The Commandery

About the museum

The Commandery stands just outside the old city wall at the Sidbury gate in Worcester. Tradition holds that Bishop Wulfstan founded a hospital here around 1085, built around an earlier Saxon chapel. Travellers who arrived after the city gates had closed could find shelter and care in this monastic institution, which lasted for nearly five hundred years until Henry VIII dissolved it in 1540.

After the dissolution the building became a private house. The Wylde family lived here from the middle of the sixteenth century until 1764 and turned it into a grand home with wood-panelled rooms. Most of the timber-framed structure dates from the late fifteenth century. Notable rooms include the Great Hall, with its hammerbeam ceiling and painted oriel window, and the Painted Chamber, whose medieval wall paintings were hidden under whitewash for centuries and rediscovered in 1935.

In 1651 the house served as the Royalist headquarters during the Battle of Worcester, the final major battle of the English Civil War. In later years it housed a college for blind boys from 1866 and, from 1888, the Littlebury family's printing works. Worcester City Council bought the building in 1973 and it opened as a museum in 1977. Today it presents Worcester's Civil War story alongside medieval, Tudor, Georgian and Victorian themes, and it has a walled garden.

Highlights

• Worcester's Civil War Story with interactive displays and a death mask of Oliver Cromwell
• Medieval Great Hall with hammerbeam ceiling and painted oriel window
• Painted Chamber with fifteenth-century wall paintings
• Tudor rooms of the Wylde family home on the upper floor
• Walled garden with a nature play area and audio benches
• Haunted Happenings room and after-dark tours in October

Permanent exhibitions

• Worcester's Civil War Story – An interactive exhibition on the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and life as a soldier, with battle-strategy displays, armour and a death mask of Oliver Cromwell.
• Tudor and Georgian family home – Wood-panelled rooms on the upper floor show the building as the home of the Wylde family from the mid-1500s until 1764.
• Great Hall and Painted Chamber – The medieval Great Hall with its minstrels' gallery and oriel window, and a chamber with painted saints from the fifteenth century.

Founded

1977

Operated by

Museums Worcestershire (building owned by Worcester City Council)

Admission & discounts

Day tickets can be bought online or on arrival. Season and resident tickets are sold only at the museum. National Art Pass holders pay £8.95. Some activities, such as children's crafts and trails, cost extra, and season tickets do not cover special ticketed or evening events.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The entrance and the café have level access, two lifts serve both sides of the museum, and there is step-free access through most of the building. An accessible toilet is available. Blue Badge parking is in the King Street car park. Only assistance dogs may enter the museum, but other dogs are welcome at the café. An access statement and visitor map can be downloaded from the website, and the venue is also described on AccessAble.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities
• Playground / play area

Activities for all ages include dressing up, colouring, a free Play Guide, family trails, a nature play area with a mud kitchen, and drop-in activities in the school holidays. Under-fives can join Tots Through Time sessions on Wednesday mornings. Pushchairs can be used in most areas thanks to the lifts, and baby changing is in the accessible toilet. Term-time weekdays from 2pm to 4pm are the quietest times.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Little Al's Kitchen is an independent café beside the canal with a garden, serving homemade food and locally roasted coffee. The shop sells traditional toys, history books and cards.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

Rooms and the garden can be hired for events and weddings.

Plan your visit