About
The Infirmary is an interactive medical history exhibition occupying part of the University of Worcester's City Campus, a Georgian Grade II listed building that served as Worcester Royal Infirmary from 1771 until the hospital's closure and relocation in 2002. The building's medical significance extends well beyond its long service as a working hospital: it was here, in 1832, that the Worcester physician Charles Hastings founded the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, an organisation that would go on to become the British Medical Association, making the site a genuinely pivotal location in the history of organised medicine in Britain.
Following the hospital's closure and the University of Worcester's subsequent acquisition and conversion of the building into its City Campus, the university established The Infirmary as a heritage exhibition combining history, science, art and technology to explore the medical stories associated with one of England's oldest infirmaries, using interactive displays to engage visitors of all ages rather than presenting a purely static object-based collection.
The exhibition draws on artefacts from the collection of the nearby George Marshall Medical Museum, housed separately at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, while The Infirmary itself focuses specifically on the history of this particular Castle Street building and its role in the development of medical practice, hospital administration and the wider public health story of Worcester and its surrounding county.
Access is oriented primarily towards researchers, students, school groups and pre-booked visitors rather than casual daily walk-in traffic, reflecting the exhibition's origins and continuing role as a University of Worcester heritage and engagement resource as much as a conventional public museum, though individuals and families are welcomed by arrangement.
The combination of a genuinely significant medical history location, the founding of what became the BMA, and an interactive presentation style aimed at making medical history accessible to non-specialist audiences including school children gives The Infirmary a distinctive place among Worcestershire's smaller specialist heritage sites.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Weekday mornings outside term time
Busiest: Term-time weekday afternoons
💡 Contact ahead to arrange a tour, as this is not a standard drop-in museum.
💡 Visitor Tips
- Contact the museum in advance to arrange a visit - this is primarily a booked-tour and research resource rather than a daily walk-in museum.
- Free admission, but pre-booking ensures the exhibition is staffed and accessible when you arrive.
- The exhibition is a short walk from Worcester Cathedral and The Commandery, making it easy to combine with other Worcester heritage sites.
- Fully accessible via lift, with toilets and baby changing on the same floor as the exhibition.
- School groups and research visitors are particularly well catered for - mention your interest when booking for a tailored visit.
- As you enter reception, turn left; the museum is visible through a doorway about 20 yards away.
- Don't confuse this with the George Marshall Medical Museum at Worcestershire Royal Hospital - they're separate sites sharing related collections, so check the address before travelling.
Highlights
The Founding of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association
It was within this building in 1832 that Worcester physician Charles Hastings founded the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, an organisation created to represent the professional interests of doctors practising outside London and to promote medical science and ethical standards, which would later be renamed the British Medical Association, one of the most influential professional bodies in British medicine.
Displays exploring this founding moment situate The Infirmary as a genuinely pivotal site in the institutional history of British medicine, connecting a single Worcester building directly to the origins of the organisation that today represents doctors across the entire United Kingdom.
Interactive Medical History Displays
Rather than presenting a conventional static collection of medical artefacts behind glass, The Infirmary uses interactive displays combining history, science, art and technology to engage visitors with the building's medical stories, an approach specifically developed to make the material accessible and engaging for school groups and non-specialist visitors as well as researchers and medical historians.
This interpretive approach reflects the exhibition's origins as a university teaching and public engagement resource rather than a purely archival museum collection.
The Georgian Infirmary Building
The Grade II listed Georgian building itself, purpose-built to address a shortage of hospital beds at Worcester's earlier Silver Street infirmary, served as Worcester Royal Infirmary continuously from 1771 until the hospital's closure and relocation in 2002, making it one of the longest continuously operating hospital buildings in the country before its conversion to university use.
The building's architecture and surviving features provide physical evidence of over two centuries of evolving hospital design and medical practice.
George Marshall Medical Museum Collection Loans
The Infirmary displays selected artefacts drawn from the collection of the George Marshall Medical Museum, housed separately at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, allowing visitors to see items from this significant regional medical history collection within the historically resonant setting of the former infirmary building itself, distinct from the George Marshall Medical Museum's own separate premises and displays.
Collections
The Infirmary's holdings combine the historic fabric of the former Worcester Royal Infirmary building itself with selected artefacts on loan from the George Marshall Medical Museum's wider collection, oral histories, photographs and documents relating to the hospital's 231 years of operation from 1771 to 2002, and interpretive material on Charles Hastings's 1832 founding of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, forerunner of the British Medical Association.
As a University of Worcester heritage exhibition rather than an independent standalone museum, its collection and interpretation serve both public engagement and academic research and teaching purposes, distinct in location and focus from the separately housed George Marshall Medical Museum at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The Birth of the BMA
The story of Charles Hastings's 1832 founding of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association within this building.
📍 Ground floor exhibition
231 Years of Worcester Royal Infirmary
Interactive displays on the building's history as a working hospital from 1771 to its 2002 closure.
📍 Ground floor exhibition
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.