The Worcester Guildhall was originally built as a meeting place for Worcester merchants around 1227. The present building is a Queen Anne building, begun in 1722 by Thomas White, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren.
The exterior of the Guildhall is brick, dressed with stone. White himself is said to have carved the figure of Queen Anne over the entry, as well as those of Charles I and II, a reminder of the city's long history of royal support
The ornate ceiling in the main chamber
View of the River Severn from the Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral, before the English Reformation known as Worcester Priory, is on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It was built between 1084 and 1504 and is famous for its Norman crypt and chapter house
The Cathedral contains the tomb of King John in its chancel. Before his death in Newark in 1216, John had requested to be buried at Worcester
Fort Royal Park - towards the end of the English Civil War, Charles II left Scotland on a journey to return to London. During the break in his journey at Worcester he looked for support from the people of the city.
Fort Royal was a redoubt on a small hill to the south-east of Worcester. It was built by the Royalists in 1651 and was one of sites of the Battle of Worcester, fought on 3 September 1651 - the last battle of the war and a Parliamentary victory.
In early April 1786 it was also visited by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who went on to become the second and third Presidents of the United States of America. They were keen to see the site they regarded as the place where democracy was effectively born.
The Commandery is a Grade I listed building and has been used for many different purposes over the many years it has been around. These include: a Church, a house, a monastic hospital, hotel and in present day, a museum open to the public
When It opened as a museum in 1977 it was the only museum in England dedicated solely to the Civil War. The Commandery ceased to be a Civil War museum when it reopened to the public in May 2007 and now displays six different periods of history, focusing on the characters and stories that affected the Commandery at those times.
The periods covered are as follows:
- The Medieval period, when The Commandery is said to
have been founded It served as an
almshouse as well as a place of hospitality for pilgrims and other travellers.
- The Tudor period, when following the suppression in
1540 The Commandery became the residence of the Wyldes, a family of clothiers
who remained in possession of it until 1785.
- The Civil War, when The Commandery was used by
Charles II's forces as headquarters during the Battle of Worcester.
- The Georgian period, when after its sale by Thomas
Wylde in 1785 The Commandery was split into several family homes.
- The Victorian period, when The Commandery housed a
pioneering school for the "blind sons of gentlemen".
- The 1950s, when The Commandery was used as a
printing factory by the Littlebury family.
Greyfriars was built in 1480 by a wealthy merchant, it became a home to wealthy families up until the 17th century and in 1699 a baker purchased the lease and divided the house into two. It became a mixture of homes, shops and businesses for next 200 years.
Trade varied and included clothing, hats, bread, leather goods, umbrellas and china riveting. Over the years buildings were added and extended including 10 cottages in the back yard.
But as the fortunes locally declined from the 1700s it was threatened with demolition in the 1930s along with the row of 10 houses in Georges Yard behind
This black and white timber-framed house was rescued from demolition after the Second World War and has been carefully restored and refurbished with a walled garden designed and created by the Matley-Moores recycling and using materials from the demolished cottages. The Matley-Mooores were two siblings who remained Greyfriars tenants until their deaths 1980s. The care of Greyfriars was transferred to the National Trust in 1966
Worcester Racecourse has hosted horse racing since 1718. It staged Flat racing until 1966 but has since staged National Hunt racing only. The course is laid out as an oval circuit about 13 furlongs in length
Our "home" for the night. Stanbrook Abbey was originally built as a contemplative house for Benedictine nuns. It was founded in 1625 in Cambrai, Flanders, then part of the Spanish Netherlands, under the auspices of the English Benedictine Congregation. After being deprived of their abbey during the French Revolution the surviving nuns fled to England and in 1838 settled in Stanbrook, Worcestershire, where a new abbey was built.
In 2002 the community had 28 professed nuns and two
postulants; and some 120 lay people, known as oblates. The community moved to
Crief Farm at Wass in the North York Moors National Park in 2009. In August 2010 the Worcestershire property was
sold to Clarenco LLP and it is now an events venue for weddings, conferences
and the like – as well as offering rooms to the likes of us!
For more photos of our time in the city click Worcester
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