A Walk around Elgar’s MalvernMalvern is by its nature hilly and a walk around the town inevitably involves some ups and downs. But many of the Elgarian sights inMalvern cannot easily be seen from the road and a gentle stroll from the long-stay car park in Priory Road to the Elgar statue justbelow the A449 takes in most of the more important locations. There are also a number of places for refreshment.

1. Priory Park: The park contains a plinth which oncesupported a bust of Elgar, unveiled in 1960 and sculpted byHilary Carruthers, at the time a student at the Malvern School ofArt. The bust has since been moved to the Malvern Theatreswhere it can now be seen by concert-goers.2. Malvern Theatres: Opened in 1885 as the Malvern AssemblyRooms, Elgar regularly attended concerts here and the MalvernConcert Club, which he founded, still meets here regularly. Thevenue was modernised in 1928 in preparation for the first MalvernFestival, founded by theatre impresario Barry Jackson, and againduring the late 1990s, re-opening in 1998.3. Priory Gatehouse: Elgar’s close friend, architect TroyteGriffith, immortalised in the seventh ‘Enigma’ Variation, had hisoffices in the gatehouse for many years. The gatehouse is nowhome to the Malvern Local History Museum which celebratesMalvern’s Victorian heritage, including Elgar’s place in its history.4. The Elgar Statue: The statue on Belle Vue Terrace, bysculptor Rose Garrard, was erected in 2000. Round the base of theaccompanying fountain are inscribed the names of the ‘Enigma’Variations, together with the first four lines of The Music Makers.There are other Elgar statues in Worcester and Hereford.

5. The Gentlemen’s Club: The sturdy brick-and-stonebuilding on the lower corner of Church Street and Grange Roadhoused a gentleman’s club during Elgar’s time. Here, amongthe well-appointed surroundings including a large, first-floorbilliard room, men could relax, away from the attentions of theirwomen folk!

6. The Mount*: Until he became famous, Elgar supplementedhis meagre income from composing by teaching the violin to thegirls at a private school at The Mount run by a Miss Rosa Burley.Rosa became an Elgar family friend and she would often gocycling with Elgar around the lanes of Worcestershire. She laterwrote at length about her friendship with the Elgar family.

7. Lawnside*: Almost facing The Mount across the roadjunction, Lawnside was also a girls’ school during the 1920s.Barry Jackson, organiser of the Malvern Festival, would hireLawnside during the Festival, using the facilities to entertainguests and participants. Elgar was a frequent visitor, and thereare photos of him at Lawnside, chatting with George BernardShaw and other notable visitors.

* denotes properties in private ownership.

A drive around Elgar’s

Worcestershire

GRAHAM ROAD

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British Camp¤ In 1896 Elgar received a

commission to write a large-scale work for the 1898 Leeds

Festival.¤ At the suggestion of his mother,

Elgar wrote a cantata on the life ofCaractacus, who fought against theRoman invasion and whose base wasreputedly the hillfort called British Campon the Malvern Hills.¤ When Elgar was seriously ill in later life,it was the “Woodland Interlude” fromCaractacusthat he wished to hear.

Elgar Birthplace Museum¤ Elgar lived here until the age of two.¤ He loved his Birthplace and surroundingsmore than any of his later homes andexpressed the hope that it would bepreserved as a museum to his memory.“It’s the only wish I’ve got,” he isreputed to have said. After his death,

his daughter achieved this dream.¤ The adjacent visitor centre

was opened in 2000.

St Wulstan’s Church ¤ Elgar’s daughter Carice arranged for himto be buried beside his wife Alice in thegraveyard of St Wulstan’s Catholic Churchon the slopes of the Malverns. It was aprivate funeral with no music.¤ In contrast, the slow movement ofElgar’s String Quartet was played

here at Alice’s funeralin1920.¤ Carice herself is buried

nearby.

Forli, Malvern Link*¤ Following their marriage in 1889, andafter failing to establish a career in London,the Elgars returned to Malvern.¤ They rented this house in Alexandra Rd,Malvern Link which they named Forli. ¤ They remained here for 8 years, duringwhich period Elgar composed works suchas The Black Knight, King Olaf, From theBavarian Highlands and, most importantly,

the ‘Enigma’ Variations.

