Malvern, Worcestershire

This article is about the civil parish and its environs. For the town centre see Great Malvern

See also: Malvern Link

Malvern
General view of Great Malvern, with North Hill in background.
Population	28,749 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SO786459
• London	121.3 miles (195.2 km)
Civil parish	Malvern
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MALVERN
Postcode district	WR14
Dialling code	01684
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire

Welcome to Malvern, on an approach road to the town centre.

Malvern is a civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It includes the main shopping and commercial centre of historical Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, together with many suburbs and areas often collectively referred to as The Malverns. Several of these settlements are separated by large tracts of open common land. As of the 2001 United Kingdom Census the civil parish had a population of 28,749; it includes the former urban districts of Great Malvern and Malvern Link that were merged in 1900 to form the single council for Malvern.

Malvern is the largest town in the parliamentary constituency of West Worcestershire. As of May 2005 it is represented by Sir Michael Spicer. Malvern is also the administrative seat of the area governed by Malvern Hills District Council (MHDC) and lies adjacent to the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The MHDC also governs several neighbouring towns and a great many villages.

Urban infrastructure

See also: Great Malvern

Town centre

Malvern post office, town centre

The town centre comprises two main streets, the steep Church Street and the perpendicular Bellevue Terrace, a relatively flat north-south extension of the (A449). In the heart of the town is a statue of Edward Elgar the composer, who lived in the town, while other statuary is dedicated to Malvern water. Among the many shops are two large modern supermarkets, both in Edith Walk, a former steep and narrow back lane that runs parallel to Church Street. Most of the traditional high street shops such as clothing, butchers, bakeries, groceries, etc., in the town are now tea-rooms, health food shops, specialist cafés, building societies, second-hand books shops, charity shops, law firms, and real estate agents. On the Worcester to Hereford line is the Victorian Great Malvern railway station, a listed example of classical Victorian railway architecture close to the former nearby Imperial Hotel. In 1893, following the sharp decline in Malvern's importance as a spa after the cessation of Gully's water cures, the imposing Victorian building which housed the hotel became the Malvern Girls' College, now renamed Malvern St James.

Detail of buildings and shops in Church Street, Great Malvern.

Suburbs and neighbourhoods

Besides the town centre of Great Malvern, Malvern comprises a number of neighbourhoods and other named places. Some are within the civil parish of Malvern Town, and all are in the surrounding urban area. The names and locations of these suburbs are in general usage but, except where some of the outer suburbs correspond to other civil parishes, as in the case of West Malvern, the electoral wards do not correspond to the traditional areas. Malvern's rapid urbanisation during the latter half of the 19th century spread eastwards from the town centre on the steep flank of the Worcestershire Beacon, engulfing the manors and farms in the immediate area. It was often the farms, such as Pickersleigh, that gave their names to many of the new neigbourhoods, and Malvern Link with which Great Malvern was merged in 1900.

History

Early history

See also: Malvern Priory

Great Malvern Priory

Ancient folklore has it that the British chieftain Caractacus made his last stand against the Romans at the British Camp, a site of extensive Iron Age earthworks on a summit of the Malvern Hills close to where Malvern was to be later established. The story remains disputed however, as Roman historian Tacitus implies a site closer to the river Severn. There is therefore no evidence that Roman presence ended the prehistoric settlement the British Camp. However, excavations at nearby Midsummer Hillfort, Bredon Hill and Croft Ambrey all show evidence of violent destruction around the year 48CE. This may suggest that the British Camp was abandoned or destroyed around the same time. History waits another thousand years before describing ... an hermitage, or some kind of religious house, for seculars, before the conquest, endowed by the gift of Edward the Confessor... , and a motte-and-bailey castle that was built on the top tier of the earthworks just before the Norman Conquest. The castle was destroyed by King Henry II in 1155 and mentioned in passing by William Langland before 1386,

The town developed around its 11th-century priory, a Benedictine monastery, the remains of which make up some of the early parts of Great Malvern Priory, now a large parish church. The name Malvern probably comes from the ancient British language meaning 'Bare-Hill', the nearest modern equivalent being the Welsh moelfryn (bald hill). It has been known as Malferna (11th century), Malverne (12th century), and Much Malvern (16–17th century).

