park pharmacy trust
Plymouth
Park Pharmacy Trust, a registered Educational Charity, has since its inception
in 1984 been working closely with Plymouth City Council for the wider benefits
of the local community. It has received National recognition for both its
innovative approaches to life-long learning and as a tourist attraction for
visitors to Plymouth. Its famous C J Park Pharmacy, the last remaining Victorian
chemist's shop in Plymouth, established in 1864, had been a major tourist
attraction in the Merchant's House Museum where it was manned by trust
volunteers. There thousands of visitors could see the pharmacy, try their hand
at old fashioned pill-rolling (and earn a certificate of proficiency in the art
of pill rolling) and talk to the volunteer stewards on duty. A weekend event
held at the Merchant's House Museum Pharmacy is Phun, attracted record numbers
of visitors. The pharmacy was televised Nationally to over 8 million viewers
when Park Pharmacy Trust became the joint United Kingdom winner in the Tourism
and Heritage categories of the BBC's ''It's My City!'' competition. In fact,
Plymouth, because of Park Pharmacy Trust, became the only winning city in the
south of England. The C J Park pharmacy display is currently in store and the
Merchant’s House is closed following extensive repairs to the structure of the
building. Park Pharmacy Trust has ambitious plans to develop a major tourist
attraction: Plymouth Heritage Health Science Exploratory (THE EXPLORATORY) in
which the C J Park pharmacy display will be rebuilt. This is the way the
pharmacy purchased by Mr Charles Park in 1875, looked in 1864. It was then at
no. 1 Mutley plain. It is thought that Mr Park moved the pharmacy to number 23
Mutley Plain around 1879. The original shop had four carboys (big glass bottles)
in the window whereas at 23 Mutley Plain there was only room for three carboys.
The fourth carboy was found in the hayloft and is in the collection of Park
Pharmacy Trust and will be included in the C J Park display in the Plymouth
Health Science Exploratory. . Mr Charles Park (third from right) with his staff
around 1910 and the delivery boy on the left, who worked for the Park family for
40 years was known as ‘Park’s Express’.
