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Bed And Breakfast In Malvern
 Welcome to The Old Rectory Bed and Breakfast, Cradley, Malvern, we are pleased to offer luxurious Bed and Breakfast and evening meals. Our magnificent listed Georgian property is set in the idillic village of Cradley and nestles at the foot of the Malvern Hills in an area of outstanding natural beauty and is considered one of the finest Old Rectories in this part of the county. Beautifully furnished bedrooms enjoy a mix of antique and modern furniture. Tea and coffee making equipment is supplied along with crisp sheets, fluffy towels and high quality toiletries. We have en suite double rooms and also a family suite comprising of two bedrooms, bathroom and lounge / dining area. The family suite is also available for self catering holidays if required. Good food is a very high priority at The Old Rectory Bed and Breakfast. We pride ourselves in using organic producers from the Malvern area where possible and of course guests can enjoy the harvests from our own vegetable and herb gardens. The Old Rectory itself nestles at the foot of the Malvern Hills in the village of Cradley. It is an area of natural beauty and is a conservation area. There couldn't be a more ideal base for those who wish to explore the many outstanding walks and places to visit in the surrounding area The Old Rectory Bed and Breakfast are open all year so come and stay for a while at Easter or for a very special treat at Christmas.
 Spoil yourself with Bed & Breakfast in our blissfully comfortable en-suite bedrooms or enjoy a Self Catering holiday in one of our three delightful Holiday Homes surrounding the cobbled courtyard, all beautifully converted from the former servants’ quarters . The Dell House is a former Rectory. Built in the grand style in the Regency period, this beautiful house nestles in two hillside acres of naturalised wooded grounds on the sheltered eastern slopes of The Malvern Hills. There are spectacular views from the house and grounds across the Severn Valley to the Cotswold Hills. Broadband internet access is available through the WiFi network in the main house. We have private parking and all accommodation is non-smoking. This beautiful old house has wonderful views and elegantly proportioned rooms with decorative plasterwork and marble fireplaces where open fires are lit on chilly days. Guests return time & time again to enjoy the wonderful restorative atmosphere in this oasis of peace and quiet - “a charming place of comfort and healing”.
We are very proud of our Highly Commended Supreme Achievement Award from The AA, which places us in the top 10% of their Four Star B&Bs nationwide and earned us a place in their “Britain’s Best B&B Collection” since 2004.
Telephone: 01684 892332
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More Information About Malvern
Malvern is an urban area in Worcestershire, England. At its core is the civil parish governed by Malvern Town Council that includes the shopping and commercial centre of historical Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former urban district of Malvern Link with which it merged in 1900 to form a single town council. The major settlements are separated by large tracts of open common land and fields, and together with smaller civil parishes adjoining the town council boundaries, and the hills, the area is often referred to collectively as The Malverns. Archaeological evidence suggests that Bronze Age people had settled in the area around 1000 BC, although it is not known whether these settlements were permanent or temporary, and the area is marked by the remains of Iron Age civilisation and Roman activity. The town itself was founded in the 11th century when Benedictine monks established a priory at the foot of the highest peak in the range of Malvern Hills. During the 19th century Malvern developed rapidly from a village to a sprawling conurbation due its popularity as a hydrotherapy spa based on its spring waters. Immediately following the decline of the spa tourism towards the end of the 19th century, the town's focus shifted to education with the establishment of several private boarding schools in former hotels and large villas. A further major expansion took place from 1942 during World War II when several thousand scientists engaged in secret defence research were relocated from the south coast to the inland town for safety. Malvern is the largest urban development in the parliamentary constituency of West Worcestershire and according to the 2001 United Kingdom Census the civil parish had a population of 28,749. Malvern is also the administrative seat of the area governed by Malvern Hills District Council (MHDC) and lies adjacent to the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Town centre The town centre comprises two main streets, the steep Church Street and the perpendicular Bellevue Terrace, a relatively flat north-south extension of the (A449). In the heart of the town is a statue of Edward Elgar the composer, who lived in the town, while other statuary is dedicated to Malvern water. Among the many shops are two large modern supermarkets, both in Edith Walk, a former steep and narrow back lane that runs parallel to Church Street. Most of the traditional high street shops such as clothing, butchers, bakeries, groceries, etc., in the town are now tea-rooms, health food shops, specialist cafés, building societies, second-hand