WULFSTAN is one of the heroes of Worcester. Born exactly 1,000 years ago, he was a monk who became Bishop of Worcester, and served through the turbulent reigns of the last two Saxon kings and the first two Norman ones.

He died at a great age in 1087, having begun the building of the present cathedral.

It has been rebuilt many times since, and all that clearly survives of Wulfstan’s cathedral today is the lovely crypt.

Wulfstan paid little attention to protocol and procedure.

Bishops in those days were expected to entertain in lavish style.

His steward prepared a guest list for a banquet, but Wulfstan turned up with his own guests – all the poor and homeless people he could find.

He had a passion for justice and for the welfare of all people. In his time the slave trade flourished at Bristol – then part of the Diocese of Worcester.

Wulfstan went to Bristol and preached repeatedly against the injustice of slavery.

He struck at the root of the city’s prosperity, but eventually the merchants of Bristol took heed of his message. Wulfstan was a William Wilberforce before his time.

This Sunday at 4pm there will be a service in the cathedral to celebrate the millennium of Wulfstan’s birth.

Wulfstan’s successor, the present Bishop of Worcester, will preside, and the preacher will be the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham.

But before the service, starting from Angel Place at 3.30, there will be a procession through the streets of Wulfstan’s city.

Street theatre, performed by gifted young actors from several Worcester schools, will re-enact the scenes of Wulfstan’s life, as the procession moves up the High Street.

So come and join in the celebration of a 1,000-year-old Worcester hero and saint, whose life still has a message for today.