In the 13th century the Benedictine Order taxed their foundations in England to establish a college at Oxford. In 1283, John Gifford of Brimsfield made a presentation to the Gloucester community of a site of what is now Worcester College, for 13 monks, but later for all Benedictines until the dissolution. In 1560 it became part of St. John's College, called Gloucester Hall. 150 years later, Sir Thomas Cookes of Bentley Pauncefoot, near Bromsgrove, left bequest for a college for Worcestershire students, hence the present name. The charter dates 1714.