books shops, charity shops, law firms, and real estate agents. On the Worcester to Hereford line is the Victorian Great Malvern railway station, a listed example of classical Victorian railway architecture close to the former nearby Imperial Hotel. In 1893, following the sharp decline in Malvern's importance as a spa after the cessation of Gully's water cures, the imposing Victorian building which housed the hotel became the Malvern Girls' College, now renamed Malvern St James. Suburbs and neighbourhoods Malvern's rapid urbanisation during the latter half of the 19th century spread eastwards and northwards from Great Malvern, the town centre on the steep flank of the Worcestershire Beacon, engulfing the manors and farms in the immediate area. It was often the farms, such as Pickersleigh, near Great Malvern, and the Howsels in Malvern Link which merged with Great Malvern in 1900, that gave their names to many of the new neigbourhoods. The urban agglomeration continued to spread, and by the middle of the 20th century had reached the suburban parishes of West Malvern, Malvern Wells, Newland, Madresfield, and Guarlford. Early history The name Malvern probably comes from the ancient British language meaning 'Bare-Hill', the nearest modern equivalent being the Welsh moelfryn (bald hill). It has been known as Malferna (11th century), Malverne (12th century), and Much Malvern (16–17th century The 'Shire Ditch', a boundary earthwork possibly dating from the late Bronze Age around 1000 BC, was constructed along part of the the crest of the hills near the site of later settlements. Ancient folklore has it that the British chieftain Caractacus made his last stand against the Romans at the British Camp, a site of extensive Iron Age earthworks on a summit of the Malvern Hills close to where Malvern was to be later established. The story remains disputed, however, as Roman historian Tacitus implies a site closer to the river Severn. There is therefore no evidence that Roman presence ended the prehistoric settlement the British Camp. However, excavations at nearby Midsummer Hillfort, Bredon Hill and Croft Ambrey all show evidence of violent destruction around the year 48AD. This may suggest that the British Camp was abandoned or destroyed around the same time. History waits another thousand years before describing ... an hermitage, or some kind of religious house, for seculars, before the conquest, endowed by the gift of Edward the Confessor..., A motte-and-bailey castle that was built on the top tier of the earthworks just before the Norman Conquest was probably founded by the Saxon Earl Harold Godwinson of Hereford. It was destroyed by King Henry II in 1155 The town developed around its 11th-century priory, a Benedictine monastery, the remains of which make up some of the early parts of Great Malvern Priory, now a large parish church. Several slightly different histories explain the actual founding of the religious community. Legend tells that the settlement began following the murder of St. Werstan, a monk of Deerhurst, who fled from the Danes and took refuge in the woods of Malvern. A hermitage had been established there before the Norman Conquest. The legend has been dismissed by some historians as monastic mythology.However, in their 2006 book The Illumination of St. Werstan the Martyr Cora Weaver and Bruce Osborne re-examine the legend of St Werstan and conclude that he was the original martyr. The first prior was Aldwyn who founded the monastery on his bishop's advice and by 1135 the monastery included thirty monks. Aldwyn was succeeded by Walcher, an astronomer and philosopher from Lorraine whose gravestone inside the priory church records details that the priory arose in 1085 from a hermitage endowed by Edward the Confessor. An ancient stained glass window in the Priory church depicts the legend of St Werstan, with details of his vision, the consecration of his chapel, Edward the Confessor granting the charter for the site, and Werstan's martyrdom. An 18th century document states that in the 18th year of William's kingship (1083?), a priory was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. W. Page in his Victoria County Histories describes how a hermit Aldwyn, who lived in the reign of Edward the Confessor, had petitioned the Earl of Gloucester for the original site (of the Priory) in the wood, and cites his source as Gervase of Canterbury, Mappa Mundi (Rolls ser.). During the Dissolution of the Monasteries the local commissioners were instructed to ensure that, where abbey churches were also used for parish worship, they should continue or could be purchased by parishioners. Accordingly Malvern Priory survived by being acquired by a William Pinnocke and with it, much of the 15th century stained glass windows. The most marketable fabric of the monastic buildings was sold off an with the exception of the church building, all that remains of Malvern's monastery is the Abbey Gateway that houses today's Malvern Museum. Already an established community and the major settlement in the Malvern Chase, during the century that followed the town began to acquire its fame for its spring water. Recent history Malvern is a famous spa, known for its bottled water since 1622 at the Holy Well and later from other spouts and sources. In the early 19th century Hydrotherapy based on the curative properties of the water became popular, and the town underwent a rapid expansion. Several