The Twentieth Century Room

The 20th century room celebrates Malvern's more recent history.

Even at the turn of the twentieth century Malvern was making history. The Santler brothers, whose inventive work spanned 30 years from the 1890s to the 1920s, produced in 1894 what is thought to be the first four wheeled petrol driven British motor car. Production of the Morgan car began in Malvern, it is still produced here and enjoys a worldwide following. During World War I Malvern became a garrison town and armaments were manufactured at the Morgan Motor Works. Malvern experienced considerable upheaval in World War II with the arrival of many visitors. Foreign armies sought refuge in the town and over 10,000 young naval cadets passed through the training centre, HMS Duke.

In the late 1920s the Malvern Festival was created by Sir Barry Jackson. George Bernard Shaw wrote many plays especially for the festival (five of his plays had their premiere at Malvern) and, of course, Sir Edward Elgar was a notable figure at the festivals in the early '30s.