Craeg Lea, Malvern Wells*¤ Elgar lived here from 1899 to 1904. ¤ Elgar named the house Craeg Lea, ananagram of ‘Elgar’ and his, Alice’s andCarice’s initials. ¤ He composed the first two ‘Pomp andCircumstance’ marches, the overturesCockaigne and In the South, and TheApostleshere. ¤ Elgar particularly liked the wonderfulview from Craeg Lea across the Severn

valley to Bredon Hill.

Birchwood Lodge*¤Rented by the Elgars from 1898 to 1903to escape the bustle of Malvern;¤Elgar completed much of Caractacus,Sea Picturesand The Dream of Gerontiushere, in a room with a view of the Malverns. ¤It was here that he learnt to ride abicycle, allowing him to explore more of thesurrounding countryside which becametheinspiration for much of his music. From herehe wrote to Jaeger: “The trees are singing

my music, or have I sung theirs.”

is a gentle excursion through the countryside whichinspired Elgar to compose some of his greatestmusic. Without stops, it should take you no morethan an hour and a half to complete the route. Theapproximate distance is 35 miles.

TThhee DDrriivveetakes you past a number of the housesin which Elgar lived and other places with particularElgarian associations, although it will be necessary tostop and get out of the car to appreciate many ofthem, particularly in the centre of Malvern. Pleaseremember, however, that hhoouusseess iinnddiiccaatteedd wwiitthh aannaasstteerriisskk ((**)) aarree ssttiillll pprriivvaattee hhoommeess,, ssoo pplleeaassee rreessppeecctttthhee pprriivvaaccyy ooff tthheeiirr ccuurrrreenntt rreessiiddeennttss.

Although you can join and leave TThhee DDrriivveeat anypoint, it is constructed to begin and end at theBirthplace Museum where you can gain anappreciation of Elgar’s life and of the significance ofthe various locations you will visit on the route. TheMuseum is openfrom 11am until 5pm seven days aweek from February to December. There is a smalladmission charge.

If you have enjoyed this drive, a companion leafletgives directions for a walk around Elgar’s Worcester.

Published by the Elgar Foundationwith financial assistance from

Worcestershire County Council, Worcester City Counciland Malvern Hills District Council

www.elgarmuseum.orgwww.visitworcestershire.org

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Leaving the Birthplace car park, turn right, passing in front ofThe Plough public house, to reach the crossroads at the far end

of Broadheath Common. In later life, Elgar often returned to theCommon to exercise his dogs. At the crossroads, turn left downLightwood Lane to reach the A44. Here, turn right and continue forabout 5 miles through Cotheridge and Broadwas until reaching abrown tourist sign to the Talbot Inn on the right.

Continue along the A449 towards Malvern Wells and Ledbury.After ¾ mile, the view to the left opens out. Bredon Hill can be

glimpsed across the Severn Valley, while the open land below the roadwas once the Malvern golf course at which Elgar played regularly. You willsoon see on the right the distinctive features of All Saints’ Church, designedby Elgar’s friend and Enigma character Troyte Griffith. Almostimmediately past the junction with Peachfield Road on the left, we reachCraeg Lea (86 Wells Road), an elevated, imposing house on the right andElgar’s home from 1899 until 1904 (see over).

As you leave Malvern, there are signs on the right toMadresfield, the family home of Lady Mary Lygon, at

one time thought to be the hidden identity behind thethirteenth ‘Enigma’ Variation. But the house cannot be seenfrom the road, so continue towards Worcester.

On the left after a half-mile, immediately beyond the junctionwith Zetland Road, is Fairlea (83 Graham Road), the home of

the Fitton family. The Fittons were a musical family, good friendsof the Elgars, and Isabel, one of six children, is pictured in the sixth‘Enigma’ Variation. Continue along Graham Road and, at the traffic

lights at the end, turn right onto the A449 towards Worcester.After 2 miles, at a T-junction in UpperColwall, turn right for the short ascent to

Wyche Cutting. Passing through thecutting on the B4218 towards Malvern, the viewssuddenly change from Herefordshire toWorcestershire and beyond, as the road swingsleft and begins a long descent towards the towncentre. On reaching the A449 once more, turn leftto reach the centre of Great Malvern.

A little over a half-mile beyond St Wulstan’s and still on the A449, the road climbsto reach British Camp car park and the Malvern Hills Hotel. British Camp is an

Iron Age hill fort at which, according to legend, the British chieftain Caractacus (seeover) was captured by the Romans. It is a short if steep stroll from the car park to the fort.