Several theories explain the actual founding of the religious community. Legend tells that the settlement began following the murder of St. Werstan, a monk of Deerhurst, who fled from the Danes and took refuge in the woods of Malvern. A hermitage had been established there before the Norman Conquest. The legend has been dismissed by some historians as monastic mythology. However, in their 2006 book The Illumination of St. Werstan the Martyr Cora Weaver and Bruce Osborne re-examine the legend of St Werstan and conclude that he was the original martyr. The Worcester Monastic Annals and the Vita Wulfstani, also tell how Wulstan encouraged a hermit named Aldwin to found a Monastery in the "wilderness of Malvern".

The first prior was Aldwyn, who had been made a monk by St. Wulfstan, was apparently the first to settle here. He founded the monastery on the bishop's advice instead of making an intended pilgrimage to Jerusalem and by 1135 the monastery included thirty monks. Aldwyn was succeeded by Walcher, an astronomer and philosopher from Lorraine whose gravestone inside the priory church records details that the priory arose in 1085 from a hermitage endowed by Edward the Confessor. The ancient stained glass window in the north choir clerestory of Malvern Priory church depicts the legend of St Werstan, with details of his vision, the consecration of his chapel, Edward the Confessor granting the charter for the site, and Werstan's martyrdom.

An 18th century document states that in the 18th year of William's kingship (1083?), a priory was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. W. Page in his Victoria County Histories describes how a hermit Aldwyn, who lived in the reign of Edward the Confessor, had petitioned the Earl of Gloucester for the original site (of the Priory) in the wood, and cites his source as Gervase of Canterbury, Mappa Mundi (Rolls ser.)

Abbey Gateway, town centre. Home of the Malvern Museum.

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Hugh Latimer, bishop of Worcester, petitioned in 1538 for the continuation of Great Malvern Priory, but by then only total surrender was acceptable. However, the local commissioners were instructed to ensure that, where abbey churches were also used for parish worship, they should continue or could be purchased by parishioners. Accordingly Malvern Priory survived by being acquired by a William Pinnocke and with it, much of the 15th century stained glass windows that depict not only religious stories, but also record scenes from the everyday feudal life of the area. Otherwise the most marketable fabric in monastic buildings including building stone and slate roofs were sold off to the highest bidder. With the exception of parts of the priory church, all that remains of Malvern's monastery is the Abbey Gateway, that houses today's Malvern Museum. Already an established community and the major settlement in the Malvern Chase, during the century that followed the town began to acquire its fame for its spring water.

Recent history

Malvern is a famous spa, known for its bottled water since 1622 at the Holy Well and later from other spouts and sources. Dr. James Manby Gully made the water cure popular in the early 19th century. Several large hotels and many of the large villas in Malvern date from its heyday as a residential spa. Many smaller hotels and guest houses were built between about 1842 and 1875 and by 1855 there were already 95 hotels and boarding houses and by 1865 over a quarter of the town's 800 houses were boarding and lodging houses. Most were in Great Malvern – the town centre – and there were others in Malvern Wells , North Malvern, and West Malvern.

Great Malvern railway station opened on 25 May 1860, a Friday start to a weekend public holiday, and received a massive 10,000 passengers from all the newly opened stations on the line, and throughout June to September of that year day trips were frequent, filling the area with "the most curious specimens of the British shopkeeper and artisan on an outing". In addition to Malvern's new-found fame as a spa, fully exploiting its rail connections, factories from as far Manchester were organising day trips for their employees, often attracting as many as 5,000 visitors a day. In 1865 a public meeting of residents denounced the rising rail fares – by then now twice that of other lines – that were exploiting the tourism industry, and demanded a limitation to the number of excursion trains. The arrival of the railway also enabled the delivery of coal in large quantities, which accelerated the the area's popularity as a winter resort. Fearing that Malvern would become the "Metropolis of Hydrotherapy", a Malvern Hills Act was secured in 1884 and later Acts empowered the Conservators to acquire land to prevent further encroachment on common land and by 1925 they had bought much of the manorial wastelands.

By the end of the 19th century, the popularity of the water cure had declined to the extent that many hotels were already being converted into private boarding schools and rest homes, and education became the basis of Malvern's economy. By 1865 the town already had 17 single-gender privates schools, and by 1885 they numbered 25. Spa towns were well suited for schools due to their well established attractive environment and the possibility of children being able to travel unaccompanied with their trunks by rail to their boarding schools.

