Malvern Museum of Local History

The Malvern Museum of Local History stands in Great Malvern’s town centre, inside the Priory Gatehouse, the old entrance to Great Malvern Priory. The Gatehouse was built in the late 15th century and is the second oldest building in the town after the priory church. It survived the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 and later served as offices, a police court, and now houses the museum. The building itself is the main exhibit, showing how a monastic gateway became part of a modern town. Volunteers staff the museum, which is owned by the Malvern Museum Society, a registered charity. The museum holds local artefacts and archaeological finds from the Iron Age hill fort at British Camp to more recent times. Rooms show different historical periods with lifelike displays and information boards. Exhibits cover natural history, the priory, Malvern Forest, Victorian life, Edward Elgar, the Malvern Festival, hydrotherapy using Malvern water, wartime radar development, and Morgan Motor Company cars. A special display focuses on Lorna Beatrice Lloyd, a Malvern resident whose Second World War diary forms the centrepiece of the collection. Visitors find a series of themed rooms with detailed exhibits and clear information boards. The diary of Lorna Beatrice Lloyd offers a personal view of wartime events such as the arrival of child evacuees, rationing, and the billeting of soldiers. The museum also supported a research project that produced a podcast series based on the diary, launched at Great Malvern Priory. The Gatehouse’s historic rooms and the varied displays make it a place where history is brought to life.