A ROYAL visit will take place to celebrate Worcester's porcelain heritage.

Princess Alexandra will tour the Royal Porcelain Works and Museum of Royal Worcester on Wednesday October 30. In the Museum she will meet staff, ex-Royal Worcester artists who demonstrate ceramic techniques for visitors, and archive conservation volunteers.

At Royal Porcelain Works, entrepreneur Nick Weatherall will showcase his boutique gin distillery venture Piston Gin and local artists will show their work.

The Museum of Royal Worcester, which looks after and exhibits the largest collection of Worcester porcelain in the world, is marking the £1.7m refurbishment and redisplay of the galleries supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund that launched in Summer 2018.

Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester’s new centre for the arts and culture, created in regenerated factory buildings, is recognising the investment of the Bransford Trust in this local hub for entrepreneurship and creativity in the county.

The Royal guest will also witness the unveiling of the re-instalment of 30 ceramic plates, hand-painted with local scenes and wildlife by resident artist Tony Young, into the plaster mouldings in The ‘Henry Sandon’ Hall, reinstating this historic feature of the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company’s Victorian showroom.

Sophie Heath, director of the Museum of Royal Worcester, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be welcoming such a special visitor to the Museum to celebrate with us the recognition of 250 years’ of innovation, industry and craftsmanship in Worcester and the transformation of the Museum’s displays to tell the stories of the people who made and enjoyed these extraordinary objects.”

Sara Matthews, general manager of the Bransford Trust and Royal Porcelain Works, said: “We feel really honoured to be welcoming Princess Alexandra later this month; we are justifiably proud of the multi-million pound redevelopment by the Bransford Trust of such an important historical site and look forward to showcasing this to the Royal party.”

The

Museum of Royal Worcester is an independent charitable trust looking after the largest collection of Worcester porcelain in the world, over 10 000 objects, and the important factory archive.

It was established in 1946 by Charles Dyson Perrins to make this design heritage available to the public as a permanent exhibition. It occupies a Victorian school building adjacent to the ex-Royal Worcester factory site and reopened in June 2018 following

a 3-year £1.7M refurbishment project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund that completely refreshed and reinterpreted the displays.

The Museum and the Museum Shop are open 7 days a week, Adults £6.50 admission, Concessions £5.50 and Under-16s free. Group visit packages and meeting and private hires are

available.

www.museumofroyalworcester.org

Royal

Porcelain Works – which is based on the old Royal Worcester factory site in Severn Street – is a vibrant new cultural development that features arts and crafts, a brand new exhibition area,

a new eatery, all sitting alongside the world famous Museum of Royal Worcester.

The Royal Porcelain Works was originally founded by Robert Chamberlain in Severn Street and has been redeveloped by the Bransford Trust to create

a new centre for the arts in Worcester. The facilities are host to an eclectic mix of events; including theatre, cinema, talks, antiques fairs, farmer’s markets and art workshops and exhibitions.

Coming later this year, the Bransford Trust will launch the final phase in the redevelopment of the Royal Porcelain Works site, which will introduce

a brand new gallery space and affordable work spaces for artists and creative businesses. The new offering will join Piston Gin Distillery and Shop and will introduce a new reception for Royal Porcelain Works development and an independent retail unit which

will enable artists working on-site to sell their wares.

 

www.royalporcelainworks.co.uk

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Using money raised by the National Lottery, we

Inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.

www.heritagefund.org.uk. 

 

Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter,

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For further information please contact Kabbie Langford on 07940 371 794 or at

kabbie@kabbielangford.co.uk.

 

 

 

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