large hotels and many of the large villas in Malvern date from its heyday as a residential spa. Many smaller hotels and guest houses were built between about 1842 and 1875. By 1855 there were already 95 hotels and boarding houses and by 1865 over a quarter of the town's 800 houses were boarding and lodging houses, Most were in Great Malvern, the town centre, while others were in the surrounding settlements of Malvern Wells, Malvern Link, Malvern Wells, North Malvern and West Malvern. Following the completion of the Worcester & Hereford Railway, Great Malvern railway station opened on 25 May 1860, a Friday start to a weekend public holiday, and received a massive 10,000 passengers from all the newly opened stations on the line, and throughout June to September of that year day trips were frequent, filling the area with "the most curious specimens of the British shopkeeper and artisan on an outing". Following Malvern's new-found fame as a spa and area of natural beauty, and fully exploiting its new rail connections, factories from as far Manchester were organising day trips for their employees, often attracting as many as 5,000 visitors a day. In 1865 a public meeting of residents denounced the rising rail fares – by then twice that of other lines – that were exploiting the tourism industry, and demanded a limitation to the number of excursion trains. The arrival of the railway also enabled the delivery of coal in large quantities, which accelerated the the area's popularity as a winter resort Fearing that Malvern would become the "Metropolis of Hydrotherapy", a Malvern Hills Act was secured in 1884 and later Acts empowered the Conservators to acquire land to prevent further encroachment on common land and by 1925 they had bought much of the manorial wastelands Towards the end of the 19th century, the popularity of the hydrotherapy had declined to the extent that many hotels were already being converted into private boarding schools and rest homes, and education became the basis of Malvern's economy By 1865 the town already had 17 single-gender privates schools, increasing to 25 by 1885. The area was well suited for schools due to its established attractive environment and the possibility of children being able to travel unaccompanied with their trunks by rail to their boarding schools near the stations in Great Malvern, Malvern Wells, and Malvern Link, such as in the case of the Girls College in a former hotel directly opposite Great Malvern station, with its dedicated tunnel to the basement of the school. Demography As of the 2001 UK census, Malvern had a total population of 28,749. For the purposes of statistical reporting the office of national Staistics groups the poulation of the North Malvern ward of the Malvern civil parish with that of the West Malvern civil parish.[27][28] For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males. The average household size was 2.4.[29] Of those aged 16–74 in Malvern, 48.1% had no academic qualifications or one General Certificate of Secondary Education,[30] above the figures for all of the Malvern Hills local government district (39.7%) and England (45.5%).[31] According to the census, 2.3% were unemployed and 35.0% were economically inactive.[30] 19.7% of the population were under the age of 16 and 11.5% were aged 75 and over; the mean age of the people of the civil parish was 41.5. 66.8% of residents described their health as "good", similar to the average of 69.1% for the wider district. Population development The area remained a village and cluster of manors and farms until the 'taking of the water' in Malvern became popularised by Dr. Wall in 1756. By the 1820s the Baths and the Pump Room were opened and Dr James Wilson and Dr Gully 1842 opened up water cure establishments in the town centre. By the middle of the 19th century with the arrival of the railway, bath houses, and other establishments catering for the health tourists flourished. By the early 20th century Malvern had rapidly developed from a small village centred around its priory, to a bustling town with many large hotels, and impressive Victorian and Edwardian country villas. Malvern experienced a further boost to its population in 1942 when the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), a large government research facility with around 2,000 staff relocated to Malvern from near Swanage on the south coast for safety from air raids and espionage during World War II. In the early 1950s several large and (at that time) modern housing estates were built in Malvern on similar lines to council estates to provide accommodation for the staff that had grown to about 3,500 by the end of the war, and their families. [33] A significant proportion of the population of Malvern today is comprised of present and former employees of the facility (now called QinetiQ), and its previously attached military contingent. Malvern had already become an overspill for the nearby city of Worcester, and the new motorways constructed in the early 1960s brought the industrial Midlands within commuting distance by car and with it, the construction of large private housing developments. The town continues to swell as increasingly more farmland, especially in the Malvern Link area between the villages of Guarlford and Newland, is turned over to new housing projects creating new communities and suburbs Economy Scientific research has been the major source of local employment since the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), a government group developing RADAR for the RAF, relocated to the premises of Malvern College in 1942, bringing with it about 2,000 employees, and by 1945 increased electronics production had increased this number to around 3500 staff. [35] The centre has been through a series of name changes (RRE, RSRE, DRA and DERA), but has remained the largest single employer in the Malvern area. Different generations of Malvern people often still refer to the establishment by any of its former names. The establishment made many major contributions to global science and technology include the cavity magnetron, liquid crystal displays (LCD) and thermal imaging.