Context 162 - November 2019

42 C O N T E X T 1 6 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 involves plunging headlong into file upon file of planning history, building surveys, site notes and thousands of megabytes of HER data, including photographs, press cuttings and cor- respondence. It is a tale of polarised opinions, gnashing teeth and locked horns, which dem- onstrates both Freddie’s approaches to restora- tion and the controversy those approaches sometimes caused. To go back a few years before the Charles practice entered the fray, in 1973 the long-estab- lished printing firm Littlebury and Company finally closed the Commandery’s doors and shut down its presses.The Commandery is most famous for being the Royalist Headquarters during the deciding battle of the English Civil War, the 1651 Battle of Worcester, but the site has a history of at least 800 years, being the former Hospital of St Wulstan’s. The Littlebury family had been relatively careful and interested custodians of the site, since its purchase in the late 19th century, and was keen to see the his- toric buildings enter public ownership. After considerable discussion, press specula- tion and juggling of budgets, Worcester City Council finally purchased the site in 1973 for £180,000. A year later, the Worcester Evening News proclaimed ‘Battle HQ to be given new look’ and reported on a scheme to convert the building into a ‘cultural and leisure centre’. The Charles’ reconstruction of shop and workshop (1450), with the contentious chimney stack illustrated (Image: Worcestershire County Council) A view of the Commandery Canal wing towards Sidbury in around 1985 (Photo: Worcester City Conservation Photograph Collection)