We developed the idea for this collection of essays during several conversations about the remarkable historical works which were compiled at Worcester between c. 1050 and c. 1150. In the period following the Norman Conquest of 1066 various ecclesiastical centres in England looked to their past and produced narrative texts which stretched back to the time before the Conquest, while also trying to make sense of that event and its consequences. Such works have naturally attracted the attention of numerous modern historians, but we felt that no one had hitherto attempted to address the distinct features that characterised the Worcester community's initiatives in this area. In particular we were struck by the fact that it was not just the Conquest that triggered them there and that, although the changes that were introduced after 1066 clearly played a major role in the development of the Worcester ‘historical atelier’, Worcester stands out because of the continuity in ‘constructing history’ that can be identified across the whole period. In other words, 1066 was less of a caesura, and this continuity did not just characterise the production of such narrative works as chronicles, but is especially visible in activities like archival organisation and record-keeping. In order to explore this topic in detail, and from a number of complementary angles, we decided to gather a group of scholars, expert on different aspects of the Worcester documentary, literary, artistic and historical production in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with whom we could collaborate to cast further light on the context and reasons for these specific developments. We have thus been able to produce a volume which examines the strategies and the rationale behind the construction of history at Worcester across the Norman Conquest, while bearing in mind parallel developments at other ecclesiastical centres as well as the connections that the Worcester church established with other contemporary communities.