[36] In 2001 the facility was partly privatised to become QinetiQ, while a small part was retained by the Ministry of Defence to become Dstl, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Malvern's Dstl contingent has since closed down with a small number of the remaining staff moving to other Dstl sites. Education is another large field of employment in Malvern. Private education is especially represented by two famous public schools, Malvern College founded in 1865, and Malvern Girls College now renamed Malvern St. James after its 2006 merger with St. James's School. There are also several other private day and boarding schools. Famous people who were educated at these schools include Jeremy Paxman, A.J.P. Taylor, C. S. Lewis, Denholm Elliott, Barbara Cartland, and Aleister Crowley. Cars have been constructed in Malvern since 1910 by The Morgan Motor Company, one of the world's longest existing private constructors of series-built automobiles. The Morgan Motor Car is a traditional sports roadster and over the years has become a 'cult' vehicle, exported all over the world. [37] Pipe organs have been built in Malvern since the Nicholson Organs was founded by John Nicholson in 1841. Nicholson organs can be found in Worcester, Gloucester and Birmingham (UK) Cathedrals, and abroad in Madrid, Hong Kong and Long Island, U.S.A.[38] Glassware is produced by Chance Brothers, an early pioneer of glass making technology, in their factory in Malvern next door to the Morgan Motor works. Agriculture: Malvern is the centre for a significant agricultural industry in the area immediately surrounding the town, essentially comprising mixed farming (livestock, dairy, cereals, and market gardening). Sheep and cattle graze on the hills immediately to the west of the town centre, and on the common land that separates the various urban centres. Significant crops are fruit (apples, cider apples, pears, damsons, plums), vegetables, hops and Christmas trees. The 70 acre Three Counties Showground operated by the Three Counties Agricultural Society, a registered charity[39] a few miles to the south of Malvern on the road to Upton upon Severn, has been the venue for the famous annual Three Counties Show held each year in June for over fifty years. Representing the three counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, the show which can be traced right back to 1797,[40] attracts an average of 93,000 visitors from all parts of the country over its three-day event, and with around 600 trade stands and exhibitions it almost doubles the town's local population.[41] Statistics[42] show it to be among the country's most important agricultural shows and events, and according to reports, is the biggest regular event of the year of any kind in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire region. It also opens the horticultural season each year by hosting the Royal Horticultural Society's Spring Gardening Show, followed by many other events throughout the year including other regular gardening shows. Culture Architecture The town centre and its environs are graced by many examples of Victorian and Edwardian villas and hotels. Many of the houses were built during the Industrial Revolution, and Malvern's boom years as a spa town, by wealthy families from the nearby Birmingham area. Many of the villas have since been converted to apartments, while some of the smaller hotels are now retirement homes. Much architecture and statuary in the town centre is dedicated to Malvern Water, including the St. Anne's Well, which is housed in a building dating from 1815. The drinking spout, Malvhina, by the sculptor Rose Garrard, was unveiled on 4 September 1998. The Enigma Fountain, also by Garrard, was unveiled by Prince Andrew in 2000. The Imperial Hotel in red brick with stone dressings that became the Malvern Girls College after the collapse of the spa industry, is one of the largest buildings in Malvern and was built in 1860 by the architect E W Elmslie who also designed the Great Malvern railway station and Whitbourne Hall, in Herefordshire. It was first hotel to be lit by incandescent gas. It was equipped with all types of baths and brine was brought specially by rail from Droitwich. Music Sir Edward Elgar, the famous British composer and Master of the King's Musick lived much of his life around Malvern and is buried in Little Malvern cemetery. Land of Hope and Glory, set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, was first performed in the Wyche School next to the church in the presence of Elgar. A statue of Elgar stands gazing over Great Malvern from Belle Vue Terrace in the town centre. The Elgar Route, a 40-mile drive passing some key landmarks from Elgar's life, passes through Malvern.
