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Wall Displays - River Avon & Bridges
Pershore owes so much to The River Avon, both for commerce and recreation.
By the 17th century there were locks on the Avon from Tewkesbury to Stratford and a century later the Perrott Family of Pershore owned the commercial rights and the town had an extensive wharf.
Parts of the Old Bridge, certainly date from the 16th Century and was famously blown up in the Civil War. The New Bridge is an attractive feature, but as we have seen the floods in 2007 reached a height of 16 feet, completely covering both bridges and even No Gains was flooded.
The famous Watergate served the town to allow the barges to reach the Mill, but this was removed by the Lower Navigation Trust to improve leisure traffic on the River. Pershore Lock and Weir were also repaired, but they can only be reached via the Wick Meadows.
Wall Displays - Old Pershore Buildings
An extensive coverage of old buildings in Pershore, including the Abbey and Almonry; Pershore Mill, which has been burnt down; old houses in Newlands; several Georgian houses; a chance to see one of the old ‘entries’ in the town; and old views of most streets.
Wall Displays - Pershore Cottage Hospital
This is all the more significant because it is no longer used given our new Medical Centre and may well be demolished. It has served the town for so many years and many of us have had relatives, who were patients at one time. We owe a great deal to the Friends of the Cottage Hospital, who did so much to get us our new
Medical Centre and Hospital.
Wall Displays - The Perrott Family Houses
There is an extensive Perrott Family history as well as pictures of Perrott House, the largest family property in the town. Stanhope House was also built for the Perrott Family and they also owned Craycombe House for a time. The latter was bought by the Duc D’Orlean, while his house at Wood Norton was being built and later by the author, Francis Brett Young.
This lovely Hill, which overlooks the town and has a Major influence of our weather, is an outlier of the Cotswolds. It has been excellently researched by Brian Hoggard in his Book, Bredon Hill, published in 1998. Pre-History and superstitions linked with the Hill are considerable and pilgrimages are still made up the Hill on Good Friday. Pictures show the Bambury or Elephant Stone; the well known Tower, which, reputedly, makes Bredon Hill a mountain; and the Standing Stones, near Bredon’s Norton.
This was the Home of Lord, the Earl of Coventry, by far the biggest landowner in the district, with land stretching east of the Severn as far as Pershore, covering most of South Worcestershire and as far north as Broadway, with its famous tower, which is one of the Coventry Family’s many follies.
The last century has shown many changes as the estate has shrunk and the House sold, but the grounds have now been returned to the quality, initially established by Capability Brown. These grounds are now open to the public.
Wall Display - Pershore Police
This is a small, but interesting history of the jails and police stations the town has had, together with comments on a number of crimes which have taken place locally.
Wall Displays - Avon Bank House
This was one of several houses owned by the Hudson Family, at one time, with Wick House, the home of R.H. and later A.H. Hudson. Avon Bank was bought by General Marriott, after whom Marriott’s Bank is named.
In recent times the estate has been bought by Pershore College and the wall chart describes the construction and expansion of this nationally known College.
Wall Display - Theme Displays & Charts
The top landing is saved for theme displays. The current one is of Allen Gears, near the Station.This is a comprehensive visual history of this firm and its products.
Also, a temporary display of Women in Sport
Wall Display - Excavation Panel
A large panel on the stairs shows an 1885 map of part of the town, where excavations took place for the co-op multi-store. Evidence of a Medieval tannery and numerous pots, etc.
