For much of the 20th century the Shire Hall in Foregate Street was the meeting place of Worcestershire County Council.

[3] It was designed by Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall & Partners[4] in the Brutalist style, built by the local contractor, Espley-Tyas, and was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 4 May 1978.

[7] The County Record Office was installed in a purpose-built annex to the north east of the main building in 1985,[3] and, following the children's television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, live terrapins were released into the lake in the 1990s.

[9] The former TV-am weather presenter Wincey Willis visited County Hall to launch a scheme, organised by the British Trust Conservation Volunteers, to help unemployed people to return to work in March 2004,[10] and, following the refurbishment of the council chamber, the Duke of Kent also visited County Hall and unveiled a plaque there on 19 February 2009.

[11] Works of art at County Hall include a painting by the rural landscape artist, David Bates, depicting a herd of cows crossing the River Severn,[12] and a sculpture by Sandy O'Connor, depicting a heron eating a fish, in the lake to the south west of the building.