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Heritage and Education Centre Worcester www.tudorhouse.org.uk

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History Pages

Brewing

Tudor House
Friar Street
Worcester
WR1 2NA

Open Wednesdays, Saturdays and some Bank Holidays between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm

FREE ADMISSION


Tudor House has had a varied life in the five centuries since it was built. It has been used as a work place for weavers, clothiers, tailors, bakers, painters, brewers and was used as lodgings, the Cross Keys Inn, a tearoom and restaurant, a WW2 air raid wardens' post and billet office, a school clinic and a museum.
A group of volunteers known as Worcester Heritage & Amenity Trust opened the doors in May 2004 to keep the building available to the public as Tudor House Heritage & Education Centre. Displays of local history, crafts and culture over several rooms are complemented by a shop and coffee room serving drinks and cakes.

Around the house

The two floors of displays in Tudor House reflect some of the many uses the premises have been put to over the years. The house is used to demonstrate Tudor building construction, with the timber framing, joints and wattle-and-daub infill easily seen in several places. One of the rooms has a superb example of decorative plaster rarely seen in Worcestershire.
 

The house in Tudor times

The early use of the house in its Tudor period is demonstrated in two rooms. A reproduction Tudor bed, Tudor weaving equipment and Tudor everyday utensils are on show and available to be touched and physically used.

 

The house through the ages

The uses of the house down the years are all explained, from its weaving origins through it being
  • an Ale House,
  • a Cadbury Coffee House and Restaurant,
  • an Air Raid Wardens' billet and
  • a School Clinic
 

People and companies who made our heritage

Companies such as Kay’s (mail order) and Lea & Perrin's (Worcestershire Sauce) and individuals like Sir Edward Elgar and Vesta Tilley made their mark on Worcester and its renown. These contributors to Worcester’s commercial, social and industrial heritage are celebrated with poster displays and wall presentations.
 

Living memories

Many of our visitors (and volunteers) remember well the activities and objects which are the stuff of social history to the today's children. Displays of more recent aspects of Worcester's history will be nostalgic for some and instructive for their younger companions. Videos and real objects will help the memories come flooding back.