Malvern, Worcestershire

Malvern
Malvern
Population	Expression error: "28,749 (2001 Census)" must be numeric
OS grid reference	SO786459
• London	121.3m
Civil parish	Malvern;
District	Malvern Hills;
Shire county	Worcestershire;
Region	West Midlands;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Worcester
Postcode district	WR14
Dialling code	01684
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire;
	List of places UK England Worcestershire

Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England . It includes the settlements of Great Malvern (with Barnards Green and Poolbrook), Malvern Link (with Link Top), Malvern Wells, West Malvern, Little Malvern and North Malvern. Most of these urban centres are separated by vast tracts of open common land. The civil parish has a population of 28,749 (2001 census). Great Malvern on the eastern flank of the Malvern Hills and on the western perimeter of The Malverns is the main urban centre.

Malvern is in the area governed by Malvern Hills District Council and lies adjacent to the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The MHDC also governs several neighbouring towns and a great many villages.

The medieval poem Piers Plowman begins on the Malvern hillside. Starting from the Middle Ages, Malvern was the site of a Benedictine monastery which first arose in 1085 from a hermitage endowed by Edward the Confessor, of which, beside Malvern Priory church, part survives as Malvern Museum. This building dates back to about 1470. Back in the 12th Century Walcher (the second Prior of Malvern) was a notable astronomer and mathematician - his gravestone inside the priory church records this fact.

The name Malvern probably comes from the ancient British language meaning 'Bare-Hill', the nearest modern equivalent being the Welsh 'Moelfryn'. Ancient legends have it that the British chieftain Caractacus took his last stand against the Romans on the Malvern Hills, but this has been disputed in modern times.

Malvern is a famous spa, known for its bottled water since 1622. Dr. James Manby Gully made the "water cure" popular in the early 19th century. Several hotels in Great Malvern date from the hey-day of Malvern as a residential spa.

During World War II, Malvern was the location to which the UK government was partially evacuated in case of need. During this time, it also became the home of Telecommunications Research Establishment, renowned for its role in the history of radar. It has been said that World War II was won on the playing fields of Malvern, home of the cavity magnetron. The site of TRE still exists in Malvern, but due to shifts in scientific focus, its name has undergone several changes including ERE, RRE (Royal Radar Establishment), and finally RSRE when it was privatised in 2001 to become QinetiQ, a world leader in electronicss and telecommunications research - and is still the major source of local employment.

C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien used to 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". And so it did. ^{[citation needed]}

The Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, spent some of his exile here, in the Abbey Hotel. The Three Counties Showground near Malvern hosts an annual agricultural show in June, and regular Royal Horticultural Society Gardening Shows. Malvern is home to two famous public schools, Malvern College and Malvern Girls College now renamed Malvern St James after its 2006 merger with St James's School. Jeremy Paxman, Denholm Elliott, Barbara Cartland and Aleister Crowley went to school here.

There is an Elgar Trail around Malvern and the surrounding area. A statue of Elgar stands gazing over the town from Belle Vue terrace, and several roads in the town are named after him.

Malvern is also the home of one of the world's longest existing private constructors of series built automobiles. The Morgan Motor Car is a traditional sports roadster and over the years has become a 'cult' vehicle, exported all over the world.

Malvern is the largest town in the parliamentary constituency of West Worcestershire. As of May 2005 it is represented by Sir Michael Spicer. The Chicken Stock Festival is held in Malvern.

Famous people

Thomas Attwood, British economist and campaigner for electoral reform, died in Malvern, on 9th March 1859.
Charles Darwin's daughter is buried in the graveyard of Malvern Priory.
British composer Edward Elgar taught in Great Malvern and much of his work was influenced by the Malvern Hills. Elgar is buried at St. Wulstan's, Little Malvern.
Graeme Hick currently resides in the Malvern area
Famous British violinist Nigel Kennedy also lived in (West) Malvern for a while.
C. S. Lewis, Pupil at Malvern College.
Jenny Lind in Great Malvern Cemetery.
Peter Roget is buried, interred, commemorated, committed to stone in the graveyard of St James, West Malvern.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was born and raised in Malvern.
Philip Woodward, British mathematician and horologist, one of the developers of radar, worked at TRE (where a building was later named for him) and still lives in Great Malvern as of March 2007.