News release | For Immediate Release
20 January 2025
A brand new exhibition opening on 1 February at Worcester’s historic Commandery will transport visitors back to 1890 and shed light on living conditions in Victorian Worcester. The exhibition brings to life another significant period in The Commandery’s history when it was a school for blind boys. The wing where the new exhibition can be found was used by many different individual traders including a bootmakers.
The industrial boom that propelled Victorian England to the forefront of international politics created an Empire of the likes never seen before and garnered unprecedented wealth for some sectors of society. The exhibition uncovers what life was like for the residents of fictitious Wyldgate Lane and explores if they enjoyed the benefits of newfound wealth or experienced the misery of those not touched by good fortune.
Whilst wandering Wyldgate Lane visitors can explore the darker corners of Victorian life, from birth and childhood to the funeral parlour and all the trials and tribulations faced in between. They can dress up in Victorian costume, try their hand at being a chimney sweep and pull a pint in the Victorian ‘Angel’ pub.
On display are original items from the museum collections such as Police uniform including truncheons and handcuffs, chemist’s medicine bottles, a funeral bier (the funeral directors carriage pulled along by horses, which held the coffin) and original pub beer pumps.
Wyldgate Lane is imaginary but draws on the accounts and experiences of those living in the streets, lanes and back alleys immediately around The Commandery.
To celebrate the opening on Saturday 1 February visitors to The Commandery can meet the Victorian surgeon and hear all about Victorian illnesses and diseases, cures and remedies. He will demonstrate how Victorians made medicines, along with a display of Victorian medical and surgical equipment, quack cures and dental instruments.
The spectacular Grade-1-listed Commandery has a long and fascinating history with plenty of tales to tell. Once a monastic hospital and later Royalist headquarters during the Battle of Worcester – the final battle of the English Civil War in 1651, it has also been a family home, and in the nineteenth century stood on the edge of the Blockhouse area, which was one of the poorest areas of the city.
Commandery Manager Rachel Robinson says: “Thanks to Towns Fund funding we are really pleased to be able to bring to life more amazing stories from The Commandery’s history. We hope visitors will enjoy this new exhibition shedding light on the conditions of those living in Victorian Worcester.”
Entry to the exhibition is included with usual admission. There is free entry to The Commandery for anyone with a Commandery season ticket or Worcester Residents’ pass. Worcester residents who don’t yet enjoy the benefits of an annual pass can purchase one when they visit the new exhibition and receive free admission to The Commandery for the rest of the year, including to the popular Living History weekend on 22 and 23 February.
The exhibition has been funded by The Towns Fund.
For visitor information, please see www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk
ENDS
Notes to editors
Image attached shows young visitors exploring Wyldgate Lane at The Commandery.
For more information, images or to arrange interviews please contact Helen.Large@worcester.gov.uk
The Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Mel Allcott, will officially open the new exhibition at 10am on 1 February. You are invited to send a reporter / photographer.
This project is funded by The Towns Fund
The Towns Fund is working directly with places and putting power in the hands of local businesses and communities to unleash the economic potential of towns and high streets across England. The government wants to see vibrant towns that are more attractive places to live, work and visit; and to increase opportunity across the country so that everyone (wherever they live) can contribute to and benefit from economic growth.
The Commandery’s History
Set in the heart of historic Worcester, The Commandery is most famous for being the Royalist Headquarters during the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Built on the site of an early medieval chapel, The Commandery has also been a monastic hospital, family home, a college for the blind, and housed the Littlebury Printworks before becoming today’s museum revealing significant stories of the city’s history.
Opening hours
The Commandery re-opens on Saturday 1 February and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm, and Sunday, 10am – 3pm.