Malvern water
A short history of Malvern and its water
Fresh-water springs and wells are dotted throughout the Malvern Hills and feature in the area’s history. The supposed healing powers of the waters have drawn pilgrims throughout the ages in the hopes of curing all manner of ills, including eye diseases, skin complaints and digestive disorders.
Monks visited the hills’ many ‘holy’ wells in the 11th and 12th centuries and established the priories at Great Malvern in 1085 and Little Malvern in 1171.
The hills also provided inspiration for the 1362 poem from William Langland called The Visions of Piers Plowman.
In 1622, Malvern water’s restorative properties were noted in oculist Richard Banister’s book: Banister’s Breviary of the Eyes. That same year, the bottling of Malvern water began and it was exported across the country from the Holy Well, believed to have been the oldest bottling plant in the world.
Although Malvern’s water has been used as a health treatment for centuries, its popularity really took off in the mid-18th century, when physician Dr John Wall, one of the founders of the Royal Worcester porcelain works, analysed its contents and said: “Malvern water is famous for containing just nothing at all.”
Along with its clean air and superb scenery, Malvern’s water provided the catalyst for the town’s development into a major health centre and, in 1842, the water cure was introduced by hydropathic doctors James Gully and James Wilson, who believed that cold water would revive a sluggish system and stimulate the circulation of blood.
Malvern water has enjoyed royal patronage since Queen Elizabeth I drank it in public, and both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II took it on their travels around the globe.
One of the Malvern Hills’ most popular springs is Hayslad Spring, with its bifurcating spout, which is the principal well from which Malvern Bitters sources its water, which is both boiled and filtered prior to use.
Hayslad Spring, with its bifurcating spout, along West Malvern Road in Malvern.
And in a nod to Hayslad, a depiction of the spout is included in the design of both bottle labels. Can you spot it?
