ONE of Worcester's most important heritage attractions is getting a £200,000 makeover, we can reveal.

Worcester City Council is prepared to sink the cash injection into The Commandery, in Sidbury, to make it even more of a draw for history buffs.

For many years the facility was the only museum in England dedicated solely to the civil wars before it expanded its reach - and council chiefs now believe it has potential to be a significant national attraction.

The city's Conservative leadership has decided to earmark the £200,000 as part of the Corporate Plan spending for 2015/16, which kicks off in April.

Although it has yet to work through the details, the hope is to focus on ways of telling Worcester's history better through interpretation.

Early talks have taken place with city history groups to get the ball rolling on the possibilities within the budget.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader, said: "The Corporate Plan is about being proud of our past, and focused on our future.

"We know how important Worcester's heritage and history is and believe these kind of investments will help us make more of that as well as boosting the economy and profile of the city."

Councillor Marc Bayliss, deputy leader and cabinet member for economic prosperity, said: "Returning to the civil war is a key theme for that building, we need to push cash behind it.

"We think in the end this money will pay dividends, it's about 'invest to save' to boost the economy."

A report on the move calls it part of a plan to work on serious "heritage products" as a council strategy, with the £200,000 investment package a rough spending estimate, depending what firm plans emerge.

It follows a strategy to invest up to £100,000 on supporting public events next year, some of which will focus on history, including the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

In recent years most of the Commandery's spending has been on the actual building including £800,000 on repairing battered old floorboards, bringing the garden wing into use, installing new lighting and electrics, re-plastering the ceilings, below-ground drainage and re-covering the roof in 2012.

The Grade I listed site dates back to the 12th century and is set within public gardens, taking dozens of school trips and bringing in national and international tourists.

It currently includes an array of audio interpretation which allows visitors to explore six different periods of the building’s past, with the last set of serious changes to the facilities taking place in 2007.