History of Malvern
The Malvern Hills are around 600 million years old, they run North-South for about 9 miles and are made up of mainly of Granite and Gniess. Their beauty and grandeur have inspired many musicians and poets over the centuries, the most famous of whom is Sir Edward Elgar. They were also the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkein’s “Misty Mountains” in his children’s classic “The Hobbit”. The name Malvern comes from the Celtic Moel-bryn meaning bare hill.
There have been settlements on and around the hills for thousands of years, with the remains of an Iron Age fort, named “British Camp”, having been found at the Herefordshire beacon. The Romans, Anglo Saxons, Danes and Normans have all inhabited the area at various times throughout history.
Apart from the hills and their views Malvern is most famous for its water with Dr. James Gully making “Water Cure” popular in the early 19th century. Mr. Schweppes secured the fame of Malvern Water by presenting a bottle of it to Queen Victoria at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The town of Great Malvern grew up around the 11th century Priory that was built on land owned by Westminster Abbey. As “taking the waters” increased in popularity in the mid-19th century bath-houses, hotels and houses were built to cater for the influx of people. This development has left Malvern with a legacy of spectacular Victorian architecture.
Other settlements in the area have become the towns of Malvern Link, Malvern Wells (where Sir Edward Elgar is buried in St. Wulstan’s Church), West Malvern and Little Malvern.
If you would like to find more detailed information about the history of Malvern and the surrounding area visit any of the sites listed below.