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Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum is housed in a beautiful Victorian building in the heart of Worcester. The gallery runs a lively programme of exhibitions, activities and events. The museum hosts a unique programme of contemporary art exhibitions, as well as housing a historic picture collection and an intriguing selection of objects ranging from a 19th century chemist’s shop to the wonderful Regimental Museum. As well as regularly changing Museum and Gallery exhibitions, there is an atmospheric Balcony Cafe all of which is fully assessable to all.
Worcester Museum was founded in 1833 by the members of the Worcestershire Natural History Society and claims to be one of the oldest regional museums in the Country. The collections were described as miscellaneous by one of the first curators and were originally shown in temporary rooms in Angel Street. In 1835 a new building was built to house the collections in Foregate Street on the present site of the Odeon Cinema. The museum was called the Hastings Museum in honour of Sir Charles Hastings, who was president of the Worcestershire Medical Society and a consultant physician at Worcester Infirmary. Unfortunately, during the 1860’s the museum went into decline and the artefacts in the museum were described as being covered in dust. In 1879 the Free Libraries Act was adopted in Worcester and the Museum, Art Gallery and Library were amalgamated and given renewed funding. In the 1880’s the museum committee sought the advice of the British Museum and Dr Henry Woodward submitted a long report making recommendations on the future management of the Museum. In 1894 the foundation stone was laid by King George V for a new building to house the Museum, Art Gallery and Library. This building was opened to the public in 1896 and is the present home of Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum.