Remaining on the A449, St Wulstan’s R.C. Church, where Elgar is buried,is reached after a further 1½ miles. The church (see over) is on the left of

the A449. There is a brown sign warning that you are 120 yards fromElgar’s grave, and a small car park on the right almost opposite the sign.

As you enter Malvern, ignore the first roadon the left (Cowleigh Bank) but take the

second (Hornyold Road) and follow it roundto the right. The road ends at a rather complicatedjunction with the main Worcester-Malvern road(A449). At the traffic lights, turn left towardsWorcester and, after 200 metres, left again at thered post box in the wall into Alexandra Road. Forli*(no.37), Elgar’s home from 1891 until 1899 (seeover), is on the left 300 metres from the junction.

Returning to the car, ourroute back to Malvern is

along Jubilee Drive (B4232),which winds along the west sideof the hills. There are fine viewsover Herefordshire towards theWelsh hills from the road and alsofrom The Kettle Sings tearooms.

After a further 1¼ miles turn right at the trafficlights into Hospital Lane and, after 200 metres, right

again into Cromwell Road in front of a sturdy periodbuilding in an otherwise modern housing estate. The estateoccupies the former grounds of the Powick County LunaticAsylum, at which Elgar took up his first post as aprofessional musician, conducting the asylum band. Duringhis five years in the post (1879-84), he composed a range ofshort pieces of music for the band to play. The asylum closedduring the 1980s and many of the buildings weresubsequently demolished, but the core of the main buildingwas retained and converted into modern apartments. Thiscan be seen from Harrison Close, off Fleetwood Avenue.

Approaching the town centre with Malvern Priory on the right,take the first turning on the right, opposite the Mount Pleasant

Hotel. Continue past the Post Office, then right into Church Streetand down to the traffic lights. Many of the Elgar-related places of interestin the centre of the town are best explored on foot. Those not wishing todo so should turn left at the lights into Graham Road. But to park,continue across the lights, taking first right into Avenue Road and firstright again into Priory Road, to reach the car park. An exploration ofElgar’s Malvern is described in a separate panel. Returning to the car,retrace your route to the traffic lights and turn right into Graham Road.

The road undulatesfor 1½ miles until you

reach a straight levelstretch with a collection ofbarns on the left. BirchwoodLodge* (see over) is a shortdistance down an unmadetrack on the left immediatelybeyond the brick wall of oneof the barns. There is a goodview of the Malverns fromhere, but no car park so parkwith care on the verge if youwish to walk down to the

cottage.

Immediately aftercrossing the Teme

by the new bridge onthe A44, turn left, following

signs to Suckley.

Carry on for 3¼ miles and, shortly after passing throughSuckley, you reach a T-junction where you turn left towards

Alfrick. After a further mile, immediately on leaving thehamlet of Longley Green, just before the road swings uphill to theleft, turn right up a narrow lane sign-posted to Birchwood.

This is Knightwick, asmall village on Elgar’s

beloved River Teme. Elgaroften spoke to close friends abouta ‘secret’ spot on the Teme near toKnightsford Bridge, adjacent tothe Talbot Inn, which carried theold road over the Teme. Do followthe sign if you can spare the timefor a drink (the Talbot brews itsown range of real ales) or toexplore the river here. If you do,you must return when ready tothe A44 and turn right to continuein the same direction as before.

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From Forli, turn right into Somers Road, right again into AlbertPark Road, and right yet again to rejoin the A449, now heading

towards Great Malvern. Continue ahead (right hand lane) at thefirst set of traffic lights and straight on again at the second set. After afurther half-mile, you enter Great Malvern town centre. There is an

opportunity to explore Elgar’s Malvern on the return journey.

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LEGEND

Outward route :Elgar’s Birthplace to British Camp

Return route :British Camp to Elgar’s Birthplace

Other roads

Elgar Route signs

Not to scale

E.R.

From Birchwood, continue in thesame direction to the Worcester-

Hereford road (A4103). Turn leftthen almost immediately right on theB4219 to Cowleigh and Malvern.

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B4232 A

449

A449

A449

A44A44

B4219

B4218

A44

Return to the A449,turning right to continue

for a mile towardsWorcester. On reaching theroundabout on the Worcesterring road, turn left onto theA4440 and at the secondroundabout take the second exittowards Leominster. At the thirdroundabout take the second exit(A44) and after 400 metres, turnright into Crown East Lane to

return to the Birthplace.

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E.R. E.R.

A4103

E.R.

A4440

BRITISHCAMP

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KNIGHTWICK

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