Kerswell Green History

History
The name Kerswell derives from the Old English words cerse meaning water cress and well meaning stream or spring. Watercress was an important vitamin source in Saxon times and later. Modern land drainage and a lowered water table means that water cress no longer abounds in our local streams but can still be found if you know where to look!

Here is a 1903 Ordnance Survey Map of the hamlet

Old map

The M5 was costructed over the route of a Roman road, on the modern OS map the Roman road is marked as a bridleway where its path diverges from the motorway and leads towards Napleton and then public footpaths trace its route towards Worcester.

You can read a formal history of the parish of Kempsey online at A History of the County of Worcester: volume 3 which was published in 1913.
Less formal but very interesting is Andy Morrall's The History of Kempsey which includes a surprising picture of The Nash after a WW2 German bombing raid!