On 2 June 1857 Edward Elgar was born in the small 19th century cottage now known as the Birthplace Cottage, in the village of Lower Broadheath, 3 miles west of Worcester. He was the fourth of seven children and the only one to be born in Broadheath.
In 1912 Elgar’s eldest sister Lucy wrote:
"How well I remember the day he was born! The air was sweet with the perfume of flowers, bees were humming, and all the earth was lovely. There seemed to be, to we little ones, a lot of unnecessary running about in the house, and Father came tearing up the drive with a strange man in the carriage. And before that, an old lady whom we had never seen before arrived with a large bag, and we were told by the younger maid there was a baby in that bag! That was good enough for our weak comprehension, and so we were taken a scamper across the heath to be out of the way."
When Elgar was only two the family moved back into Worcester but the Elgar children often returned to Broadheath for holidays, staying on a local farm. It is known that Elgar visited the cottage many times throughout the rest of his life. Prior to his death in 1934, Elgar expressed a wish to his daughter that if anything should be done in his memory it should be at the small cottage in Broadheath where he was born.
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Today the Birthplace Cottage houses a fascinating collection of objects. They trace the story of Elgar’s childhood and family life, his marriage to Caroline Alice Roberts, his extensive travels and his many hobbies.
