Great Malvern
|
View over Great Malvern at sunrise |
Great Malvern is a town in
Worcestershire,
England, positioned at the foot, and partly on the sides, of the
Malvern Hills.
Great Malvern is part of
Malvern, Worcestershire; other parts include
Barnards Green,
Little Malvern,
Malvern Link,
Malvern Wells,
North Malvern, and
West Malvern.
The Malvern Hills give the town a steep incline, which makes getting around the town centre relatively tricky. At the heart of the town is a statue of
Edward Elgar, who lived in and loved the town. Among the many shops are two
supermarkets (
Waitrose and
Somerfield, 20
meters (66
feet) apart), a
W H Smith bookshop, a
Woolworths department store, Severn Office Supplies, Brays (clothing), and a
Public Library. Along the line from
Worcester to
Hereford is a Victorian railway station, whose waiting room has been converted to a traditional tearoom. Malvern Theatres is the town's local
theatre, and hosts a wide range of plays, films, and concerts.
George Bernard Shaw co-founded the original theatre, in Great Malvern. The Splash Leisure Complex has a swimming pool and gymnasium. The town regularly hosts arts festivals.
Malvern has a hospital, which dates from the early 20th century, replacing an earlier hospital off Newtown Road. It could be described as a cottage hospital. Many in-patients are elderly, recuperating before discharge. Consultants from
Worcester Royal Hospital hold clinics there. In 2006, the future of this hospital is uncertain. There are plans to build a new hospital for Malvern, but no final decision has been made. The need for a new hospital has been discussed in Parliament.
Ordnance Survey . Latitude: N52:06:42 , Longitude W002:18:46.
Great Malvern is approximately 12.9
kilometers (8
miles) south-west of the city of
Worcester, on the eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills. The altitude of the town ranges from about 50 to 200 meters (164 to 656 feet). The
River Severn runs roughly north-south about 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) to the east of the town.
Education is one of the largest fields of employment in Great Malvern, which is home to several private schools, two state
secondary schools, and the adult-education Malvern Hills College. The best-known private schools are
Malvern College and
Malvern Girls' College.
The Chase Technology College is the largest secondary school in the town, with 1,700 pupils.
Dyson Perrins school, in
Malvern Link, has about 900 students.
The
Three Counties Showground, south of the town, is the venue for the famous
Three Counties Show and the Spring Gardening Show, and hosts many other events throughout the year.
Great Malvern developed around an
11th-century priory, the remains of which now are largely part of
Great Malvern Priory, now a large
parish church.
The town remained very small until the
1800s, when the taking of water in Malvern came into fashion. By the middle of the
19th century, there were many hotels, bath houses, and other establishments catering to the visitor. The Malvern water became famous for containing "nothing at all".
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many private schools were established in Great Malvern; only two private secondary schools now remain.
Geography and layout
*
Town centre map*
Aerial view*
Early 20th-century photographs of the townHistory and culture
*
Great Malvern Priory*
Malvern festival*
Malvern Theatres*
Malvern LibraryEducation
*
Evesham and Malvern Hills College*
The Chase school*
Dyson Perrins schoolTourism
*
Three Counties site*
Royal Horticultural Society (responsible for the Spring Gardening Show)
*
Tourism informationLocal groups and sports
*
Malvern Hills Freecycle Group*
Malvern Ladies FCHealth
*
Malvern Hospital (NHS site)*
Hospital Bank site redevelopment (2001 newspaper article)
