The presence of indicator species such as yellow
archangel, pignut, dogwood and bluebell shows
that Fish Pool Leys Coppice, between Jubilee
Drive and Ledbury Road, is an ancient woodland.
The multi-stemmed hazel and chestnut stools
confirm that, as its name suggests, this wood was
managed for coppicing.
In Mathon, the Conservators have recently
acquired The Hacketts, 20 hectares of unimproved
meadow and ancient woodland which give
wonderful views of the Malvern Hills.
Powick
Old Hills has many interesting historical features,
including remnants of medieval ridge and furrow.
Oliver Cromwells parliamentarian army camped
here in September 1651 before winning the
decisive Battle of Worcester. Local commoners
still graze animals, including geese, on the
common land.
Castlemorton and Hollybed
Castlemorton Common is a relic of Malvern
Chase, the royal hunting ground which stretched
from the Malvern Hills to the River Severn. Large
areas of the common have never been cultivated
and are still grazed by commoners cattle and
sheep. Castlemorton Common is a notable site for
one of Britains rarest trees, the black poplar, and
has been declared a Site of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI) in recognition of its national
importance as a plant and wildlife habitat. The area
around the Mill Pond in Golden Valley is a
favourite local beauty spot.
Guarlford, Newland Green, Townsend Way and the
Rhydd. Along Guarlford Road, the verges are old
grassland with a high number of wildflower species
and are managed as a hay crop.
The Malvern Hills Conservators
Malvern Hills
Green spaces
and hidden places
The Malvern Hills Conservators are one of Britains
oldest conservation bodies and a registered
charity. They own, or have under their jurisdiction,
most of the Malvern Hills and Commons (a total
area of 1,200 hectares or 3,000 acres) and
manage them to preserve their unique ecology and
natural beauty.
A map highlighting the location of all the land
owned by the Malvern Hills Conservators can be
viewed or purchased at the Conservators Office.
For more information about the Conservators and
their work, please contact:
The Malvern Hills Conservators, Manor House,
Grange Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 3EY
Office open weekdays 9am1pm and 2pm4pm.
Telephone: 01684 892002
Fax: 01684 577457
E mail: [email protected]
www. malvernhills.org.uk
Charity No. 515804
Published 2004
Cover image: Wild garlic at Fish Pool Leys Coppice
Photography by Vincent Dolan
Grass Verges
One of the most attractive features of the Malvern
area are the broad grass verges along the roads.
Many of these are owned and maintained by the
Malvern Hills Conservators, including those at
Sherrards Green, Poolbrook, Hall Green,
M
H
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M
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Yellow archaengel is
one of a number of
ancient semi-natural
woodland indicator
species. These plants
take several centuries
to colonise an area,
so their presence in
significant numbers
indicates that the
woodland has existed
for at least 400 years.
The Malvern Hills Conservators are best known
for caring for the hills after which they are named,
but they also own and protect many other green
spaces in the area. Like all land owned by the
Conservators, the woods, meadows, commons
and ancient tracks featured in this leaflet are open
to the public. We hope you enjoy exploring them.
Around Malvern
Situated close to the centre of Great Malvern off
Albert Road North, Woodfords Meadow is named
after Guy Woodford, a local resident who
spearheaded the campaign to save this green
space for the townspeople. Between Great
Malvern and Malvern Wells, the 60 plus hectares of
Malvern Common are a mix of open grassland,
magnificent mature trees, streams, ponds and
species-rich wetlands.
In West Malvern, Horsecroft Coppice is an almost
untouched ancient woodland, with high numbers of
the nationally rare wild service tree, whose berries
were once used to cure colic and dysentery. The
large amount of dead wood in the coppice makes it
a very biodiverse habitat, of particular value to
beetles. Walmspout Coppice has largely been
grazed out, but has some small-leaved limes,
which indicate that it is an ancient (at least 400
years old) semi-natural woodland. The nearby
meadows are noted for their wetland flora. Park
Wood is another ancient semi-natural woodland,
which is home to plants like field maple and dogs
mercury, as well as being the site of old limekilns
and quarries.
Around Guarlford
Wood Street, part of an ancient drovers track
which ran from the river crossings at the Rhydd
and Clevelode, across the Malvern Hills at the
Wyche Cutting and down the Purlieu into
Herefordshire, has definitely been in use from
Anglo Saxon times and possibly dates from the
prehistoric era. Today it is a green lane which
starts in Guarlford and runs towards Great
Malvern; at the end of Wood Street, a series of
footpaths lead across fields to the town. Jack Pits
Lane is a remnant of the historic wastes of
the manor of Malvern and is also now a green
lane.
The Ryhdd and Clevelode
The Mill Pond at Golden Valley
In North Malvern, Kendalls Common houses the
pound and stocks, whilst in nearby Lodge Fields,
there are old stone boundary walls and a bank and
ditch marks the site of the hedgerow which once
divided the meadow.
Link Common stretches for 22 hectares between
North Malvern and Malvern Link. In Victorian times,
Link Common was the place where day-trippers
from the industrial towns of the Midlands
converged before heading up to the hills; today, the
two annual fairs on the common continue a
centuries-old tradition.
Originally major wharfs and crossing points on the
River Severn, all that remains of these once busy
villages is a few cottages and the foundations of
lost buildings. The Conservators care for Rhydd
Green, where offenders against the laws of the
royal forest were hung in medieval times, and a
section of the riverbank at Clevelode. Clevelode
village was known for its basket weaving in the
Middle Ages and osiers still grow in abundance
along the riverbank; the stone for Malvern Priory
was unloaded at the wharf here.
Colwall and Mathon
Wood Street
Ballards Land, a series of small meadows
adjacent to the Malvern Hills, has interesting
unimproved grassland flora and is the best site
in Herefordshire for Heath-Spotted Orchids.
Nearby, at Colwall Lands, south of the Purlieu,
the underlying limestone creates a good habitat
for common rock rose and salad burnet.
We have been told that many of the Hidden Places are so well hidden that some people have not been able to find them from the
information given on the original printed leaflet. We have now added this extra page of information to our Web Site version of the leaflet
giving grid references for all the places referred to:-
Hidden Place
OS Grid Reference
Ballard's Land
764 426
Clevelode
835 468
Colwall Lands
762 439
Fish Pool Leys Coppice
761 404
Horsecroft Coppice
Jack Pits Lane
Kendalls Common
Link Common
Park Wood
76177 46804
Addition Information
Go through Outdoor Centre
801 454
77402 46872
780 472
76312 44309
Rhydd Green
836 451
The Hacketts
756 440
Wood Street
809 449
Off the Purlieu
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