Governance

See also Malvern Hills (district)

Malvern Council House viewed from Priory Park

Malvern is the town and civil parish governed at the lowest tier of local government by Malvern Town Council, and is part of the Malvern Hills administrative district of the County of Worcestershire, formed in 1998, that comprises 54 civil parishes and 21 electoral council wards. Through the many changes in local government infrastructure since the beginning of the 20th century, the importance and distiction by local boundaries of the historical areas of Great Malvern, Malvern, Link, North Malvern, Cowleigh, and other neighbourhoods, have been lost.
The parish of Great Malvern formerly included the hamlet of Guarlford and the chapelry of Newland, and stretched from the River Severn on the east to the Malvern Hills on the west. Guarlford became a separate civil parish in 1894. Under the Local Government Act of 1894 urban district councils were created for Malvern and Malvern Link. By 1900 however, the two councils were merged, absorbing parts of neighbouring parishes to create a town of six wards under the Malvern Urban District Council.
The present (2009) Malvern Town Council was created in 1996 as an autonomous local authority under the Local Government Act 1972 and other Acts of Parliament and the ward boundaries were redefined from the wards of the former Malvern Urban District Council (1900 - 1974). The residents of Malvern Town in the six Malvern Town Council electoral wards are represented by 20 elected members. The wards are based on the distribution of the population and generally ignore the accepted names of the neighbourhoods and suburbs they contain, and use loaned names: Chase, Dyson Perrins, Link, North Malvern, Pickersleigh, and Priory, and together constitute map area No. 06 of the Malvern Hills District) For some purposes of reporting, the small ward of North Malvern and the separate civil parish of West Malvern are combined and displayed within the statistics for Malvern Town. (see: Office for National Statistics#Purpose and scope).

Demography

As of the 2001 UK census, Malvern had a total population of 28,749. For the purposes of statistical reporting the office of national Staistics groups the poulation of the North Malvern ward of the Malvern civil parish with that of the West Malvern civil parish. For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males. The average household size was 2.4. Of those aged 16–74 in Malvern, 48.1% had no academic qualifications or at least one GCSE, above the figures for all of the Malvern Hills local government district (39.7%) and England (45.5%). According to the census, 2.3% were unemployed and 35.0% were economically inactive. 19.7% of the population were under the age of 16 and 11.5% were aged 75 and over; the mean age of the people of the civil parish was 41.5. 66.8% of residents described their health as "good", similar to the average of 69.1% for the wider district.

Population development

Victorian pillar box, corner Priory Road & Orchard Road, Malvern

The area remained a village and cluster of manors and farms until the 'taking of the water' in Malvern became popularised by Dr. Wall in 1756. By the 1820s the Baths and the Pump Room were opened and Dr James Wilson and Dr Gully 1842 opened up water cure establishments in the town centre.

By the middle of the 19th century with the arrival of the railway, bath houses, and other establishments catering for the health tourists flourished. By the early 20th century Malvern had rapidly developed from a small village centred around its priory, to a bustling town with many large hotels, and impressive Victorian and Edwardian country villas of the newly rich citizenry of the the Industrial Revolution from nearby Birmingham and the Black Country.

Malvern experienced a further boost to its population in 1942 when the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), a large government research facility with around 2,000 staff relocated to Malvern from near Swanage on the south coast for safety from air raids and espionage during World War II. In the early 1950s several large and (at that time) modern housing estates were built in Malvern on similar lines to council estates to provide accommodation for the staff that had grown to about 3,500 and their families. A significant proportion of the population of Malvern today is comprised of present and former employees of the facility (now called QinetiQ), and its previously attached military contingent.

Malvern had already become an overspill for the nearby city of Worcester, and the new motorways constructed in the early 1960s brought the industrial Midlands within commuting distance by car and with it, the construction of large private housing developments. The town continues to swell as increasingly more farmland, especially in the Malvern Link area between the villages of Guarlford and Newland, is turned over to new housing projects creating new communities and suburbs.

Year	Population	Notes
Due to frequent merging of parishes and changes in boundaries, accurate figures based on specific areas are not available.
1563	105 families	Probably what is now the town centre area with nearby farms and manors.
1741	had sixty houses	Probably what is now the town centre area.
1801	819
1819	2,768	1819 census - probably what is now the town centre area.
1851	3,771	Probably including the former ecclesiastical parishes of Guarlford and Newland, and the settlement of Poolbrook.
1871	7,605
1911	16,514	Reflects the 1900 merging of the Malvern and Malvern Link urban district councils.
2001	28,749	Includes the six wards covered by the current Town Council civil parish.

