Recent excavations in the churchyard of the former parish of St. Andrew's,
Worcester City (carried out by Worcestershire Historic Environment and
Archaeology Service) revealed the impact of the Industrial period upon
the life of workers in the city. A small number of articulated remains
and a sizeable quantity of disarticulated skeletal elements were recovered.
The analysis
of pathological changes to the skeletal remains show evidence of the
local environmental and working conditions at the time as well as testifying
to the advancing medical knowledge of surgical techniques employed.
Historic records show that most of the people living in
St. Andrew's were in the 1830's were the 'Middling Sort' or were of the
lower social classes. Many would have been what we would consider skilled
workers and probably would have been involved in the local trades of glove
making and pottery production. Many
of the houses were run down medieval buildings surrounded by later buildings
producing a maze-like network of courts and narrow passageways.
St. Andrew's was also considered to be one of the worst urban slum areas at the time with overcrowding and a lack of sources of clean water and sanitation. As a result the population experienced higher infant mortality and lower fertility rates than the national average.