ABSTRACT
The medieval city of Worcester grew up, in due course, beside the cathedral church of St Peter which had been built there by the 690s. In its earliest centuries the Church of Worcester was the city, and the bishop was the lord of Worcester. The Church of Worcester was drawing resources from non-agricultural sources within a short time of its foundation. The restoration of London in the 890s had its parallels in the other burhs constructed during this period, of which that at Worcester is the best recorded. With the exception of finds of coins, there is no archaeological or historical evidence for any commercial or manufacturing activity within the city's defences between Roman times and the last decade of the ninth century. It seems clear that whilst monastic vows were taken by a few of the community under Oswald and its attribution to Oswald was essentially a concoction by the Worcester monks of the twelfth century.