Economy

File:QinetiQ.jpg

View from the hills of the QinetiQ facility. Malvern College campus in the foreground

Scientific research has been the major source of local employment since the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), a government group developing RADAR for the RAF, relocated to the premises of Malvern College in 1942, bringing with it about 2,000 employees, and by 1945 increased electronics production had increased this number to around 3500 staff. The centre has been through a series of name changes (RRE, RSRE, DRA and DERA), but remained the largest single employer in the Malvern area. Different generations of Malvern people often still refer to the establishment by any of its former names. The establishment made many major contributions to global science and technology include the cavity magnetron, liquid crystal displays (LCD) and thermal imaging.

In 2001 the facility was partly privatised to become QinetiQ, while a small part was retained by the Ministry of Defence to become Dstl, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Malvern's Dstl contingent has since closed down with a small number of the remaining staff moving to other Dstl sites.

Education is another large field of employment in Malvern. Private education is especially represented by two famous public schools, Malvern College founded in 1865, and Malvern Girls College now renamed Malvern St. James after its 2006 merger with St. James's School. There are also several other private day and boarding schools. Famous people who were educated at these schools include Jeremy Paxman, A.J.P. Taylor, C. S. Lewis, Denholm Elliott, Barbara Cartland, and Aleister Crowley.

Cars have been constructed in Malvern since 1910 by The Morgan Motor Company, one of the world's longest existing private constructors of series-built automobiles. The Morgan Motor Car is a traditional sports roadster and over the years has become a 'cult' vehicle, exported all over the world.

Pipe organ building has been carried out in Malvern since the famous company of Nicholson Organs was founded by John Nicholson in 1841. The Nicholson company is one of the most innovative in the field of organ technology and the firm's organs can be found in Worcester, Gloucester and Birmingham (UK) Cathedrals, and abroad in Madrid, Hong Kong and Long Island, U.S.A.

Glassware is produced by Chance Brothers, an early pioneer of glass making technology, in their factory in Malvern next door to the Morgan Motor works.

Agriculture: Malvern is the centre for a significant agricultural industry in the area immediately surrounding the town, essentially comprising mixed farming (livestock, dairy, cereals, and market gardening). Sheep graze on the hills immediately to the west of the town centre, and on the common land that separates the various urban centres. Significant crops are fruit (apples, cider apples, pears, damsons, plums), vegetables, and the monoculture of hops and Christmas trees.

The 70 acre Three Counties Showground operated by the Three Counties Agricultural Society, a registered charity a few miles to the south of Malvern on the road to the town of Upton upon Severn (part of the Malvern District), has been the venue for the famous annual Three Counties Show held each year in June for over fifty years. While traditionally representing the three counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, the show which can be traced right back to 1797, attracts an average of 93,000 visitors from all parts of the country over its three-day event, and with around 600 trade stands and exhibitions it almost doubles the town's local population. Statistics show it to be among the country's most important agricultural shows and events, and according to reports, is the biggest regular event of the year of any kind in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire region. It also opens the horticultural season each year by hosting the Royal Horticultural Society's Spring Gardening Show, followed by many other events throughout the year including other regular gardening shows.

Malvern Water

St Anne's Well spout

Malvern Water became famous for containing "nothing at all". It was the reason for Malvern becoming a spa town and has formed a part of both local and national culture since Queen Elizabeth I made a point of drinking it in public in the 16th century, and Queen Victoria refused to travel without it. It is the only bottled water used by Queen Elizabeth II, which she takes on her travels around the world. Millions of litres of Malvern Water are bottled annually by Schweppes in a factory near Malvern and distributed worldwide. It also flows freely from a number of fountains or spouts throughout the Malvern area. Upkeep of these historical springs is funded by several organisations, including the Town Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Malvern Spa Association, and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Culture

Architecture

The town centre and its environs are graced by many fine examples of Victorian and Edwardian villas and hotels. Many of the houses were built during the Industrial Revolution, and Malvern's boom years as a spa town, by wealthy families from the nearby Birmingham area. Many of the villas have since been converted to apartments, while some of the smaller hotels are now retirement homes. Much architecture and statuary in the town centre is dedicated to Malvern Water, including the St. Anne's Well, which is housed in a building dating from 1815. The drinking spout, Malvhina, by the sculptor Rose Garrard, was unveiled on 4 September 1998. The Enigma Fountain, also by Garrard, was unveiled by Prince Andrew in 2000. The Imperial Hotel in red brick with stone dressings that became the Malvern Girls College after the collapse of the spa industry, is one of the largest buildings in Malvern and was built in 1860 by the architect E W Elmslie who also designed the Great Malvern railway station and Whitbourne Hall, in Herefordshire. It was first hotel to be lit by incandescent gas. It was equipped with all types of baths and brine was brought specially by rail from Droitwich.

