The Commandery, one of Worcester's most historic buildings, has been awarded Visit England's Gold Visitor Attraction Accolade for the first time.

From visitor welcome and customer care to exhibitions, cleanliness and catering, the accolade celebrates the high-quality experience offered to visitors to the historic site, including the popular independent café Commandery Coffee.

Built on the site of an early medieval chapel, The Commandery has been a monastic hospital, family home, Royalist Civil War headquarters, a college for the blind, and housed the Littlebury Printworks, before becoming today's museum revealing significant stories of Worcester's history. A magnificent medieval great hall, a death mask of Oliver Cromwell, walled gardens, and fifteenth-century wall paintings are just some of the highlights.

New additions to The Commandery have been commended by Visit England, including the guidebook which illustrates the building's centuries of history, the "talking benches" telling accounts of the English Civil War while visitors enjoy the gardens, and outdoor interpretation boards. Picnic blankets and deckchairs for use in warmer months are also recent additions to enhance the visitor experience.

The escape room, Commandery Quest, which opened in November 2022, has been described as "an innovative idea" to enable more people to use The Commandery in new ways and to provide additional income streams which support the historic site and protect it for the future.

Visit England Director Andrew Stokes said, "The attractions honoured today go out of their way to make visits memorable, creating reasons for people to travel to new locations, also boosting local economies across England."

Rachel Robinson, Museum Manager at The Commandery, said, "We are so pleased to receive the Gold Visitor Attraction Accolade for The Commandery and we're excited to continue to develop the visitor experience at The Commandery. This award is a recognition of the hard work carried out by the team to make The Commandery a gold standard visitor experience."

Find out more about The Commandery at museumsworcestershire.org.uk.