The Firs in Lower Broadheath,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England was the birthplace of

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. The cottage now houses a museum administered by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. 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.

History and collection

William Henry Elgar moved to Worcestershire from Kent in the 1840s, to further his business as a piano tuner. He married Anne Greening, a farmer’s daughter from the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

. Edward William Elgar, the fourth of their seven children, was born at The Firs on 2 June 1857, and lived here until his family moved to

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

two years later. The cottage was established as a museum in 1934, on Elgar's death, by his daughter Carice Elgar Blake. The museum houses a broad collection of Elgar memorabilia, including original music manuscripts; letters from and to Elgar, his friends and family; proofs, programmes and other items connected with Elgar's music; family photographs and scrapbooks; items connected with his travels and with his hobbies including golf and cycling; personal possessions, awards and honours, and film of his later years. Low visitor numbers and significant annual operating losses saw the

take over the administration of the museum in 2016. The Trust’s administration is supported by the

Elgar Society The Elgar Society was founded in 1951 to promote performance of the music of British composer Edward Elgar, especially the more rarely performed items. Registered as a charity on 22 January 1988, It is particularly concerned with introducing the co ...

. It has Accredited Museum status from the

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

. In 2018, the majority of the Elgar manuscript archive was moved from The Firs to the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, despite local opposition.

Architecture, events and facilities

The Firs is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. It comprises the cottage, the Elgar Centre built in 2000 and an adjacent function room. The cottage is constructed of

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

and is of two storeys. The coach house and stables were built by Elgar’s father, William Elgar, and his uncle, Henry. The museum offers a programme of events throughout the year and annual visitor numbers have risen from around 10,000 to just under 30,000.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

*
Map of The Firs
* * {{authority control Biographical museums in Worcestershire Music museums in the United Kingdom Museums in Worcestershire Historic house museums in Worcestershire Edward Elgar 1934 establishments in England Museums established in 1934 Birthplaces of individual people National Trust properties in Worcestershire