In a 1914 photograph of Richard Cadbury’s Worcester Tudor Coffee House staff dinner (dated January 1914) two of those shown are given as being from Bridge Street not Friar Street. Friar Street is the well documented site of the Tudor Coffee House but no connection between Cadbury and Bridge Street has, up until now, been known or recorded. Recent work in the archives has re-discovered what Cadbury called his Tudor Tea Rooms which were indeed situated on Bridge Street for a few short years.
Tag Archives: Tudor House Tales
Take a dive into the history of sanitation with specific reference to Tudor House and its neighbours on Worcester’s Friar Street.
Although Richard Cadbury owned for over a decade the properties that now house Tudor House Museum photographs of him in what was then the Tudor Coffee house are rare. A recent find is the first so far discovered to show him actually in situ. It also introduces us to some previously unknown people who worked for him there. It also throws up an intriguing question about the possibility of a hitherto unknown second coffee house on Worcester’s Bridge Street.
Recently we completed our new display cabinet dedicated to Richard Cadbury, the man who ran the Tudor Coffee House in what is now the museum buildings. Pride of place sits his personal copy of the Bible which he used and no doubt cherished for most of his life. But what can this Bible tell us about the kind of person Richard Cadbury was?
Richard Cadbury is rightly remembered as a great benefactor to the poor of Worcester. However, back in 1906 he was not thought of so highly by many following the part he played in uncovering cases of electoral bribery which lead to the city losing their member of parliament.
Worcester City Council purchased Tudor House from Richard Cadbury in the early 1920s. From at least 1924 it was put to use as the city’s Children’s Clinic. Throughout the next 44 years the buildings played host to various clinics at which many doctors, nurses and support workers were in attendance. The School Medical Officers ran the clinics, a role that required a suitably qualified doctor. The council got through many such doctors whilst the clinic was at Tudor House – six of them women, and many of them pioneers in their field.
We know how we feel about the Tudor House buildings – readily acknowledging that we may be a little biased on the subject. Also, we are aware of what some of our visitors think as they leave comments in our visitors’ book and social media pages. But what did people in the past think? Looking back over 200 years we’ve dug out some descriptions from a variety of sources. Some of them none too complementary!
From Friday the 9th to Sunday the 18th of September 2022 Tudor House museum will be taking part in the Heritage Open Days event with extended opening hours and a special exhibition entitled “Ten Trades of Tudor House”. Come along to find out what some of the past residents did for a living right here in the museum buildings. This blog summarises what the exhibition is and what you can expect to find. Plus it also has some teasers about the trades, the people and the changes they saw during their time here.
In recent months we’ve showcased some of the items on display in the museum. This time, however, we are going to discuss things no longer available. Things that are “lost” which, if ever “found”, we’d love to be able to put on display for our visitors to enjoy.