On the surface, Malvern appears to be the quintessential Victorian spa town. Capitalising on the craze for water treatments sweeping Europe ever since the original spa town of Spa became popular with European royalty, the health giving qualities of its water had been luring sickly Europeans to Malvern for several decades. Things really took off in 1842, when Doctors James Wilson and James Gully established a water cure business in the town.
Soon after, J Schweppe & Co., the company founded by German entrepreneur and pioneer of fizzy water, Johann Jacob Schweppe, brought sparkling Malvern water to the Great Exhibition of London in 1851. Schweppes already had royal approval, and this was a boost for the town. It also helped that luminaries such as Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin (who brought his sick daughter Anne here in 1851) came to ‘take the waters’.
Alongside homeopathy and clairvoyance, which Gully also promoted, water treatments offered in Malvern were little more than pseudoscience. But, in an era when doctors administered arsenic, lead and mercury to ill people, ineffective water treatments seem relatively benign. At least drinking the stuff was safe and hydrating. History in Malvern goes back a long way before it was put on the map by the quality of its water though.
Walking in the Malvern Hills, formed from the igneous rock through which rainwater filters before bubbling up at various wells around the area, the traces of a more ancient history are clearly visible at the Iron Age hill fort known as British Camp. The Malvern Hills dominate the surrounding countryside, a vast plain that stretches for miles across Worcestershire and Herefordshire. There has been a fort here since at least 1000 BC.
Legend has it that the final capitulation to the Romans of the ancient British chieftain, Caractacus, in 50 AD took place on the huge earthworks of British Camp. On the top of the Malvern Hills it’s easy to see why they were so strategically important. The views seem to go on forever. One of the great pleasures of Malvern is a walk in the hills followed by a visit to one of the finest pubs in the area, The Nags Head.
Between ancient history and Victoriana, there’s a lot of other history in Malvern. Slap bang in the centre of the town is Malvern Priory, the surviving part of an 11th-century Benedictine Monastery that formed the heart of medieval Malvern. The monastery fell foul of Henry VIII’s decision to part ways with the Pope, it’s land sold off in 1539 and many of its buildings destroyed. What remains is still a spectacular sight in the centre of the town.
Today, Malvern is a pleasant place filled mostly with octogenarians, some of whom may well have been here at the time Wilson and Gully were administering their water treatments. It was the start point of a week-long trip to the UK to visit family and friends. I was staying at a B&B, but upon arrival I found my booking of a double room with garden views had been cancelled without so much as a by your leave from the aged landlady.
The room was occupied by an elderly gentleman from overseas. He’d arrived a few days earlier and intended to stay for five whole weeks. I assumed he was here to take the Malvern waters, yet judging by the empty gin bottles Malvern water wasn’t the only liquid being consumed. His long suffering nurse was occupying the B&B’s other room, so I was banished to a sofa bed under the rafters in the attic.
Despite these setbacks, a spell of good weather allowed me to enjoy the delights of the Malvern Hills and The Nags Head. I just hope the B&B has sorted out its bookings policy before my next visit.
AS A Malvern resident I was delighted to know that you have visited and enjoyed our very special town.
There are a few important things about the town which you didn’t see and I hope you will on your return visit.
One of them being the scientific Centre where Radar was developed. Many of the Octogenarians you refer to are part of a very large community of scientists who settled for research work here in the 1960’s and 70’s and brought up their families in Malvern.
Although it is a fact that many elderly people have also come to live their retirement years in Malvern, the majority of the population is made up of young families.
Another very important aspect of this town has been its schools.
In it’s peak time there were over 60 Schools in Malvern and many children were sent here from the U.K. and abroad as boarding students. At the moment there are two of these bearding schools in the town. Beautiful buildings. Plus many other primary and secondary schools serving the population.
The Malvern stone grand houses and the way in which the town was planned out is also very interesting.
We also hope that on your return the disastrous experience which you had with the B&B will be repaired and you will enjoy a more welcoming B&B accommodation!
I must confess that my tongue was firmly in my cheek when writing this post. I have been coming to Malvern for many years and am very fond of the town, especially The Nags Head. The ‘B&B’ is fictional, the aged retainer running it is, alas, my mother-in-law. I suspect a little leg pulling is not going to improve my chances of an upgrade on my next visit.
I was unaware you could visit the science centre. Thank you for the tip, I shall make the effort next time.
To be honest, I am not sure whether one can visit The science centre. I will find out for you.
We live in central Malvern and the next time you come to Malvern, you would be very welcome to drop in for a cup of tea. We would love to meet you.
That is very generous of you, thank you. I shall take you up on your offer of tea when I’m next in Malvern.
Elderly landlady and elderly guest? Is that Janet and Uncle Charlie?
Names were changed to protect the innocent
[insert suitable emoji]
Very interesting place and the size and architecture of the school has me suspecting that it has been repurposed from something else. I’ve seen similar buildings in my travels around Australia. Michelle Gibson has an interesting site on WP looking at history through a different perspective 😀
I think it was originally a Victorian era boys school and they actually built it like that. One of the photos of the school is of the school chapel. It does look a lot like a medieval church though.