Malvern Hills

The Malvern Hills rise abruptly out of the Severn plain, a long narrow ridge of ancient rock with almost nothing else like it for miles around, and the spa town built against their eastern slopes takes its character directly from them.

Great Malvern grew up in the nineteenth century as a fashionable spa destination, built on the reputation of the natural springs that rise in the hills — "Malvern water" was bottled and sold widely, and is still associated with the town today. Great Malvern Priory, a former Benedictine church at the centre of the town, survived the Dissolution as the parish church and retains an outstanding set of medieval stained glass and decorated floor tiles. The hills above the town are open access land, walked for their ridge paths and wide views over Herefordshire and Worcestershire alike, with the ancient earthworks of British Camp, an Iron Age hillfort on the Herefordshire Beacon, among their best-known features.

The composer Edward Elgar grew up and lived in the countryside around Malvern for much of his life, and the hills are often cited as an influence on his music, including the Enigma Variations. He is buried at Little Malvern, a short distance south of the main town, and the connection between Elgar and this landscape remains one of the things the area is best known for.

Where to Stay in the Malvern Hills

• 
  The Great Malvern Hotel
• 
  The Abbey Hotel
• 
  The Foley Arms Hotel
• The Malvern
• 
  The Malvern Hills Hotel

Getting around

Great Malvern has its own railway station on the line between Worcester and Hereford, right at the foot of the hills, which makes it an easy base without a car. The hills themselves are best explored on foot — paths run the length of the ridge, and several roads cross it at lower points if you'd rather drive between the towns on either side.