Music

Sir Edward Elgar, the famous British composer and Master of the King's Musick lived much of his life around Malvern and is buried in Little Malvern cemetery. Land of Hope and Glory, set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, was first performed in the Wyche School next to the church in the presence of Elgar. A statue of Elgar stands gazing over Great Malvern from Belle Vue Terrace in the town centre. The Elgar Route, a 40-mile drive passing some key landmarks from Elgar's life, passes through Malvern.
The Chandos Symphony Orchestrais one of the leading amateur orchestras in the West Midlands. Based in Malvern under the professional direction of Michael Lloyd with over 100 players, the orchestra specialises in performances of major works of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
The Autumn in Malvern Festival is an annual event featuring performances of renowned artists of music, poetry, writers and film makers held during October every year.

Dramatic Arts

Mainstream Theatre

Malvern is a leading provincial centre for theatre. The theatre is housed in the Malvern Winter Gardens complex in the town centre. The first Malvern Drama Festival was planned by Sir Barry Jackson and took place in 1929 and was dedicated to Bernard Shaw. Many premiers of works by famous playwrights had their first performances at Malvern, including two by Bernard Shaw. In 1956, on the occasion of the dramatist's 100th birthday, Malvern held a Shaw centenary week. In February 1965 a Malvern Festival Theatre Trust was set up, and extensive refurbishment was undertaken. J B Priestley presided over the opening ceremony of the first summer season. In 1998 a further £7.2 million major redesign and refurbishment took place with the help of contributions from the The National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF), administered by the government Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Fringe Festival

Malvern is the home of one of the oldest Fringe festivals in the world. The Malvern Fringe Festival is an arts festival (founded 1977) which takes place on MayDay and the annual three day festival held in June as a fringe to the Elgar Festival. These are accompanied by musical and other live events throughout the year. The Fringe aims to be inclusive; bridging the generation gap by providing a varied programme of events for the local people of Malvern aimed at all ages. The Theatre of Small Convenience entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 as the smallest theatre in the world. Located in a former Victorian public convenience in the centre of the town, the theatre has a capacity of 12 people seated, or 16 people standing.

Malvern in Literature

C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien used to walk on the Malvern Hills. The story goes that, after drinking in a Malvern pub one winter evening, they were walking home when it started to snow. They saw a lamp post shining out through the snow and Lewis turned to his friends and said "that would make a very nice opening line to a book". Lewis' book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe later used that image as the characters enter the realm of Narnia.
The poet W. H. Auden taught for three years in the 1930s at the The Downs School, in the Malvern Hills. He wrote many poems there, including: This Lunar Beauty; Let Your Sleeping Head; My Love, Fish in the Unruffled Lakes; and Out on the Lawn I Lie in Bed. He also wrote the long poem about the hills and their views, called simply The Malverns
William Langland's famous 14th century poem The Visions of Piers Plowman (1362) was inspired by the Malvern Hills and the earliest poetical allusion to them occurs in the poem: And on a Maye mornynge on Malverne hylles. Langland, the reputed writer, was possibly educated at the priory of Great Malvern. Several roads and buildings in Malvern are named after Langland.

Places of worship

In addition to the 12th century priory, concomittant with Malvern's expansion during the second half of the 19th century many churches were built in Malvern, including:

Landsdown Methodist Church, Great Malvern

• All Saints Church, (CofE), Wells Road
• All Saints, The Wyche, 1903, 13th-century style. (CofE)
• Christ Church, Great Malvern, 1874, 14th century Gothic style. (CofE)
• Church of the Ascension, Malvern Link. (CofE)
• Holy trinity, North Malvern, 1842, The style is 13th-century Gothic. (CofE)
• Landsdowne Methodist Church, 1886, Great Malvern
• Malvern Baptist Church, Abbey Road
• Malvern Evangelical Church, Pickersleigh Road
• Malvern Hills Life Church, Worcester Road
• Somers Park Avenue Methodist Church
• St Andrew, Poolbrook, 1885, 13th century style. (CofE)
• St James', West Malvern (CofE)
• St Giles Church, (CofE), Wykewane
• St Joseph Church, (RC) Newtown Road
• St Leonard in Newland 1864, 14th century style. (CofE)
• St Mary's Church, (CofE) Sherrards Green (a modern church c1960)
• St Mary the Virgin, 1844, Guarlford, (CofE)
• St Mathias, Malvern Link (CofE) c1896. The church has a set of ten ringing bells. The first full peal (Grandsire Triples) was rung on 1 June 1901
• St Wulstan's R.C. Church Ledbury Road
• Quaker meeting House, Orchard Road
• Wyche Free Church, Jubilee Drive

Health Facilities

Malvern has a community hospital in Landsdowne Crescent, near the town centre. It could be described as a cottage hospital, used mainly by the elderly and for convalescence, although consultants from major Worcester NHS hospitals hold clinics there. Major health facilities are provided by hospitals in Worcester. Work on a new hospital for the Malvern area began in April 2009, on the site of a former boys boarding school, in Malvern Link.

