Step back in time to 1660 on Bank Holiday Monday and enjoy a fun-filled celebration of Oak Apple Day at The Commandery. This special day marks the return of King Charles II to the throne, and there’s no better place to experience it than the historic Royalist Headquarters itself.

Families can enjoy a whole day of hands‑on history – there’ll be:

• Fantastic reenactors to encounter as you make your way around The Commandery
• Musket firing in the gardens
• Pike and cannon drills for children (and grown-ups!) to get hands-on with
• History talks about Oak Apple Day and the English Civil War from Worcester Reenactors and The Battle of Worcester Society
• Wonderful refreshments available at Little Al’s Kitchen at The Commandery

Enjoy fun family activities: can you find all of the beautifully decorated royal carriages around the building? Then, create your own Oak Apple mobile in the craft room (general admission + £3.50 for trail and activities).

General admission applies (+ £3.50 for the carriage trail and craft activities); free admission to those with a season or residents’ pass. Find out more.

Book day tickets to The Commandery. Advance booking is not essential, you can just turn up, pay in the shop, and get stuck in!

Commemorate the deciding Battle of Worcester with an exciting day of talks, displays and crafts, right here in the former Royalist Headquarters!

Discover Civil War weaponry with musket and pike drills from Worcester Reenactors throughout the day, then delve into the brutal world of 17th-century battlefield surgery with magnificent displays and talks from medical historian Kevin Goodman.

Choose your side for the battle as you explore the Civil War Story exhibition. Children can get creative by decorating their own wooden standard (flag) to take home.

General admission applies; free admission to those with a season or residents’ pass. Find out more.

Book day tickets to The Commandery. Advance booking is not essential, you can just turn up, pay in the shop, and get stuck in!

This year marks 375 years since the Battle of Worcester during the English Civil War, and these craft mornings look back to the art of paper cutting from the 17th century.

In a relaxed morning, discover 17th-century techniques to decorate your own trinket box to take home.

Use crafting knives to cut small and intricate pictures and patterns, and with the help of our staff and volunteers, you will create your own unique design for your box to take home.

Sip a tea, and enjoy a coffee and some biscuits as you craft.

£22.50. All resources supplied. Ages 18+ years.

Book your spot. If you’d like to look around The Commandery, you can get half-price general admission from the shop on the day of the workshop.

“I dressed his wound and God healed it.”

Terrible wounds were inflicted upon Royalist and Parliamentarian soldiers during the English Civil War, from swords, muskets and pikes.

Medical historian Kevin Goodman will demonstrate how surgeons treated wounds before antiseptics and antibiotics were available, with the aid of surgical instruments from the period.

£10. Book your place below. If you’d like to look around The Commandery, you can get half-price general admission from the shop on the day of the workshop.

This year marks 375 years since the Battle of Worcester during the English Civil War, and these craft mornings look back to the art of paper cutting from the 17th century.

In a relaxed morning, discover 17th-century techniques to decorate your own trinket box to take home.

Use crafting knives to cut small and intricate pictures and patterns, and with the help of our staff and volunteers, you will create your own unique design for your box to take home.

Sip a tea, and enjoy a coffee and some biscuits as you craft.

£22.50. All resources supplied. Ages 18+ years.

Book your spot. If you’d like to look around The Commandery, you can get half-price general admission from the shop on the day of the workshop.

The civil wars between 1638 and 1651 were the most destabilising conflicts that the British and Irish peoples have ever endured. During these turbulent times ordinary people experienced a dizzying world of change. This book brings a history of objects approach to access this world of impoverishment, bereavement and suffering alongside exciting changes in religion, science, and politics. From propaganda newsbooks to household goods, through the personal possessions and weapons of the famous, to the architecture that defined religious and military change, these objects offer intimate connections with the past and shed new light on these tumultuous times.

Professor Andrew Hopper is a historian of religion, politics and society in early modern England with research expertise on the British and Irish Civil Wars.

£10. Book your place below. If you’d like to look around The Commandery, you can get half-price general admission from the shop on the day of the workshop.

Author Charles Cordell will be talking about writing historical fiction and Divided Kingdom book #2 – The Keys of Hell and Death. He will describe his journey from ‘Army to Author’ and writing historical fiction set within the English Civil War. The talk will discuss how and why 17th Century historical fiction can feel so relevant today. Q&A and a book signing will follow the talk.

Charles Cordell is the author of English Civil War historical fiction series Divided Kingdom. His writing has received media praise and editorial reviews, including in The Times. His novels have been endorsed by the likes of Ben Kane (bestselling author), David Gilman (award winning author), Professor Ronald Hutton CBE (TV historian) and others.

£10. Book your place below. If you’d like to look around The Commandery, you can get half-price general admission from the shop on the day of the workshop.

The English Civil War was haunted by spirits.

This presentation considers some of the spookiest episodes in the conflict, including reports of “fearful visions” and spectral armies in the sky.

Professor Darren Oldridge will place these tales in the larger context of supernatural beliefs in the age.

£10. Book your place below. If you’d like to look around The Commandery, you can get half-price general admission from the shop on the day of the workshop.