|
More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
|
The Malverns
|
|
Several villages and one town (Great Malvern) on the slopes of the Malvern Hills, a granite ridge stretching 14km/9m north and south in Hereford and Worcester (highest point Worcester Beacon, 425m/1395ft). Springs provide very pure water, bottled and widely sold as Malvern water. Great Malvern grew up round a *Benedictine priory of the 11C. The priory church still has its Norman nave, within a *Perpendicular exterior of the 15C; it is known in particular for its stained glass of the 15–16C and for the local 15C tiles set into the choir screen. The healthy reputation of this spa town made it a favourite place for schools, notably two *public schools, Malvern College (1865) and Malvern Girls' College (1893). Between the wars Malvern held an annual theatre festival (from 1929), with a special emphasis on the plays of Bernard *Shaw.
|
|
|
|