The
Benedictines established a monastery at what is now
Little Malvern Priory in around 1171. After the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, the priory was reduced to the
chancel and tower, and other elements were converted and reused in the construction of Little Malvern Court. The court came into the possession of the Berington family in the 18th century, who remain its owners. Staunchly
recusant, the Beringtons supported a Catholic congregation at Little Malvern and in 1860 engaged the architect
Benjamin Bucknall to construct a new church. The church, completed in 1862, was dedicated to
St Wulstan. In 1920
Alice Elgar, wife of the composer
Edward Elgar, was buried in the churchyard at St Wulstan's. The church had been the Elgars' regular place of worship during their time at Craeg Lea, their home at
Malvern Wells. Following his own death in 1934, Elgar himself was interred in the same grave. Their memorial was designed by
Arthur Troyte Griffith, a Malvern-based architect and close friend of Elgar, whom Elgar celebrated in
Variation VII, “Troyte”, of his Enigma Variations. The composer
Dorothy Howell, who for many years tended the Elgar grave on behalf of the
Elgar Society, is buried nearby. The church is now owned and administered by the Benedictine community at
Downside Abbey. ==Architecture and description==