Worcester museum's future secured through council lease deal

A new visitor and education centre was planned for behind the museum

A council said it had taken the "unusual step" of extending the lease of a popular museum to nearly 1,000 years to secure its long-term future.

The lease of the Tudor House Museum in Worcester was extended to 999 years by council officials.

The aim was to keep it as the home of the museum and let staff plan for the long-term, the city council said.

"This arrangement will mean it can be enjoyed by generations to come," said leaders Lynn Denham and Marjory Bisset.

Their joint statement said it demonstrated the council's long-term commitment to the "well-run and popular venue".

The decision was made by officers under delegated powers, in consultation with the council's joint leaders.

In a report for the authority's policy and resources committee on 19 December, officials said the extension could not be used as a precedent for other council leases.

This move was suggested as an alternative after the trust which ran the museum originally requested ending the lease and transferring the freehold to them.

'Absolute delight'

In 2008, the city council approved a 125-year lease for the Friar Street property so Worcester Heritage and Amenity Trust could operate it as a museum and heritage centre.

The authority said the trust had since invested £93,000 in the museum and it was kept in good repair.

The beautiful 16th Century building was now "well-established as a tourist destination", the council said.

Paul Griffith, chairman of Worcester Municipal Charities, which would hold the new lease, expressed "absolute delight" including on behalf of the trust.

They ran the museum "with two part-time staff and an amazing army of volunteers"," he added.

He said the move gave both charities the confidence to continue investing time and money in the museum whose visitors included a "host of schoolchildren who want to learn about Tudor Worcester".

"We already have plans to build a new visitors and education centre behind the museum and need to start raising the funds to pay for it," Mr Griffith added.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]