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Great Malvern railway station

Coordinates: 52°06′32″N 2°19′05″W / 52.109°N 2.318°W / 52.109; -2.318
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Great Malvern
National Rail
The platforms pictured in March 2024
General information
LocationGreat Malvern, Malvern Hills
England
Grid referenceSO783457
Managed byWest Midlands Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeGMV
ClassificationDfT category D
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 0.531 million
2019/20Increase 0.537 million
2020/21Decrease 0.126 million
2021/22Increase 0.325 million
2022/23Increase 0.368 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
The station drinking fountain, a Malvern spring water spout, gets "well dressed" every year. Naturally in 2010 the theme of the decorations was railways.

Great Malvern railway station is one of two stations serving the town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England (the other being Malvern Link station) on the Hereford to Worcester section of the Cotswold Line. It is situated downhill from the centre of Great Malvern and close to Barnards Green. The station retains most of its original Victorian station design by the architect Edmund Wallace Elmslie and is a Grade II listed building.[1]

History

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Great Malvern station was opened by the Worcester and Hereford Railway in 1860 and the present buildings, by architect Edmund Wallace Elmslie, were completed in 1862. The Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway collaborated on the construction cost; the solicitor, Samuel Carter, was also solicitor to both of these major companies.[2] It was later absorbed by the Great Western Railway.

Lady Emily Foley was a key sponsor of the building of Great Malvern station. She had a waiting room made for her exclusive use at Great Malvern Station, which is now ‘Lady Foley's Tea Room’.[3]

The station celebrated its 150th birthday on 23 May 2010 with the unveiling of a plaque and a special train.[4][5] An additional part of this celebration was the reinstatement of some of the highly decorated lighting columns around the cab road at the front of the station.

Architecture

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The buildings are in local Malvern Rag stone and follow a French Gothic theme.[citation needed]

Floral capitals to canopy columns

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Floral capital to a canopy column

A particular feature of the station are the deep canopies which are supported by elaborate, cast-iron girders, which are in turn supported by columns with elaborate capitals. These capitals are decorated with high relief mouldings depicting different arrangements of flowers and foliage.[6] The sculptor William Forsyth was employed to work on the buildings and designed the metal capitals of the columns which support the canopies above both platforms of the station.[1]

The Worm access to Imperial Hotel

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Interior view of the Worm

At the end of Platform 2 is the entrance to the Worm, an enclosed passageway which leads under Avenue Road into the former Imperial Hotel (now Malvern St James). It formed a private pedestrian access and is believed to be the only structure of its kind in the country.[7] Although in need of extensive restoration and generally not open to the public, the Worm is itself Grade II listed.[8]

Services

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The station is served by two train operating companies: West Midlands Trains (who manage the station) and Great Western Railway. West Midlands Trains operate services to Birmingham New Street via Worcester and Hereford every hour and also some services to Whitlocks End and Dorridge via the Snow Hill Lines. A handful of West Midlands Trains services start or terminate here each day, to/from Worcester & Birmingham.[9]

Great Western Railway operate a roughly hourly service to London Paddington via the Cotswold Line and Oxford (some of which run to/from Hereford) and every two hours (except Sundays) to Bristol Temple Meads via Gloucester. Many Bristol services continue onwards to Westbury & Weymouth. Terminating services (including all from Bristol) generally run empty to Malvern Wells to reverse, then return to the station to take up their next scheduled working.

There was previously a branch line to Ashchurch via Upton-on-Severn and Tewkesbury. Operated by the Midland Railway, it was closed in 1952.

Before May 2022, there was one through service to & from Brighton. This service has since been withdrawn.[10]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Colwall   West Midlands Railway
Birmingham-Hereford
  Malvern Link
  Great Western Railway
Cotswold Line
 
  Great Western Railway
Great Malvern - Bristol
 
Terminus   West Midlands Railway
Birmingham-Great Malvern
  Malvern Link
Disused railways
Terminus   Tewkesbury and Malvern Railway
Midland Railway
  Malvern Hanley Road
Line and station closed

Facilities

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There is a ticket office and an award-winning café which opened in 1984, named 'Lady Foley's Tea Room', after Lady Emily Foley, on the London-bound platform.[11][12][13]

Refurbishment

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In 2022 Network Rail is spending £8 million on restoration of the platform canopies, sculptures, overhead glazing and ironwork. The work, which will not cause any disruption to services, is expected to be finished by early 2023. The Victorian station clock is now also working following an £8,000 restoration in 2021 after having been stuck for over three years.[14] The work included replacing all the glass in the station canopies.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b Historic England. "Great Malvern Station (1082821)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Proposed Railway from Worcester to Hereford". Railway Record. 8: 426–427. 1851.
  3. ^ "Lady Emily Foley of Malvern". Malvern Beacon. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  4. ^ Malvern Worcester 150th Anniversary Official website
  5. ^ "Worcestershire railway stations mark 150 years" 23 May 2010 Retrieved 23 May 2010
  6. ^ The Railway Station Gallery[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Step back in time through the Worm". Worcester News. 10 August 2010.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Great Malvern Station covered pedestrian walkway (1427007)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  9. ^ GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16, Table 71 (Network Rail)
  10. ^ GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16, Tables 123 & 126 (Network Rail)
  11. ^ "Lady Foley's Tea Room". Worcestershire Tourist Guide. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Great Malvern (GMV)". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Station tea room takes the biscuit as Britain's best". Worcester News. Newsquest Media Group Ltd. 8 September 2000. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Great Malvern: Restoration work begins for Victorian station". BBC News. BBC. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  15. ^ White, Chloe (13 April 2022). "Great Malvern station's Victorian Platform canopies are undergoing renovation". RailAdvent. Retrieved 18 April 2022.

Further reading

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  • Siviter, Roger (1999). British Railways Past and Present - Worcestershire. Kettering: Past & Present Publications. ISBN 1-85895-161-5.
  • Dray, Glynis; Perkins, Steve (2010). Great Malvern Station. Barnards Green, Malvern: Glynis Dray & Steve Perkins.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2004). Worcester to Hereford. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 51-58. ISBN 9781904474388. OCLC 862604858.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2006). Bromsgrove to Gloucester. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 78-79. ISBN 9781904474739. OCLC 931169432.
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52°06′32″N 2°19′05″W / 52.109°N 2.318°W / 52.109; -2.318