The Chandos Symphony Orchestrais one of the leading amateur orchestras in the West Midlands. Based in Malvern under the professional direction of Michael Lloyd with over 100 players, the orchestra specialises in performances of major works of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
The Autumn in Malvern Festival is an annual event featuring performances of renowned artists of music, poetry, writers and film makers held during October every year.
Dramatic Arts Mainstream Theatre Malvern is a leading provincial centre for theatre. The theatre is housed in the Malvern Winter Gardens complex in the town centre. The first Malvern Drama Festival was planned by Sir Barry Jackson and took place in 1929 and was dedicated to Bernard Shaw. Many premiers of works by famous playwrights had their first performances at Malvern, including two by Bernard Shaw. In 1956, on the occasion of the dramatist's 100th birthday, Malvern held a Shaw centenary week. In February 1965 a Malvern Festival Theatre Trust was set up, and extensive refurbishment was undertaken. J B Priestley presided over the opening ceremony of the first summer season. In 1998 a further £7.2 million major redesign and refurbishment took place with the help of contributions from the The National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF), administered by the government Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Fringe Festival Main article: Malvern Fringe Festival Malvern is the home of one of the oldest Fringe festivals in the world. The Malvern Fringe Festival is an arts festival (officially founded 1977) which takes place on 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. The Fringe aims to be inclusive; bridging the generation gap by providing a varied programme of events for the local people of Malvern aimed at all ages. The Theatre of Small Convenience entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 as the smallest theatre in the world. Located in a former Victorian public convenience in the centre of the town, the theatre has a capacity of 12 people seated, or 16 people standing. Malvern in Literature C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien used to walk on the Malvern Hills. The story goes that, after drinking in a Malvern pub one winter evening, they were walking home when it started to snow. They saw a lamp post shining out through the snow and Lewis turned to his friends and said "that would make a very nice opening line to a book". Lewis' book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe later used that image as the characters enter the realm of Narnia.[citation needed] The poet W. H. Auden taught for three years in the 1930s at the The Downs School, in the Malvern Hills. He wrote many 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 the long poem about the hills and their views, called simply The Malverns. William Langland's famous 14th century poem The Visions of Piers Plowman (1362) was inspired by the Malvern Hills and the earliest poetical allusion to them occurs in the poem:[53] And on a Maye mornynge on Malverne hylles. Langland, the reputed writer, was possibly educated at the priory of Great Malvern. Several roads and buildings in Malvern are named after Langland. Transport Road The A449 road runs through the centre of Malvern, connecting it to Worcester and Ledbury. The M5 motorway to the east of Malvern is accessible at junctions 7 and 8. The M50 (also known as the Ross Spur) to the south can be accessed at junction 1 on the A38 road between Tewkesbury and Malvern. Rail Malvern has two railway stations (Great Malvern and Malvern Link), providing direct services to Worcester, Hereford, Birmingham, Oxford and London. BusSeveral local bus services connect Malvern with the surrounding area. From April to August, on weekends and public holidays, the Hills Hopper service provides access to the Malvern Hills and environs. Long-distance direct bus services connect Malvern with other cities in the country, including the National Express route 321 through eleven counties from Aberdare in South Wales via Birmingham and other major cities, to Bradford in West Yorkshire and route 444 from Worcester to London (Victoria). Leisure The Priory Park with its adjoining Malvern Splash pool and Winter Gardens complex occupies a large area in the centre of the town. The Winter Gardens complex is home to the Malvern Theatre, a cinema (movie theatre), a concert venue/banqueting room, bars and cafeterias. For almost half a century, the Malvern Winter Gardens has also been the leisure centre and a major regional venue for classical music, and concerts by legendary rock bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s. In 1998 a £7.2 million major redesign and refurbishment of the Winter Gardens took place with the help of contributions from the The National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF), administered by the government Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Splash Leisure Complex flanks the eastern boundary of Priory Park and has an indoor swimming pool and gymnasium.
In the town is also an extensive Public Library that includes access to many community services.
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