Octavia Hill Birthplace House

Thank you

A big thank you to the Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force Supporters League for their generous donation of £500.

We were pleased to be able to help the couple on this TV programme get a feel for the area, telling them about the heritage and the places they could visit. We talked about the community of the town and that they could come and …

Army Cadets

Octavia is well known for her work as one of the founders of the National Trust and as a social reformer. Her work as a pioneer of the Army Cadet Force generally does not receive the recognition it deserves. Although Army Cadets have been around …

About Us

Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House was built in about 1740 on Wisbech’s South Brink. As a Grade II* listed building, it is particularly important as a building of outstanding architectural or historic interest.

The house was home to James and Caroline Hill as they undertook the social reform activities on which their daughter’s life work was based. It was divided soon after the family left Wisbech.

In 1994, the Octavia Hill Birthplace Museum Trust (registered charity no.1018947) purchased part of the house, opening a museum entirely run by volunteers. It attracts visitors from all over the world.

In 2007, the Trust purchased the rest of Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and a fundraising appeal, the reunification project was completed in 2009. The first phase re-opened in March 2008 with new displays and facilities.

In 2011, a strip of derelict land next to the Birthplace House was purchased by the National Trust with the help of a 50% grant from Fenland District Council, and in 2012 this was gifted to Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House Trust on a 99 year lease to create and maintain the land as a public open space for all to enjoy. The area was named Centenary Green as 2012 saw the 100th anniversary of Octavia Hill’s death.

A visit to Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House is an opportunity to discover the remarkable story of Octavia Hill’s life’s work and her influence on many spheres of modern life.

We have rooms covering Octavia’s childhood, her teenage years when she was a copy artist and managed young people making crafted items, a room showing those she inspired and was connected too, further rooms explaining her interest in housing for the poor of London and how she developed solutions for their situation, including using the arts and open spaces to help them. This of course led to the National Trust, which we also feature in another room. We have a large building, originally three separate buildings, which we hope you will visit soon and learn more about this amazing woman and her work, reaching from her life in Victorian times and still relevant now.

The Long Room (pictured) allows a view over the famous North Brink opposite and the tidal river Nene.

a large room with polished wooden floors and red carpets showing also a large decorative fireplace and windows with decorated window seats

Here is a short VR tour of the ground floor of the House – visit us soon for the full experience!

best viewed full screen, landscape on phones!

OPENING OF NATIONAL ARMY CADET ROOMS

Opening of National Cadet Museum Rooms

The National Army Cadet Force (ACF) Museum – Official Opening

Victoria Cross winner, WO2 Johnson Beharry opened the National Army Cadet Force Museum in Octavia Hill’s Birthplace House, Wisbech on 11th Sept 2023 to mark Octavia’s legacy from 1889 when she established the first Independent Army Cadet Unit.

Wisbech born (1838) Octavia Hill’s pioneering work in Southwark, London with youngsters in 1889 lead the way to the modern day Army Cadet Force (ACF) as we know it today. Octavia Hill was a well known social reformer, one of the three founders of the National Trust and a campaigner for open spaces but is largely unknown for her work with the Army Cadets.

Guests included:
Brigadier Tim Seal Vice, Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire
The High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire
Colonel Ashley Fulford, National Colonel Cadets at Regional Command
Brigadier Richard Lyne, Royal Anglian Regt
The Mayor and Mayoress of Wisbech
Veterans from Wisbech Royal British Legion

Brigadier Seal read out a letter received from Buckingham Place acknowledging the new National Army Cadet Force Museum and Octavia’s pioneering work with the Cadets.

After the opening WO2 Beharry gave a truly amazing talk on “how he won the Victoria Cross”.

Local Cadets from Wisbech Detachment and children from nearby Cambian Wisbech School had the opportunity to meet WO2 Johnson Beharry VC COG and help him plant a tree on Centenary Green to commemorate the occasion.

The ACF Museum displays a range of uniforms, traces the ACF time line from 1889 to the present day, manuals, and a “touch screen” for videos, photographs and You Tube links. A virtual tour with information points has been created for Cadets unable to visit the museum in person on our Cadet page, click here

Welcome!