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Napleton Grange
This is a black-and-white house built in 1440. When Elgar lived there it was owned by Lord Dudley and leased to Colonel James, who sub-let it to Elgar. Elgar liked it because he could see the Malvern Hills from his bedroom window, and most of his great music had been composed while he was living in sight of the Malverns. He liked the house so much that when the lease expired he offered to buy it. The house is set back from the road, and it is not possible to see it from a public right of way.
Villagers' Memories of Elgar
While walking on Kempsey Common, Elgar once met the Misses Blisset carrying bundles of sticks. He chatted to them for a while, and then carried the sticks home for them to Bannut Hill.
Elgar made friends with Mr Everard Kirkby, who farmed in Napleton and lived in Priest Hill Cottage in Bestman's Lane. Elgar, who liked to talk of country matters, would often drop in for a chat, sometimes with famous companions such as Bernard Shaw (the playwright), W.H. Reed and Sir Ivor Atkins (organist at Worcester Cathedral).
Elgar was friendly with Lord and Lady Coventry, who lived at Croome Court, to the south-east of the village. Years before, his piano-tuner father had taken him there as a boy to tune the pianos.
Elgar's Dogs
Elgar had two dogs in Kempsey, Marco and Mina. Marco was a black and white spaniel, and Mina, a cairn terrier. Elgar liked to walk them on Kempsey Common. Sometimes, when out driving, he would dress Mina in goggles, a veil and pearls, because he though it made her look like a Duchess.
Cars
Elgar liked driving, but he had a minor accident, and from then on his valet, Dick Mountford, acted as a chauffeur. Once he bought an Austin Seven for his sister, and "was demonstrating it in the garden, and backed into a row of loganberries. They fell, never to rise again."
Unfinished Concerto
In 1927 Elgar wrote to Lady Alice Stuart that he was "doing the piano concerto, but do not tell anyone as I may switch off at any moment".
Internet References to Elgar
Click here for the home page of the Elgar Society and the Elgar Foundation.
Click here for a biography of Elgar that concentrates on Malvern.
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