Description

Edmund Ironsides’ creation was inspired by the Victorian feats of engineering which brought trade, prosperity and ingenuity to Worcester.

At his heart is a steam engine that powers the trains which still visit Worcester to this day, and powers the boats that navigated the Severn – one of which is the penguin’s namesake, Edmund Ironsides.

Living on a narrowboat just off the Severn in Worcester, the artist drew inspiration from the materials around him: brass, oak, steel and the colours from the kingfishers that fish along the river banks.

Audio read by: Elliott Webb from BBC Hereford and Worcester

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Artist

Sweetart Murals

As an artist, Graham’s focus is large-scale wall paintings and murals. He works with clients to transform blank walls into something spectacular.

Based in Worcester. Graham travels across the UK and beyond, hand-painting bespoke murals for schools, homes and businesses.

His previous work consists of a wide range of designs from business logos to cloud ceilings. Graham’s personal favourites are when he’s given the freedom to paint all four walls and ceiling to create an immersive experience, be it an underwater scene, a tropical jungle or outer space. Imagination is your only limit.

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Location

09. Sidbury

You’re stood alongside one of Worcester’s best-loved ancient buildings: The Commandery. The commandery is best known for its role as a Royalist headquarters at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, but the history of the site and the building can be traced back centuries prior to the period of the civil wars – all the way to the 10th century. A chapel existed here dedicated to St Gudwal – a little known Welsh saint from the Anglo-Saxon period. Historian James Dinn states that one of Worcester’s Saxon Bishops, Oswald (later Saint Oswald and the man who founded the monastic priory at Worcester Cathedral) had spent time at the monastery in Ghent where St Gudwal’s relics were stored.

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09. Sidbury

He suggests that it may well have been Oswald who founded a chapel here to serve the southern community of Worcester (the name ‘Sidbury’ finds its origins in the Saxon term for ‘South Borough’). This would date the original chapel to the late 10th century if correct.

For much of its history the Commandery served as a monastic hospital, offering shelter and medical care for travellers and elderly citizens in the city. The earliest written record of the Commandery existing as a hospital dates to 1221 and is listed as being dedicated to St Wulfstan (Wulfstan was another Saxon Bishop, responsible for beginning the building of the present Cathedral).

By the 13th century the Commandery was well-placed to serve travellers seeking accommodation who may have arrived after the time when Worcester’s gates were closed for the evening, being placed just outside Sidbury gate. It was at Sidbury that the major roads leading to London, Bristol and Bath met.

According to local 18th and 19th century historian Treadway Russell Nash, the Commandery derives its name from monastic orders associated with the crusades! Nash states that a 13th century Master of the hospital, known to posterity only as Walter, so named the institution on his return from the crusades where he fought with the Knights Hospitaler, who named their headquarters ‘Commanderies’.

Little of this earlier medieval hospital remains to be seen today, though excavations just a few years ago revealed the foundations of what is believed to have been the chapel to St Gudwal (pictured).
The present Great Hall dates from the later 15th century and was part of a major rebuild that swept away most of the earlier medieval buildings. Incredible late medieval wall paintings in some of the upper chambers can still be seen from this time which carry religious messages, including examples of judgement day, where the souls of sinners are weighed on scales and a scene depicting the murder of the Thomas a Becket of Canterbury.

In 1540, on the orders of Henry VIII the monastic institution of the Commandery was dissolved. According to Historic England in 1551 the Wylde family (a local wealthy family of clothiers for whom Wylde’s lane is named) leased the buildings and used them as a private house, making many alterations, including adding much of the interior panelling and woodwork still visible today.

The Commandery acted as the front-line headquarters for the Duke of Hammilton’s forces during the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sited in the shadow of Fort Royal and protected by earth-works and trenches, it did remarkably well to survive the bloody combat there.. Having received a mortal wound during the battle, the Duke of Hammilton is said to have died in one of the rooms downstairs a few days after the battle.

From 1866 until 1887 The Commandery was occupied by Worcester’s first school for the blind, after which time the site was occupied by a local printing press called Littlebury’s.

In 1973 The Commandery was purchased by Worcester City Council and extensive restorations were carried out throughout the ensuing decades. Today The Commandery is ran by Museums Worcestershire and is well worth a visit.

This location fact has been provided by Joe Tierney of Faithful History. To learn more stories of the ancient city of Worcester, spanning thousands of years of history in ‘The Faithful City’, visit https://www.facebook.com/faithfulhistoryworcester

Take home your own feathered friend

In October 2024 all 40 large penguins and one chick will be auctioned to raise funds for the care provided by St Richard’s Hospice.

In 2021, 31 stunning elephant sculptures raised a mammoth £368,800 to support the care provided by St Richard’s Hospice across Worcestershire.

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