Latest News
Lifeline grant for Birthplace House
14 Apr, 2021
Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House in Wisbech has received a financial boost from the government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help fund ongoing building maintenance and repairs during the coronavirus pandemic. Lifeline grants from the Culture Recovery Fund are designed to pro
Continue Reading →Accolade for social housing hero
24 Dec, 2020
A government white paper setting out a new deal for social housing tenants in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy pays tribute to the work of Wisbech-born Octavia Hill. The document, announcing proposed new laws before they are formulated in a government bill, recognizes that Wisbe
Continue Reading →Peering into town’s lost past
09 Sep, 2020
A snapshot of the good, the bad and the ugly history of Wisbech is being offered in a new exhibition of Lilian Ream photographs being displayed in the shop windows of three town centre businesses. The Lilian Ream Museum of the Streets Exhibition will use some of the mammoth hoard of p
Continue Reading →Artists’ gift for animal care
09 Sep, 2020
A fund-raising effort in memory of a long-standing member of a Wisbech art class has raised more than £100 for animal welfare. The Octavia Hill art group raised the money in remembrance of Mrs Barbara Bullen, who had staged several exhibitions in the area. She enjoyed a long connec
Continue Reading →New light on lost chapter
04 Mar, 2020
A stained glass window commemorating a key figure in Octavia Hill’s campaign to build a better society is set for its first public viewing at the Wisbech house where she was born on Sunday (March 8). The specially commissioned work by the glass artist, Hazel Parry, which has been inst
Continue Reading →Celebrating volunteer spirit
22 Nov, 2019
A grand commemoration weekend marking the birth of Wisbech’s most famous daughter is set to focus on the value of volunteering. A string of events saluting the life of Wisbech-born Octavia Hill, the celebrated social reformer and co-founder of the National Trust, has been planned to r
Continue Reading →Sound of music at museum
22 Nov, 2019
A mixed voice choir that rehearses in a grand room on Wisbech’s South Brink is helping to marry together the names of the town’s most famous son and daughter. The 40-strong performing group, the Clarkson Singers, which takes its name from the Wisbech-born anti-slavery campaigner, Thom
Continue Reading →Recalling queen of florists
20 Oct, 2019
A leading florist whose skills graced the grandest of royal occasions is set to be remembered at Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House in Wisbech. Constance Spry, the leading flower arranger of her generation, who created displays for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in 1937 a
Continue Reading →Doorway to weekend learning
09 Oct, 2019
A brave new educational venture is set to be launched at the first home of Wisbech’s most celebrated daughter. Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House, a museum dedicated to the memory of the social reformer and co-founder of the National Trust at 7 South Brink, Wisbech, is preparing to host
Continue Reading →Call goes out to the Hills
09 Oct, 2019
Everyone who shares the surname of Wisbech’s most famous daughter has been invited to a celebration at the house where she was born. The family of Octavia Hill, the social reformer and co-founder of the National Trust, is being remembered at Hill Day, which is being staged on Sunday (
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