In 2006 a new health complex opened on the edge of Malvern Link from which a large GP group practice now operates. Another GP group practice opened a health centre on Pickersleigh Road in 2008. Malvern also has several nursing and retirement homes for the care of senior citizens.

The Malvern area is covered by the Midlands Air Ambulance service that has been operating from the site of Strensham motorway services since 1991.

Transport

Road

The A449 road runs through the centre of Malvern, connecting it to Worcester and Ledbury. The M5 motorway to the east of Malvern is accessible at junctions 7 and 8. The M50 (also known as the Ross Spur) to the south can be accessed at junction 1 on the A38 road between Tewkesbury and Malvern.

Rail

Malvern has two railway stations (Great Malvern and Malvern Link), providing direct services to Worcester, Hereford, Birmingham, Oxford and London.

Bus

Several local bus services connect Malvern with the surrounding area. From April to August, on weekends and public holidays, the Hills Hopper service provides access to the Malvern Hills and environs. Long-distance direct bus services connect Malvern with other cities in the country, including the National Express route 321 through eleven counties from Aberdare in South Wales via Birmingham and other major cities, to Bradford in West Yorkshire, and route 444 from Worcester to London (Victoria).

Route	From	To	Via	Operator	Notes
42/42A	Malvern Link	Fruitlands	Great Malvern, Poolbrook	Astons Coaches
44/44A	Malvern Link	Worcestershire Royal Hospital	Great Malvern, Powick, Worcester, County Hall	First
244	Malvern circular		West Malvern, British Camp, Ledbury, Eastnor, Welland, Upton-upon-Severn, Hanley Swan, Three Counties Showground	Malvernian Tours	Only operates April - August
363	Barnards Green	Worcester	Great Malvern, Malvern Wells, Welland, Upton-upon-Severn, Hanley Swan, Callow End, Powick	Astons Coaches
377	Malvern Link	Cheltenham	Great Malvern, Malvern Wells, Welland, Pendock, Eldersfield, Gloucester	Astons Coaches
425	Malvern Link	Knightwick	Great Malvern, Leigh Sinton, Bransford, Alfrick, Suckley	DRM Coaches
476	Great Malvern	Hereford	Colwall, Ledbury, Bartestree, Lugwardine	DRM Coaches
675	Great Malvern	Ledbury	West Malvern, Wyche Cutting, Colwall	Malvernian Tours

Air

Malvern's nearest major airport is Birmingham International approximately one hour by road via the M5 and M42 motorways.

Education

See also List of schools in Worcestershire

Malvern is home to several private primary schools, a college of further education, and two large state comprehensive schools. A third large comprehensive school located in a nearby village also caters for students from the Malvern area. Following the decline of Malvern's popularity as a spa town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many private boarding schools were established in Malvern, often occupying the premises of former hotels and large villas. Two large public schools (private secondary schools) - one for boys, The Boy's College, Malvern College, and one for girls, Malvern St James's - now remain and rank among the country's foremost private schools. Twelve state or Church of England primary schools serve Malvern and feed the areas three high schools.

High Schools

The Chase Technology College in Barnards Green has over 1700 pupils. It is a specialist Technology, Language and Science college under the specialist schools programme, and has been awarded Beacon School status. At the last OFSTED inspection (February 2006), the school was described as "good with some outstanding features". Average GSCE results in 2008 were 382.7 with 54% of pupils achieving grade A*-C; average A level results in 2008 were 735.9.

Dyson Perrins in Malvern Link, a Church of England school with almost 1000 pupils, is a specialist Sports College. Following a critical OFSTED inspection in January 2009 the school was placed in special measures. Average GSCE results in 2008 were 344.8 with 40% of pupils achieving grade A*-C; average A level results in 2008 were 797.3.

Hanley Castle High School formerly called Hanley Castle Grammar School, in Hanley Castle village about four miles to the east of the town centre, was probably founded in 1326 and is one of the oldest schools in England. Since the early 1970s the school has become a mixed gender, voluntary controlled comprehensive with a population of about 900 students aged 11 to 18. Its catchment area covers the town and much of the surrounding rural area, and it has been awarded Language School status by OFSTED.

