The Mercian Regiment Museum

The Mercian Regiment Museum is housed within the Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery on Foregate Street, presenting the distinguished military history of the Mercian Regiment and the many historic regiments that merged to form it. The Mercian Regiment was created in 2007 as part of a major restructuring of the British Army, bringing together four regiments with proud histories stretching back centuries: the Cheshire Regiment, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, the Staffordshire Regiment, and the Mercian Regiment itself.

The Worcester component of the museum tells the story of regiments that trace their ancestry to the Civil War period and beyond, representing the counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire through every major conflict in which Britain has been involved. From the Napoleonic Wars to the Crimea, from the Boer War to the Western Front, from the Second World War to post-war operations in Korea, Malaya, Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the men and women associated with these regiments have served with distinction across the globe.

The collections held in Worcester reflect specifically the Worcestershire elements of this regimental family — the Worcestershire Regiment and its successors. Medals, uniforms, weapons, documents, photographs, and personal items tell the stories of individual soldiers and the units they served in, humanising what might otherwise be abstract military history. The galleries illuminate not just the campaigns and battles, but the daily life of soldiers and the impact of military service on families and communities back home in the Midlands.

The museum is a place of remembrance as well as historical education, honouring those who served and sacrificed. It works closely with the regimental association and veterans' community to ensure that living military history remains a vital part of its work.