Malvern Wells

Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. The parish of Malvern Wells, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland, and the former parish of Great Malvern, and owes its development to Malvern's 19th century boom years as a spa town.


It lies on the eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills south of Great Malvern (the town centre of Malvern) and takes its name from the Malvern Water issuing from springs on the hills, principally from the Holy Well and the Eye Well. Its northern end also includes the Wyche Cutting, the historic salt route pass through the hills forming the border between the counties of Herefordshire  on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the village of Upper Colwall and the Worcestershire side in the east. The actual cutting through the granite hill face is at a height of 856 feet above sea level.


In 1558 Queen Elizabeth I granted the land to John Hornyold, lord of the manor, under the premise that any pilgrim or traveller should be able to draw rest and refreshment from the Holy Well. This covenant still stands today. 1622 is the first record of spring water ever being bottled in the UK. This took place at the Holy Well which later became the site where Malvern Water was first drawn for sale by the Schweppes  Company at the Great Exhibition of 1851.


All Saints, the parish church, was built by a local builder, William Porter, to a design by Troyte Griffith - a friend of Edward Elgar who is depicted in the "Enigma Variations". The church was consecrated on 19 November 1903. There is evidence to suggest  that Elgar composed part of the "Enigma Variations" in the church, but his offer of the original manuscript of his oratorio "The Apostles", as a gift to the church, was refused by the Anglican church authorities because Elgar was a Roman Catholic and the oratorio was heavily based in that tradition. Next to the church is the Wyche School; "Land of Hope and Glory", set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, was first performed here in the presence of Elgar. In later life Elgar came to dislike the nationalistic overtones which became associated with the setting.


Primary education in the parish is provided by Malvern Wells Church of England School and the Wyche Church of England School that feed the two Malvern secondary schools of The Chase in Barnards Green, and Dyson Perrins in Malvern Link.


Source: Wikipedia