The Church of St. Wulstan at Little Malvern is probably familiar to most Elgarians as the place where Alice Elgar was buried in 1920 and also, Elgar himself in 1934. The area surrounding the grave has been extensively restored.

Elgar said of the site at the time of Alice's death: "We can see the little grave in the distance and nothing could be sweeter and lovelier, only birds singing and all remote peace brought closely to us. The place she chose long years ago is too sweet - the blossoms are white all round and the illimitable plain, with all the hills and churches in the distance which were hers from childhood, looks just the same - inscrutable and unchanging. "

Possibly not so familiar is the interior of the Church where the funeral services for both Alice and Edward Elgar were held.

Photo by Gordon Lee: Courtesy of Dom Aidan Bellenger.

Photo by Gordon Lee: Courtesy of Dom Aidan Bellenger.

On April 10th 1920, at the funeral of Alice Elgar, it was arranged that the slow movement of the String Quartet should be played from the small gallery at the west end of the Church. W.H. Reed, Albert Sammons, Raymond Jeremy and Felix Salmond were the instrumentalists.

Throughout his life Elgar was a frequent visitor to the church and would often call in whilst passing on one of his cycling trips.

Photo: © Elgar Birthplace Museum.

In her book Edward Elgar - the Record of a Friendship Rosa Burley recounts: '.... we took the road along the east side of the hills, a road of great beauty with the wooded heights on the right side and the drop to the Severn on the left. At Little Malvern we dismounted and entered the Catholic Church in the graveyard of which Edward and Alice were both ultimately to rest. Then, refreshed by the silence, we resumed the now very familiar ride through Ledbury, with its black and white houses, and Stoke Edith into Hereford.'

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