2005
SO8554 : The Commandery Museum, Sidbury, Worcester
taken 19 years ago, near to Worcester, Worcestershire, England
The Commandery Museum, Sidbury, Worcester
Grade I Listed and also known as St Wulstan's Hospital. Most of the building dates from the late fifteenth century and is of timber-framed construction. It seems likely the original building, built around a Saxon chapel, was a monastic institution designed to act as a hospital. It was among the last monastic institutions to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540 having met the needs of travellers since about 1085. From then it served as a home until 1651 when William, 2nd Duke of Hamilton, the Royalist Commander in Chief with other officers were billeted at The Commandery after Charles Stuart (later Charles II) marched into Worcester. Successive owners carried out a range of improvements, repairs and renovations. Late 19th century it was used as a school for blind people and a printing works until bought by Worcester City Council in 1873. It opened as a museum in 1977 and was for a while the only museum in England dedicated solely to the Civil Wars. Major reinstatement and restoration was completed in the 1980s by the national expert on conservation of timber-framed buildings, F.W.B. 'Freddie' Charles (1912–2002).
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