New Exhibition in Worcester Royal Infirmary is Confirmed with Grant from Heritage Lottery Fund
Extensive collections of medical equipment, documents and uniforms are to go on public display for the first time, in the building where the British Medical Association was founded, thanks to a £537,000* grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
A new permanent exhibition, celebrating the history of medicine, is being created in a ward of the former Worcester Royal Infirmary, to be called Museum@WRI.
The BMA was founded by Sir Charles Hastings in the boardroom of the former hospital in 1832 and the site now forms the University of Worcester’s City Campus.
It will include collections of artefacts from the Infirmary and across Worcestershire, as well as exhibitions celebrating the history of the site. There will be an emphasis on education and participation, with activities to get schoolchildren and members of the public involved.
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Visitors to the exhibition, which is expected to open toward the end of this year, will be asked to share their memories and stories of the WRI and will be able to vote and give opinions on today’s medical issues, such as stem cell research.
Designed by Bristol-based Simon Fenn, the exhibition will include ‘talking beds’ and examples of traditional Victorian wards.
The current George Marshall Medical Museum at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital will remain open, displaying further exhibitions of the City’s medical past.
To contribute short stories or memories of the former Infirmary (all amusing anecdotes welcome!), please contact Catriona Smellie on c.smellie@worc.ac.uk.