HISTORY guru Simon Schama has named a cottage in a little-known Worcestershire village among British history's ten most magical places.

The lecturer and author, who is accredited with taking history to a wider audience with his factual TV series A History of Britain, describes Rosedene cottage, in Dodford, between Droitwich and Bromsgrove, as an "unknown gem".

Though not the most impressive landmark at first glance, the award-winning historian cites the atmosphere of the building as making it truly memorable.

"From the outside it's just another brick-faced, nondescript cottage. But inside, it's a place of sad, honourable ghosts belonging to the history of ordinary Britons," he said.

"A reminder, complete with its simple chimney-piece and agricultural implements, how deep the yearning to cling to the land through all the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution has been. An absolutely magical place."

And Councillor Adrian Hardman, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet minister for Culture and Community, was thrilled the site had been acknowledged.

"It's always a bonus to see Worcestershire and our attractions promoted and in historical circles there are few opinions more respected than Simon Schama's," he said. "It's another feather in the county's cap.

"I'm delighted that Worcestershire's quality has been recognised again.

"Tourism is our third largest industry and this is a definite boost."

Chartist settlement

The site is one of the country's only remaining Chartist settlements - established in the mid-19th Century to house ordinary workers so they were entitled to vote.

A leading activist, Feargus O'Connor, bought the land in Dodford, which at one time was an allotment with more than 30 similar cottages, for £10,350 in 1848.

One hundred and fifty years on, the National Trust saved the single cottage from redevelopment, spending £300,000 purchasing and restoring the building.

Today, the cottage is a tourist attraction and museum of Chartism.