 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
THE COMMANDERY - College
for the Blind
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
• Current Displays |
| • Private Event Booking |
| • How to Find Us |
| • Opening Times |
| • Commandery Home |
 |
|
In 1866 the Commandery was leased to the Reverend R. H. Blair, Rector of Saint Martin’s, who established a College for the Blind in the building. Although only open to the sons of gentlemen it was a pioneering institution. |
|
Other institutions for the blind were set up to train people in manual
skills but did not provide them with an education sufficient for entry
to university or the professions. It was this shortfall that the new
college aimed to fulfill. The College flourished and by 1881 thirteen
boys had gone on to university. The College also accepted sighted boys to help the blind to be as independent as possible. This independence is best highlighted by a favourite playtime activity, battles fought on stilts. Even so the Commandery was not a convenient building for those without sight. Reverend Samuel Strong Forster who succeeded Reverend Blair as Principal said that, "there is nothing about it, at first sight, which gives a parent security respecting his child’s health." Therefore in 1887 the College moved to Slaughters Court at nearby Powick. Today the Royal National Institute for the Blind operates New College in Worcester, one of the leading institutions for the blind in Britain which grew from these humble beginnings at the Commandery. |
|
|
|
|
