Little Malvern, Worcestershire

Description
Malvern, Little, a parish in Worcestershire, under the Malvern Hills, 1 mile S of Malvern Wells station on the Worcester and Hereford section of the G.W.R., and 4 1/4 miles ENE of Ledbury. Post town, Malvern Wells, under Malvern. Acreage, 732; population, 104. The manor, with Little Malvern Court, belongs to the Berington family. A Benedictine priory, a cell to Worcester Abbey, was founded in 1171 by two brothers, Joceline and Edred, who were the first and the second priors, and at the dissolution it had a prior and seven monks. An ancient camp is in the S. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £44 with residence. Patron, Earl Somers. The church consists of the chancel and the tower of the ancient priory church, rebuilt in 1482; it contains the remains of the rood loft and some ancient stained glass. The other parts of the old priory buildings are in ruin. A Roman Catholic chapel, in lien of a previous one, was built in 1862. It is a handsome stone edifice in the Gothic style, and has schools attached to it.