Museum is a disgrace to your city

3:30pm Thursday 24th January 2013 in News By Sarah Taylor

RUN DOWN: The Commandery in Sidbury, Worcester, has been labelled a disgrace. RUN DOWN: The Commandery in Sidbury, Worcester, has been labelled a disgrace.

A WORCESTER museum has been heavily criticised by a visitor who has labelled it a disgrace.

Les Evans visited the Commandery in Sidbury when some friends came to stay. But the former teacher said he was left annoyed and deeply embarrassed by the trip.

“I felt the museum was a disgrace to the city of Worcester,” he said.

“We paid over £4 to get in and all we really saw is a series of empty rooms.

“I used to take groups to the Commandery. I did notice it was getting a bit run down, but there were some good things there.

“Where have all these things gone? All I saw was irrelevant artefacts and empty spaces. The staff were good, but the museum is the worst I have been to. I was both annoyed and deeply embarrassed by the visit.

“If Worcester had any pride, it would use this lovely house properly and make an outstanding Civil War Museum.”

Mr Evans, of Evesham Road, Church Lench, sent a complaint to the museum and received a response thanking him and ensuring him that improvements would be made in the future.

Sue Pope, manager of the museum, said a decision was taken in 2004 to remove the exhibits, which had been in place for 15 years. At the time, a grant allowed the museum to take a new direction and focus on the history of the “beautiful and fascinating building”.

She said: “A Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 2004 allowed us to place the focus on the building and its many inhabitants.

“It enabled us to stabilise the condition of many areas of the building, including the 14th century Painted Chamber. It was always felt the restoration of the building was only the first phase of developing the Commandery into a greater tourist attraction.

“Museums Worcester-shire is currently seeking funding to develop a much more interactive visitor experience. Over time we hope to strengthen the displays to tell the vital story of the birthplace of democracy.”

Comments(7)

CJH says...
5:56pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Absolutely 100% agree with this. It used to be a lovely place to visit, but now it's devoid of any interest, and yes most rooms are bare. It's a complete and utter waste of money for visitors. If you think of all the items the museums service have in storage because of lack of room then it makes it worse. And they took away the tearoom! How has it taken since 2004 to take 'a new direction', but end up completely and hopelessly lost? And they want to strengthen the displays? Just put back all the stuff they took out in the first place. You know, the stuff that made the place interesting!!! The gift shop probably has more interesting items then the rest of the museum put together. People will not pay £4 just to look at a building, historically significant though it may be. You need context, and that means exhibits. And go easy on the 'interactive stuff' because that isn't going to bring people back either. Anyone familiar with Radio 4's 'Museum of Everything' will know exactly what I mean.

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cressylock says...
7:43pm Thu 24 Jan 13

I raised this with the staff when the reopened it as an empty shell. They seem to expect you to walk round the rooms with that voice box glued to your ear, listening to what life used to be like.

Sorry but I personally hate those voice boxes... So there's nothing there to see or do...

When they have the re-enactment days, I take the kids, and we spend a good few hours there...

I don't know how long it will take for them to restock the building - but its been too long already...

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vexedofworcester says...
7:51pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Perhaps if the councils had not wasted so much money on the University's new library it could have spared some for the museums. Instead of pay rises, game consoles, staff parties, an army of designers and consultants etc. there, the money could have been spent at the Commandery. The County Council is to blame for the state of the Commandery, it has had plenty of time to improve it, but refused. Instead the money was put into giving the Butts a state of the art facility for looking at Facebook and children to play in, but where serious work is not possible because of the noise that disturbs this naively designed open plan building.

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Frank13 says...
9:54pm Thu 24 Jan 13

The chnge from a Civil War museum to about the property over the generations was due to the Heritage Lottery funding a £1million restoaration, but changing the focus of the building in exchange-no change, no funding.

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chapski75 says...
11:38pm Thu 24 Jan 13

I hadn't been to the Commandery for years but then took my 8 year old son a few months ago. We've since been 3 or 4 times.

I find the rooms with exhibits in glass cases that are there to be the least interesting, so the less of that they have the better!

The audio guides that are available as part of the entry fee are absolutely brilliant! The building has been a family home, a monastic hospital, the civil war headquarters, plus more. The audio guide gives all the sounds and details of what was happening in the selected era in the room you're in. So you can go to the museum 6 times and get a different experience each time. If there were exhibits in cases all around the building, you'd visit once and tick it off as "done".

The staff are knowledgeable, friendly, courteous, and enthusiastic. This article does not reflect the good work done there.

While I was there, a school trip was going round and the current setup is really well suited to group visits. This is where children get an interest in history.

Keep it as it is, or improve it along the same lines. Going back to old style exhibits would be a mistake.

As for paying over £4 for admission? Not sure which era they're living in if they think that's expensive!?

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CJH says...
12:04am Fri 25 Jan 13

"The staff are knowledgeable, friendly, courteous, and enthusiastic" Yes they are, no problem with that. But I also know that they are disappointed in what has happened to the museum. It never was just stuff in 'glass cases'. Artifacts and personal items help put historic events into context. It's not only about King Charles hiding up a tree - it's about our Worcester ancestors and the part they played in history. And it would never be about ticking it as 'done' and not going back again. I wonder what your son would say if he knew they used to have weopons and armour? Bet he'd find that interesting.

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CJH says...
12:08am Fri 25 Jan 13

Oh, and whoever designed the window display (the wheels on the bus go round and round...) wants locking up! ;-)

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