The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit, known as the Worcestershire Beacon, affords a panorama of the Severn Valley, the hills of Herefordshire and the Welsh mountains, parts of thirteen counties, the Bristol Channel, and the cathedrals of Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford.

They are known for their spring water – initially from holy wells, and later the spa town of Great Malvern, which led to the production of the modern bottled drinking water.

In 1884, the Malvern Hills Conservators were established through an Act of Parliament to preserve the natural aspect of the hills and protect them from encroachments. They are a voluntary body of twenty-nine members. Eleven are directly elected under the Local Elections (Principal areas) Rules by the residents of the wards who contribute to the Conservators' funds through a levy in their Council Tax, seventeen are appointed by local authorities and one by the Church Commissioners. This official visitor centre gives more information on interactive iPads about the geology, nature and history of the Geopark and the Malvern hills and Malvern in particular, as well as large wall maps of the area.

Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark

The Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark was launched in 2004. The route passes east and south of Malvern on the Worcestershire side of the hills, crosses the range through the Colwall Tunnels, and emerges heading west on the Herefordshire side. The first tunnel was opened in 1861 after a difficult excavation through some of the hardest rock in Great Britain - following advances in machinery development, it was closed and replaced with a wider, less steep tunnel in 1926, which remains in use today. it is also used by a colony of lesser horseshoe bats to hibernate in winter, and is a designated part of the Malvern Hills SSSI.

Today, the AONB has four railway stations inside or very close to its boundary: Malvern Link and Great Malvern to the east, and Colwall (just beyond the tunnel) and Ledbury to the west. Services operate between via Worcester Shrub Hill and Worcester Foregate Street to . Direct trains to the area are available from Birmingham Snow Hill or Birmingham New Street and London Paddington.

Literature

The Malvern Hills were the inspiration and setting for the famous 14th-century poem The Visions of Piers Plowman (1362) by William Langland, who was possibly educated at the priory of Great Malvern.

Art

Paintings of the Malvern Hills include Henry Harris Lines's The British Camp and Herefordshire Beacon (1872), now in the Worcester City Museums.

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designations/aonb/default.aspx

  • Malvern Hills Conservators
  • Walking the Malverns
  • Malvern Hills AONB Website
  • Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark
  • Malvern Hills Trail
  • Geology of the Malvern Hills
  • Google Map of the springs and fountains of the Malvern Hills
  • Natural England (SSSI general information)