KEMPSEY, a parish in the lower division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 4 miles (S.) from Worcester, containing 1129 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £6. 18. 9., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The village is agreeably situated near the eastern bank of the river Severn, and contains several genteel dwelling-houses. There is an unendowed free school, in which ten boys are taught to read and write. A monastery which existed here so early as 799, was subsequently united to the church of Worcester. At this place Henry II. held his court; and in 1265, shortly before the battle of Evesham, Simon de Montfort was quartered at the Bishop's palace here, with his prisoner, Henry III. Near to the church are the remains of an ancient encampment.