WELCOME TO GREAT MALVERN

The Pretty Spa Town of Great Malvern and
The Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.


Malvern Welcomes Visitors From Around The World To
Its Hotels, B & B's, Holiday Cottages, Restaurants,
Pubs, Shops, Galleries, Schools, And Other Attractions.

Malvern has so much to offer visitors, from walking the beautiful hills, to shopping in the pretty town, and visiting the local theatre, Morgan car factory, stately homes & gardens, Three Counties showground or many other attractions. Malvern's location also makes it an ideal base for touring and is within easy reach of such places as Worcester with its Cathedral and Porcelain Factory, Warwick with the finest medieval castle in England, Cheltenham Spa Town and Racecourse and so much more.

Great Malvern and the surrounding area offer a wealth of accommodation ranging from Bed & Breakfast to Country House Hotels. A wide choice of Holiday Cottages are available for rental and there are also various Caravan and Camping facilities. Great Malvern has an excellent selections of shops from Antiques & Paintings to Chocolates, Food & Wine, Books and Clothes. There are shops here to supply all your needs.

Malvern prospered owing to the development of its hydrotherapy treatment in the late 18th century. Visitors such as Queen Victoria and many others flocked to the spa town. Malvern Priory Church dates back to the 11th century. Amidst classic Victorian buildings its great Gothic Tower rises to 124 feet. Inside the huge columns and arches, were built when William of Normandy was on the throne, over nine hundred years ago. You can take a guided tour to find out more about the Church. The Malvern Museum is housed in the Abbey Gateway.

Malvern's most famous son is Sir Edward Elgar. He was the most significant British composer of his time. His career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and is remarkable for producing some of the best-loved works of the English repertoire. Deeply inspired by England’s countryside and culture he also absorbed what was going on in Europe, writing dazzling choral and orchestral works as well as chamber, instrumental and keyboard music. He was born in Broadheath, a few miles away, but lived and worked in Malvern for most of his life and is buried at St. Wulstan's Church in Little Malvern.

The performing arts are an important part of Malvern life; there are all year round programmes at the Winter Gardens Complex. Malvern is also home to the world class English String and English Symphony Orchestras, the ESO and principal conductor William Boughton, enjoy international acclaim as the leading performers of English music and still give local recitals.

Since 1909 Morgan Cars have been built in Malvern, they are in great demand among enthusiasts from almost every part of the world. Visitors can telephone the factory and arrange for a tour, to see unique sports cars still being made by hand.

The name Malvern comes from the Celtic Moel-bryn, meaning ‘bare hill’. The Malvern Hills divide the Counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire with the rolling hills and fields of Herefordshire to the West and the flatter plains of the Severn Valley to the East. Although now protected, our ancestors were not so caring and exploited the stone in the hills. As a result there are a number of old quarries dotted around the hills, all of which are now well weathered and form an integral part of the overall landscape. Quarrying was still going on at Gullet Quarry near Castlemorton Common 30 years ago and scars of the quarrying are still visible.

The highest point on the Hills is the Worcestershire Beacon (425m) with North Hill (397m) and the British Camp Hill (Herefordshire Beacon - 338m) the other highest points. The entire length of the Hills are open to the public and are criss-crossed with about 160km (100 miles) of bridleways and footpaths. Dogs are allowed on the hills and can be let off lead so long as they are well behaved. Cycling is allowed on bridleways only.

Malvern water is famous throughout the world. The Queen drinks it and people still travel many miles to collect water from the springs on the hills.

Holy Well and St Ann’s Well
Many wells, springs and spouts can still be found on the hillside but Holy Well, above Malvern Wells was the most popular hill spring during the 18th century before people began to flock to St Ann’s Well, which was closer to the bath houses and water cure establishments of Great Malvern. Visit St Ann’s Well to sample the waters. Opening Times Daily until Dusk

Another Interesting Note:
C.S. Lewis, was a pupil at Malvern College for a year just before the First World War, and then moved on to study at University College, Oxford, and later was a lecturer at Oxford's Magdalen College for almost 30 years. Whilst in Oxford he was a member of a literary circle of friends, who included J.R.R. Tolkien amongst others. He also taught a student called George Sayer who went on to teach at Malvern College for 30 years. Lewis and Tolkein stayed good friends with George Sayer, and the three used 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'.

Site Info

Google Map of Malvern

Travel Links

Travel Information
ROAD - Malvern is within easy reach of the Motorway Network via Junction 7 off the M5 giving access to a multitude of destinations including Birmingham City - Birmingham International & London Airports, Bristol & Cardiff.
RAIL - Great Malvern station is served by high speed mainline trains to London Paddington, Birmingham and beyond. There are regular services to Worcester, Hereford and other local stations.
BUS - Local bus services provide excellent connections to Worcester, Upton upon Severn, Ledbury, Hereford & Birmingham.

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