Primary schools

File:Walden mansion.jpg

Lady Howard de Walden's mansion, home of the former St James girls school before its merger with the Malvern Girls College.

• Great Malvern Primary School LEA (near Barnards Green)
• Grove Primary School (off Pickersleigh Road)
• Hanley Swan St Gabriel's with St Mary's C of E Primary (Hanley Swan)
• Malvern Hills Primary School LEA (Poolbrook)
• Malvern Parish CofE Primary School (Great Malvern)
• Malvern Wells CofE Primary School (Wells Road, Malvern)
• Malvern Wyche CofE Primary School (Lower Wyche Road)
• Malvern, Northleigh CofE Primary School (North Malvern)
• Somers Park Primary School LEA (Malvern Link)
• St James' CofE Primary School (West Malvern Road)
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Newtown Road - near Link Top)
• St Matthias CofE Primary School (Malvern Link)

Independent Schools

Malvern St James girls school in the former Imperial Hotel building

Malvern College is a coeducational British independent school, founded in 1865. Until 1992, it was an school for boys aged 13 to 18. Following a series of mergers from 1992 to 2008it has since become coeducational with pupils from 3 to 18 years old. In 2007 the school was ranked by The Times newspaper as the 5th best co-educational independent school in the country. Among its alumni are two Nobel Laureates, an Olympic Gold medalist, and prime ministers of several countries.
Malvern St. James (formed by the merger of Malvern Girls College and St. James' School). Its main building is the former Imperial Hotel, built in the second half of the 19th century. The merged school is on the campus of the former Malvern Girls College.

Further Education

Evesham and Malvern Hills College, formerly Malvern Hills College, formerly Malvern College of Further Education.

Malvern also has an active University of the Third Age that was founded at Malvern Hills College in 1995. Its inagural meeting was attended by around 150 members of the public, and by 2009 it had over 70 interest groups and 1000 members.

Leisure

Priory Park with Malvern Theatres complex and Priory Church tower in the background

The Priory Park with its adjoining Malvern Splash pool and Winter Gardens complex occupies a large area in the centre of the town. The Winter Gardens complex is home to the Malvern Theatre, a cinema (movie theatre), a concert venue/banqueting room, bars and cafeterias. For almost half a century, the Malvern Winter Gardens has also been the leisure centre and a major regional venue for classical music, and concerts by legendary rock bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s. In 1998 a £7.2 million major redesign and refurbishment of the Winter Gardens took place with the help of contributions from the The National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF), administered by the government Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Splash Leisure Complex flanks the eastern boundary of Priory Park and has an indoor swimming pool and gymnasium.
In the town is also an extensive Public Library that includes access to many community services.

Sport

The Manor Park Club multi-sports complex, close to the town centre, provides the area with indoor and outdoor sports facilities including tennis, squash, indoor bowls, racketball and table tennis. It is assisted by grants from various bodies, including the Malvern Hills District Council, the Sport of England Lottery and the Lawn Tennis Association. Traditional outdoor bowls are played on a green in Priory Park. Other public areas such as Victoria Park in Malvern Link provide space for field sports and tennis. Malvern Town FC has an Football first team that plays in the Southern League Division One Midlands and which has twice reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup. The Malvern Hills are a popular launching site for hang gliding and paragliding and Malvern has a local hang gliding club. Snooker is played at the Willy Thorne Snooker Centre in Malvern which is a regular venue for world-class matches played by past and present world champions. Cricket is provided for at Barnards Green Cricket Club.

Notable people

Malvern's impressive list of notable people is due largely to their having either been educated at, or taught at notable Malvern schools. Composers were often drawn to Malvern for the quality of its church organs and the acoustics of the church buildings. The Hills inspired many poets and novelists, and scientists carried out much of their ground-breaking research at what is now QinetiQ.

