Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries since 1844 where more parishes or manors changed hands with neighbouring counties, usually as 'gifts' by the monarchy, church or through conquest. By 1844; the administration of Worcestershire was carried out by the Courts of Quarter Sessions, who were responsible for law and order, civil jurisdiction and certain administrative functions in the county. These roles included the licensing of alehouses, police, weights and measures, construction/maintenance of highways and bridges, poor law disputes and setting taxes. The county was then divided into five hundreds, four separate boroughs for the larger towns (Bewdley, Kidderminster, Droitwich, and Evesham), and Worcester itself, which was a county
Tenbury and Bewdley Railway and was completed in August 1864. The railway was operated from opening by the GWR, who also took over the operation of the Tenbury Railway from that time. The Tenbury & Bewdley Railway ceased to exist as a separate company when ownership was fully transferred to the GWR in February 1870. From Bewdley the Wyre Forest line ran north from the GWR station on a single line track alongside the Severn Valley Railway for a distance of about a mile before diverging to the west to cross the river Severn at Dowles Bridge (). The intermediate stations on the Tenbury