Little Malvern

Little Malvern is a small village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is situated on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills, south of Malvern Wells, near Great Malvern, the major centre of the area often referred to as The Malverns. Little Malvern shares a parish council with Welland, with 2 of the 11 councillors.^[1]

Little Malvern
Little Malvern Court
Little Malvern Location within Worcestershire
OS grid reference	SO770403
Civil parish	Little Malvern
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MALVERN
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 52.06178°N 2.33713°W / 52.06178; -2.33713

Etymology

The name Malvern is first attested in a charter of around 1030, as Mælfern, and then in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Malferna. The name derives from the Common Brittonic words that survive in modern Welsh as moel ("bare") and bryn ("hill"); thus it once meant "bare hill". The name perhaps applied originally to the hill now called Worcester Beacon, after which Great Malvern and Little Malvern were then named. Additions corresponding to the Little part of Little Malvern, made to distinguish the settlement from Great Malvern, are first attested in 1232 and 1275, using the Latin words parve and minor and the French word petite.^{[2][3]: 341}

History and features

See also: History of Worcestershire

The village contains a Romanesque church called Little Malvern Priory, after a Benedictine monastery that existed on the site c.1171-1537. Next to the church is the historic house, Little Malvern Court, home to the Berington family for over four centuries. The gardens of Little Malvern court are occasionally open to the public.^[4]

According to a book published in 1848,^[5] an important find of brass Roman coins was unexpectedly made in 1847 in Little Malvern by a Mr Commissioner Mayne and his sons who were out walking in search of geological items of interest.

Transport

The nearest railway station is Colwall, however Great Malvern is more typically more direct to reach; both are on the same line.

Notable people

Rear Admiral Basil Place VC, recipient of the Victoria Cross, was born in Little Malvern.

The composer Edward Elgar and his wife Alice are buried at St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Church, and singer Jenny Lind lived at Wynd's Point, behind the priory, during her final years.