Darwin plaque, Malvern

• James Atkinson (physicist), Worked at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE - now QinetiQ) where he researched radar and guided missile weapons technology.
• Thomas Attwood, British economist and campaigner for electoral reform, died in Malvern, on 9 March 1859.
• W. H. Auden, poet and playwright, taught for three years 1930 - 1933 at the Downs School, Colwall.
• David Bilsborough, author of The Wanderer's Tale and A Fire in the North novels that form part of the Annals of Lindormyn series, was born and raised in Malvern
• Charles Darwin's daughter Anne is buried in the graveyard of Malvern Priory.
• Anne Diamond, English television journalist and presenter, grew up in Malvern.
• Edward Elgar, British composer, taught in Great Malvern and much of his work was influenced by the Malvern Hills. Elgar is buried at St. Wulstan's, Little Malvern.
• Julius Harrison (b.1885 d.1963). was a contemporary of Elgar, and Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He was music director at Malvern College and director of the early Elgar Festivals in Malvern. He ived in Pickersleigh Road from most of the 1940s.
• Charles Hastings, founder of the British Medical Association, spent his final years Hastings House, Barnards Green.
• Basil Foster (12 February 1882 - 28 September 1959), an English cricketer who played 34 first-class matches in the early 20th century, was born in Malvern.
• Graeme Hick, famous cricketer, currently resides in the Malvern area, and coaches at the Malvern College.
• Nigel Kennedy, famous British violinist also lived in West Malvern for a while.
• William Langland's allegorical narrative poem Piers Plowman (written ca. 1360–1387) begins on the Malvern Hills.
• C. S. Lewis, novelist, was a pupil at the preparatory school Cherbourg House and the Malvern College.
• Jenny Lind, opera singer, lived and died in Malvern, and is buried in Great Malvern cemetery.
• P. H. Newby CBE, Winner of the first Booker Prize, Managing Director BBC Radio 1975-78, was educated at Hanley Castle Grammar School
• Peter Mark Roget, lexicographer, is buried in the graveyard of St James, West Malvern.
• Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia spent part of his exile in Malvern. He stayed at the Abbey Hotel
• Mary Taylor Slow (b.1898 d.1984) Research fellow at Cambridge and doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1926. She was a Scientific Officer at the Radio Research Station in Slough, Berkshire where she carried out research on the magneto-ionic theory of radio wave propagation. She moved with her husband to Malvern when he was posted to the Air Defence Research and Development Establishment, which became TRE. She also taught at Lawnside School, Malvern
• Jacqui Smith, former British Home Secretary, was born and raised in Malvern.
• Philip Woodward, British mathematician and horologist, one of the chief developers of radar, worked at TRE (where a building was later named for him) and still lives in Great Malvern as of July 2009. In 2009 Dr Woodward was honoured by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Further reading

• Bowden, Mark, et al, (2005) The Malvern Hills - An ancient landscape English Heritage ISBN 1873592825
• Brooks, Alan & Pevsner, Nikolaus; (2007) Worcestershire: The Buildings of England Yale University Press ISBN 030011298X
• Dixey, Mary., Stewart, Duseline. (1996) The wonderfuld world of lawnside Lawnside the history of a Malvern School c.1852-1994 Lawnside Old Girls' Association (Malvern)
• Dolan, John Gilbert (1910) "Malvern." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, New Advent Archive
• Freer-Minshull, Tony (2007) The Foley Family Vol.1, Lulu.com ISBN 1847530168
• Freer-Minshull, Tony (2007)The Foley Family Vol.2, Lulu.com
• Iles, Brian (2005) The Malverns ISBN 0-7524-3667-8
• Poulton-Smith, Anthony (2003) Worcestershire Place Names, The History Press ISBN 9780750933964 ISBN 0750933968
• Smith, Brian (1978) A History of Malvern ISBN 0-904387-313
• Weaver, Cora & Osborne, Bruce (2006) The Illumination of St. Werstan the Martyr ISBN 9781873809679, ISBN 1873809670, EAN 9781873809679
• Weaver, Cora & Osborne, Bruce (1994) Aquae Malvernensis:a history and topography of the springs, spouts, fountains and wells of the Malverns and the development of a public water supply. Malvern : Cora Weaver

External links

Administration

• Malvern Town Council official web site
• Malvern Hills District Council
• Worcestershire County Council

Geography and layout

• Town centre map
• Aerial view
• Early 20th-century photographs of the town

History and culture

• Malvern Museum site 1
• Malvern Museum site 2
• Malvern Festival
• Malvern Theatres
• Malvern Fringe Festival
• Malvern Spa Association

• 

  Barnards Green Cricket Club.

• Barnards Green Cricket Club
• The Malvern transmitting station photo gallery

Education

• Evesham and Malvern Hills College - Adult Education
• The Chase school - state secondary school
• Dyson Perrins school - state secondary school
• Malvern St James - private school
• Malvern College - private school

Tourism

• Official Council tourism information
• Three Counties site- Agricultural shows
• Royal Horticultural Society - Spring Gardening Show

News

• Malvern Gazette Malvern weekly newspaper