly reinforces what we at the Commandery have always said - that this site really is nationally and now internationally important to all of us, even today.

The pair visited Worcester during a tour around historically significant locations in England with trips to Stratford-upon-Avon, Birmingham and Oxford, according to University College London academic, Alice Hiller.

"They wanted to visit rather than just read about the places where figures such as Oliver Cromwell had stood in order to see how British culture resonated with them - or not as it turned out," she said.

As a result of the journey, it appears that they concluded that they weren't very English at all, that they were very much American and that these visits really helped them to define their sense of 'American-ness'.

The Worcestershire record office, based at County Hall, had no account of the visit in their archives, which also came as a complete surprise to the council's head of archaeology, Malcolm Atkins.