Page 62 - Mercian Eagle Year of 2023

The Mercian Regiment Museum (Worcestershire)
Dr John Paddock. Curator
This has been another remarkably busy year for the Museum staff and our thanks once again are due to our resolute team of volunteers whose contribution and support is appreciated. We are always in need of more assistance and any of the Friends
who feel that they have spare time would
be most welcome to get in touch to discuss roles and opportunities. The Museum continues to respond to enquiries, research and digitise the collection and to acquire new material for the museum. However, a particular focus has been the future of the Museum’s display at the City Art Gallery and Museum in Foregate Street.
The current Worcestershire Soldier Gallery was created in 2001, with a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). It is now 25 years old and in
need of redisplay. The Trustees of our regimental museum, the Yeomanry museum and Worcester City Council have been discussing its future for many months and they have given the two military trusts notice to quit the existing gallery, by March 2026. These circumstances have given
rise to a project to relocate the gallery to
the Commandery in Sidbury (also owned and managed by the City Council). The location at the Commandery has significant synergies with the Worcestershire Soldier but the spaces are smaller and there are significant security and environmental challenges to overcome. The project is managed by a committee made up of representatives of the City Museum, the Mercian Regiment Museum, and the Worcestershire Yeomanry Museum. The project will cost in the region of £1.2 million and the relocation is dependent upon a successful bid to the NLHF. An expression of interest was submitted by the Mercian Regiment Museum on behalf of the working group to the NLHF in July 2022. This was approved and a stage one application for development monies was submitted by July 2023. In December we were notified that Development Funding of £243,200 has been awarded by the NLHF to help The Mercian Regiment Museum (Worcestershire) and its partners progress their plans to apply for a full delivery grant in summer 2025.
Bringing The Worcestershire Soldier’s story into the ground floor of The Commandery will place this important regional history right next to the Cathedral in Worcester’s heritage quarter and will provide the opportunity to update and contextualise The Worcestershire Soldier story. The new exhibition will place an emphasis on enhanced storytelling, more
opportunities for volunteering and lifelong learning and community engagement, alongside a focus on more inclusion and greater wellbeing.
In preparation for the return of a substantial number of objects currently
on display to Dancox House, we are reorganising the archive to maximise usable storage space, and three new uniform cabinets and additional long span shelves have been purchased.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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