Malvern Hills

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Malvern Hills
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Malvern Hills in June, looking north
Country	England, United Kingdom
Counties	Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire
Location	West Midlands, England
Highest point
- location	Worcestershire Beacon
- elevation	425 m (1,394 ft)
Geology	Igneous, Metamorphic, Pre-Cambrian
Plant	Bracken, Gorse, Harebell
Animal	Buzzard, Skylark

For the local government district in Worcestershire, see Malvern Hills (district).

The Malvern Hills are a range of hills in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire. It has been designated by the Countryside Agency as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

1 Geography
2 The Hills
3 History
4 Malvern Hills in cultural life
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Geography

The Malvern Hills are a famous beauty spot, with scenic views over both Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The Hills run north/south for about 13 km (eight miles), in between Great Malvern and the village of Colwall, and overlook the River Severn valley to the east, with the Cotswolds beyond. The highest point of the hills is the Worcestershire Beacon at 425 metres (1395 feet) above sea level (OS Grid reference SO768452), though they give the impression of looking considerably higher. The hills are famous for their natural mineral springs and wells, and were responsible for the development of Great Malvern as a spa in the early 19th century.

June vegetation, shortly after sunrise.

There are two passes through the hills, the Wyche cutting and the A449 road just north of Herefordshire Beacon. The Malvern hills are made of some of the most ancient rock in England, mostly igneous and metamorphic rocks from the late pre-Cambrian, around 600 million years old.

There is a tiny cave near the ridge of the hills called Clutter's Cave (or Giant's Cave or Waum's Cave, after the spring that once lay beneath it).

[edit] The Hills

Location within England

A list of the hills in their order from north to south is shown below.

Hill	Elevation (ft)	Elevation (m)
End Hill	1,079 ft	329 m
Table Hill	1,224 ft	373 m
North Hill	1,303 ft	397 m
Sugarloaf Hill	1,207 ft	368 m
Worcestershire Beacon	1,395 ft	425 m
Summer Hill	1,253 ft	382 m
Perseverance Hill	1,066 ft	325 m
Jubilee Hill	1,073 ft	327 m
Pinnacle Hill	1,174 ft	358 m
Black Hill (north)	1,011 ft	308 m
Black Hill (south)	886 ft	270 m
Herefordshire Beacon (British Camp)	1,109 ft	338 m
Millennium Hill	1,073 ft	327 m
Broad Down	958 ft	292 m
Hangman's Hill	906 ft	276 m
Swinyard Hill	889 ft	271 m
Midsummer Hill	932 ft	284 m
Hollybush Hill	794 ft	242 m
Raggedstone Hill (east top)	820 ft	250 m
Raggedstone Hill (west top)	833 ft	254 m
Chase End Hill	625 ft	191 m

A good panorama of the length of the hills can be seen from the M5 Motorway, particularly between Junction 7 Worcester (south) and Junction 9 Tewkesbury . See [2].

[edit] History

The name Malvern is of Brythonic origin and probably derives from moel fryn meaning 'bald hill'. The summits of the hills were excellent defensive points. The Herefordshire Beacon is known as the British Camp, as the remains of a large Iron Age hill fort can be found at the summit. In the middle ages the hills were within the Royal forest where deer would be hunted. Monks at Great Malvern Priory first bottled the spring water at Holy Well.

Traditionally the line down the spine of the hills has formed the county boundary between Herefordshire and Worcestershire. In 1884 the Malvern Hills Conservators were established through act of Parliament to preserve the natural aspect of the hills and protect them from encroachments. However by this time large-scale quarrying had already begun. Quarry works were set in motion in the 1870s at Tank Quarry and at Little Malvern by Pyx Granite Company. The Hills Conservators lobbied parliament to pass an act limiting the exploitation and although a second act was passed in 1924 its provisions were largely ineffectual. Quarrying continued until 1966. The landscape itself was irreparably defaced ^[1] ; but there is some debate whether this has enriched or damaged the ecology of the Hills^{[citation needed]}. Certainly the quarrying has changed the Hills forever, but it has also created habitats for (amongst others) frogs, toads, newts and other small animals. The created cliffs provide nesting sites for falcons and many other birds. Some parts are used for personality development for children, especially deprived children, and abseiling and rock climbing courses are offered. The quarries, especially North Quarry and Tank Quarry are a favourite place for local teenagers to be rescued from.

[edit] Malvern Hills in cultural life

English writer J. R. R. Tolkien author of the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit often walked on the hills.

The Malvern Hills were the inspiration and setting for the famous 14th Century poem The Visions of Piers Plowman by William Langland.

English composer Edward Elgar, who was from the area, often walked, cycled, and reportedly flew kites on these hills. He wrote a cantata in 1898 entitled Caractacus, which employs the popular legend of his last stand at British Camp. In 1934, during the composer's final illness, he told a friend: "If ever after I'm dead you hear someone whistling this tune [the opening theme of his cello concerto] on the Malvern Hills, don't be alarmed. It's only me."

The poet W. H. Auden taught for three years at the Downs School, Colwall, in the Malvern Hills. He spent three years at the school in the 1930s and wrote some of his finest early love poems there, including: This Lunar Beauty; Let Your Sleeping Head; My Love, Fish in the Unruffled Lakes; and Out on the Lawn I Lie in Bed. He also wrote a long poem about the hills and their views, called simply The Malverns.