21 Church Street, Malvern - 01684 892289 info@visitthemalverns.org

In Domesday, Malferna, named after the Malvern Hills. From Old English moel (bare or bald) and bryn (hill).

Great Malvern is approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) 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) above sea level. The River Severn runs roughly north-south about 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi) to the east of the town.

The Malvern Hills give the town a steep incline which can make moving around the town centre relatively difficult, particularly Church Street, one of the two main streets, and its parallel road Edith Walk, formerly a quiet unpaved lane that now provides access to car parks and the town centre's two large supermarkets. The other main street is the perpendicular Bellevue Terrace, a relatively flat extension of the Worcester Road (A449).

At the heart of the town is a statue of Edward Elgar the composer, who lived in the town. Among the many shops are three supermarkets Waitrose, Iceland and Somerfield, 20 meters (66 ft) apart), a W H Smith bookshop, Severn Office Supplies, Brays (clothing) a family-owned English men's outfitter established in 1895 and probably the town's oldest surviving retail business. Woolworths department store, for almost a century a flagship of the British high street scene, and Malvern's longest existing shop in Church Street finally closed for business on 6 January 2009 due to the 2008 global economic crisis.

In the town is also an extensive Public Library that includes access to many community services. Since the construction of the two large supermarkets in the town centre and other parts of Malvern, most of the traditional shops in the town are now tea-rooms, health food shops, specialist cafés and snack bars, banks, building societies, second-hand book shops, charity shops, law firms and solicitors offices, and a large number of estate agents.

Along the railway line from Worcester to Hereford is the Victorian Great Malvern railway station, whose waiting room has been converted to a traditional tearoom. The station is a listed building and is a superb existing example of Victorian railway architecture. It has a private pedestrian tunnel (now derelict) built specially for the guests of the nearby Imperial Hotel which was the town's largest during its heyday as a spa town and resort. In 1893 the building which housed the hotel became the Malvern Girls' College now called Malvern St James School.