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.[1] 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.[2] As such, the building itself is the museum's major exhibit.[3]
Florence Nightingale exhibit at Malvern Museum 2010
Among the museum's exhibits are many local artefacts and archaeological findings dating from the Iron Age hill fort at the British Camp, to recent history. A series of rooms depicts different periods of history and include lifelike displays and information boards. Themes covered include natural history, Malvern Priory, Malvern Forest and Chase, life in Victorian Malvern, Edward Elgar, the Malvern Festival, the history of the local economy including the 19th century hydrotherapy using Malvern water (instrumental in the settlement's rapid growth from a village to a large town), the development of radar by TRE, and Morgan Motor Company cars.[4]
The museum is open daily, 10.30 to 17.00, from 25 March to 31 October.
Priory Gatehouse
Erroneously referred to as the Abbey Gateway, the Priory Gatehouse was built in the late 15th century, and is the second oldest building in Great Malvern after the Norman Priory Church.[5] The Gatehouse was the main entrance into the Priory, and is one of the few monastic buildings to survive the Dissolution of Great Malvern Priory in 1539.[6][7] In 1544 the Gatehouse was sold to William Pynnocke, who sold it a year later to John Knotsford. During the Elizabethan period it passed by marriage to the Savage family, who held it until 1774.[2] In the 19th century the Gatehouse was used as offices for solicitors, architects, and estate agents, and its upper floor served as a venue for the Malvern Police Court.[2]
