Great Malvern
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Map sources for Great Malvern at grid reference SO786459
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Great Malvern is a town in Worcestershire, England, positioned at the foot, and partly on the sides, of the Malvern Hills.
Great Malvern is part of Malvern, Worcestershire; other parts include Barnards Green, Little Malvern, Malvern Link, Malvern Wells, North Malvern, and West Malvern.
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[edit] Town centre
The Malvern Hills give the town a steep incline, which makes getting around the town centre relatively tricky. At the heart of the town is a statue of Edward Elgar, who lived in and loved the town. Among the many shops are two supermarkets (Waitrose and Somerfield, 20 meters (66 feet) apart), a W H Smith bookshop, a Woolworths department store, Severn Office Supplies, Brays (clothing), and a Public Library. Along the line from Worcester to Hereford is the Victorian Great Malvern railway station, whose waiting room has been converted to a traditional tearoom. Malvern Theatres is the town's local theatre, and hosts a wide range of plays, films, and concerts. George Bernard Shaw co-founded the original theatre, in Great Malvern. The Splash Leisure Complex has a swimming pool and gymnasium. The town regularly hosts arts festivals.
[edit] Health
Malvern has a hospital, which dates from the early 20th century, replacing an earlier hospital off Newtown Road. It could be described as a cottage hospital. Many in-patients are elderly, recuperating before discharge. Consultants from Worcester Royal Hospital hold clinics there. In 2006, the future of this hospital is uncertain. There are plans to build a new hospital for Malvern, but no final decision has been made. The need for a new hospital has been discussed in Parliament.
[edit] Location
Ordnance Survey grid reference SO786459. Latitude: N52:06:42 , Longitude W002:18:46.
Great Malvern is approximately 13 kilometres (8 miles) south-west of the city of Worcester, on the eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills. The altitude of the town ranges from about 50 to 200 meters (164 to 656 feet). The River Severn runs roughly north-south about 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) to the east of the town.
[edit] Education
Education is one of the largest fields of employment in Great Malvern, which is home to several private schools, two state secondary schools, and the adult-education Malvern Hills College. The best-known private schools are Malvern College and Malvern St James.
The Chase Technology College is the largest secondary school in the town, with 1,700 pupils. Dyson Perrins school, in Malvern Link, has about 900 students.
[edit] Showground
The Three Counties Showground, south of the town, is the venue for the famous Three Counties Show and the Spring Gardening Show, and hosts many other events throughout the year.
[edit] Fringe Festival
Great Malvern is the home of one of the oldest Fringe festivals in the world. [1] The main events of the Malvern Fringe are the MayDay and the annual three day festival held in June as a fringe to the Elgar Festival. These are accompanied by musical and other live events throughout the year.
[edit] History
Great Malvern developed around an 11th-century priory, the remains of which make up much of Great Malvern Priory, now a large parish church.
The town remained small until the 1800s, when the taking of water in Malvern came into fashion. By the middle of the 19th century, there were many hotels, bath houses, and other establishments catering to the visitor. The Malvern water became famous for containing "nothing at all".
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many private schools were established in Great Malvern; only two private secondary schools now remain.
[edit] External links
[edit] Geography and layout
[edit] History and culture
[edit] Education
[edit] Tourism
- Three Counties site
- Royal Horticultural Society (responsible for the Spring Gardening Show)
- Tourism information
[edit] Health
- Malvern Hospital (NHS site)
- Hospital Bank site redevelopment (2001 newspaper article)
[edit] News
- Malvern Gazette Local Malvern weekly newspaper
| Areas of Malvern, Worcestershire |
|---|
| Great Malvern | Malvern Link | West Malvern | Malvern Wells | Little Malvern | Barnards Green | North Malvern |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Wikipedia Fringe theatre.
