ENTHUSIASTS of Sir Edward Elgar could grab themselves a slice of history by buying part of his Hereford home.

An apartment at Plas Gwyn, his former home on Hampton Park Road, is for sale.

The apartment contains his study, where he worked on several notable works during his stay in Hereford which lasted for seven-and-a-half years.

Dr Joan Marsden, the current owner, said: “I think the sad thing is that people in Hereford don’t know he lived here.

“People always associate him with Malvern and Worcester but he wrote some of his major works in this room.

“People come from all over the world and they get so emotional when they come here.” Dr Marsden said she loved a lot of his music but did not have a favourite composer.

“People think because I live here I must play something or sing but I am a listener and music needs listeners,” she said.

“I don’t want to leave here but I feel the time has come to move somewhere smaller.” Over the years, Dr Marsden, who was a founder member of the Elgar in Hereford group, has welcomed fans into Elgar’s old home.

“I tell visitors if they want to touch something that Elgar touched they should touch the finger plate on the study door,” she said.

“I had one woman who came in and said ‘I see you still have it as Elgar did’ but that isn’t the case.” Philip Baldwin, who chairs the Elgar in Hereford group, said he hoped the apartment would be sold to someone who appreciated Elgar’s music.

“At the moment all we can hope for is that an Elgar enthusiast should buy it because the study is the most important part of the house,” he said. Mr Baldwin added that, when Elgar was living at Plas Gwyn between 1904 and late 1911, he wrote his choral work The Kingdom, two symphonies and his violin concerto.

The apartment is being offered for sale by Watkins and Thomas, based in King Street, Hereford, for £250,000.

l DO you have an opinion about a new location for Elgar’s statue in Hereford’s Cathedral Close?

There are plans to move the bronze statue, which shows Elgar with his bicycle, around 15 metres towards the St John Street entrance.

The Elgar in Hereford group, which campaigned to erect it, wants to hear what you think about its new location.

Mr Baldwin said the statue would be moved towards the end of the restoration project, which will cost £5.6m and see new gates, railings and paving placed in the area. He said the statues location was important because it was a magnet for tourists.

“It’s a revelation – every time I go and see it I come across visitors and they are entranced by it,” he said.

“The basic problem is that it is situated where originally a tree was and they are going to re-instate a line of trees.

“I am happy with the new position but some people think it should be closer to the main entrance.” Work is expected to start in autumn 2009 and be completed in 2011.

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