The
Commandery The BBC is not responsible for the content
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FACTS
Tradition
has it that the building was founded as a hospital around 1085
by Saint Wulfstan, then Bishop of Worcester
The hospital was among the last monastic institutions to be
dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540
The building survived the battle of Worcester in 1651, when
the area was in the thick of the fighting
It has since had many uses including a private home, a college
for the blind and a printing works
The
Commandery was bought by Worcester City Council in 1973 after the
printing company based there went out of business.
It opened as a museum covering the City's history and then in 1985
switched its emphasis to the Civil War.
Now the focus of the museum is to be widened agian, looking at six
aspects of the building's history.
The
Monastic Hospital in 1480
The
Wylde family in 1550
The
Battle of Worcester in 1651
The
1800 makeover
The
College for Blind boys in 1888
Littlebury's
print works, post 1945
Worcester
City Council has been awarded £985,000 by the Heritage Lottery
Fund to conduct a complete refurbishment of the building, displays
and garden area.
The new displays and facilities scheduled to open to the public
in Spring 2006.
In the meantime the Council is appealing for anyone with memories
of when The Commandery was a printing works to get in touch.
