St Wulstan's, Little Malvern | |
---|---|
Church of St Wulstan | |
Location in Worcestershire | |
52°04′00″N2°20′08″W / 52.0666°N 2.3356°W | |
Location | Little Malvern, Worcestershire |
Country | England |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Religious order | Benedictine Order |
Website | www |
History | |
Dedication | St Wulstan |
Dedicated | 1861-1862 |
Associated people | Edward Elgar |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Grade II-listed |
Designated | 23 February 1987 |
Architect(s) | Benjamin Bucknall |
Architectural type | Gothic Revival |
Years built | 1862 |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | Bernard Longley |
Priest(s) | Rev. Father Thomas Regan OSB |
St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Church, Little Malvern, Worcestershire, England is a Benedictine parish church administered by the monks of Downside Abbey. The attached churchyard contains the grave of the composer Edward Elgar and of his wife, Alice. The church was designed in 1862 in a Gothic Revival style by Benjamin Bucknall. It is a Grade II listed building. The Elgars' grave has a separate Grade II listing.
The Benedictines established a monastery at what is now Little Malvern Priory in around 1171. [1] After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the priory was reduced to the chancel and tower, and other elements were converted and reused in the construction of Little Malvern Court. [2] The court came into the possession of the Berington family in the 18th century, who remain its owners. [3] Staunchly recusant, the Beringtons supported a Catholic congregation at Little Malvern and in 1860 engaged the architect Benjamin Bucknall to construct a new church. [4] The church, completed in 1862, was dedicated to St Wulstan. [5]
In 1920 Alice Elgar, wife of the composer Edward Elgar, was buried in the churchyard at St Wulstan's. The church had been the Elgars' regular place of worship during their time at Craeg Lea, their home at Malvern Wells. [a] [8] Following his own death in 1932, Elgar himself was interred in the same grave. [b] [4] Their memorial was designed by Arthur Troyte Griffith, a Malvern-based architect and close friend of Elgar, whom Elgar celebrated in Variation VII, “Troyte”, of his Enigma Variations. [10] The composer Dorothy Howell, who for many years tended the Elgar grave on behalf of the Elgar Society, is buried nearby. [11]
The church is now owned and administered by the Benedictine community at Downside Abbey. [12]
The church is constructed of local Malvern rubble with ashlar stone dressings. It comprises a nave and a chancel. An undercroft designed by Bucknall was never built. The church contains stained glass by Hardman & Co., which, as at 2022, is undergoing a major restoration. [13] [4] St Wulstan's is a Grade II listed building. [14] The Elgars' grave has a separate Grade II listing. [15]
Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dramatically in Victorian times due to the natural mineral water springs in the vicinity, including Malvern Water.
Wulfstan was an English Benedictine monk who served as Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. He was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop. Wulfstan is a saint in the Western Christian churches.
Great Malvern is an area of the civil parish of Malvern, in the Malvern Hills district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is the historic centre of Malvern and includes its town centre.
Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish south of Great Malvern in the Malvern Hills district of Worcestershire, England. The parish, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland, and the former parish of Great Malvern, and owes its development to the 19th-century boom years of Malvern as a spa town. Malvern Wells is a centre of commercial bottling of Malvern water. The population of the parishes of Malvern Wells and Little Malvern was recorded in 2011 as 3,196.
Little Malvern Priory, in the village of Little Malvern near Malvern, Worcestershire, was a Benedictine monastery c. 1171–1537. It was founded from Worcester Cathedral. Little remains of the 12th-century church, which was rebuilt in 1480–1482. The site is now occupied by a house named Little Malvern Court, which has limited public opening. The present building comprises a medieval chancel and crossing tower, and a modern west porch on the site of the east bays of the nave. The transepts and the two chapels flanking the choir are in ruins. The grade I listed Little Malvern Priory church, dedicated to St Giles, is adjacent.
Great Malvern Priory in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, was a Benedictine monastery and is now an Anglican parish church. In 1949 it was designated a Grade I listed building. It is a dominant building in the Great Malvern Conservation area. It has the largest display of 15th-century stained glass in England, as well as carved misericords from the 15th and 16th century and the largest collection of medieval floor and wall tiles. In 1860 major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott. It is also the venue for concerts and civic services.
Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged 11 to 18. Both the abbey and the school are at Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Westfield and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, South West England. In 2020, the monastic community of Downside Abbey was home to fifteen monks. In 2022, the community moved to Devon.
Little Malvern is a small village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is situated on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills, south of Malvern Wells, near Great Malvern, the major centre of the area often referred to as The Malverns. Little Malvern shares a parish council with Welland, with 2 of the 11 councillors.
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish architect, one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects.
Charles Francis Hansom was a prominent Roman Catholic Victorian architect who primarily designed in the Gothic Revival style.
The Firs in Lower Broadheath, Worcestershire, England was the birthplace of Edward Elgar. The cottage now houses a museum administered by the National Trust. Edward Elgar was born at the house on 2 June 1857, and lived there for the first two years of his life. The museum comprises the Birthplace Cottage and its garden, and the modern Elgar Centre, opened in 2000, which houses further exhibitions and a function room.
The Malvern Museum in Great Malvern, the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire, England, is located in the Priory Gatehouse, the former gateway to the Great Malvern Priory. The museum was established in 1979 and is owned and managed by the Malvern Museum Society Ltd, a registered charity. The Priory Gatehouse was a gift to the museum in 1980 from the de Vere Group, the owners of the neighbouring Abbey Hotel, and is staffed by volunteers. As such, the building itself is the museum's major exhibit.
Among the places of worship in the town and area of Malvern, Worcestershire are centres of dedication to many faiths and denominations. The town has 31 Christian churches with 11 belonging to the Church of England, ranging from low church to high Anglo-Catholic, two Roman Catholic, one Evangelical, and the others being Non-Conformist and other faiths. Its oldest place of worship is the almost cathedral sized parish church of Great Malvern Priory which is all that remains of the former 10th century abbey in central Malvern, which according to the Worcester Monastic Annals, work began in 1085. The chain of Malvern Hills lies in a north-south direction, thus posing a challenge for the architects of Christian churches located on the steep slopes, chancels being traditionally sited at the east end of the building. Many churches were built in the 19th century concomitant with the rapid expansion of the town due to its popularity as a spa. A few modern buildings such as St Mary's Church (1960) in Sherrard's Green, have been constructed in the second half of the 20th century, and some churches, notably St Andrews in Poolbrook, have had important modern extensions added during the first decade of the 21st century.
Benjamin Bucknall was an English architect of the Gothic Revival in South West England and South Wales, and then of neo-Moorish architecture in Algeria. His most noted works include the uncompleted Woodchester Mansion in Gloucestershire, England and his restoration of the Villa Montfeld in El Biar, Algiers.
Frederick Preedy was an architect and glass painter in England.
All Saints' Church, Huntsham is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England. It is in the small village of Huntsham, about 5.8 miles (9.3 km) to the north-east of Tiverton. It is part of the Hukeley Mission group of parishes, which also includes St Michael & All Angels in Bampton, St Peter's in Clayhanger, St Petrock's in Petton and St George's in Morebath.
Charles Norris OSB (1909–2004) was a Benedictine monk and dalle de verre stained glass artist who created works for Roman Catholic churches in the UK.
The Council House is a municipal building in Avenue Road in Great Malvern, a town in Worcestershire in England. The building, which accommodates the headquarters of Malvern Hills District Council, is a Grade II* listed building.