Books about Malvern and its surroundings
There are many local history books written which can be of great interest to family historians. They can detail the history of a village, local business or institution and often contain illustrations or photographs of people and places.
Many of these books are published by a recognised publisher, but some are privately published. Almost all are only offered for sale in the areas to which they relate.
Most family historians no longer live in the areas in which their ancestors resided and so they often have no idea what local history books are available. One of our out-of-area members highlighted this problem, so we are attempting to give details of those books we know about, for the benefit of visitors to our web site. We have added comments from our members comments where appropriate.
If our readers know of any books that we have omitted please send in details and we will add them to our list.
| Title | Author | Year | ISBN | Publisher | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE MALVERN HILLS AND WESTWARD | Archie Miles | 2002 | 0-9542690-1-2 | Travels through the Malverns and East Herefordshire (in photographs) | |
| SCIENCE COMES TO MALVERN – TRE: A STORY OF RADAR 1942 – 1953 | Ernest Putley | 2009 | This is a very interesting and informative account of the development of radar in Malvern and the important part it played in the defeat of the axis powers. Cost is currently £4. 95 but only obtainable from Malvern Museum. | ||
| THE STORY OF MALVERN LINK WORCESTERSHIRE | Daphne Drake FLA | 2000 | First Paige 19 Abbey Road Malvern WR13 2ES | A5 size 35 pages. 2nd Edition This excellent book charts the history of the Link from about 1000 BC to 2000AD. The story is enhanced by the inclusion of appropriate illustrations and photographs. Available from the publisher and local bookshops. | |
| MALVERN CHASE | Pamela Hurle | 1993 | Malvern Chase: its origins, law and legacy (booklet) | ||
| THE MALVERNS | Pamela Hurle | 1992 | 0-85033-8190-0 | Phillimore | Mainly about churches and places. |
| MALVERN VOICES: CHILDHOOD | ed.Gill Holt | 2001 | 0-9541520-0-X | An oral history of the 20th Century | |
| MALVERN VOICES: SCHOOLS | ed. Gill Holt | 2002 | 0-9541520-2-6 | An oral history | |
| AROUND MALVERN IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS | Keith Smith | 1989 | 0–86299–587-6 | Alan Sutton Publishing Gloucester | An excellent collection of old photographs, postcards & prints covering the period 1850s to 1950s. |
| THIS WAS OUR MALVERN | Compiled by Margaret Bramford. | 2000 | Beacon Books | An entertaining account of life in a Spa town in Worcestershire, in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, as recalled by Malvern folk themselves, with occasional glances backward to even earlier times. In two volumes, each containing 30+ photos several in colour. | |
| THE MALVERN WATER CURE | John Winsor Harcup | 1992 | 0–9507540–3–X | About the cures and the people involved. | |
| BYGONE MALVERN | Pamela Hurle | 1989 | 0-85033-725-9 | A wonderful collection of old pictures, postcards & prints of Malvern in the early 20th century. | |
| AQUAE MALVERNIENSIS | Cora Weaver & Bruce Osborne | 1-873809– 07-7 | Out of print but available at libraries | A history & topography of the springs, spouts, fountains & wells of the Malvern’s. Includes people & places. | |
| THE MALVERNS: Images of England | Brian Iles | 0-7524-3667-8 | Tempus Publishing Ltd | Collection of over 200 photographs documenting life in the Malverns from 1860s to 1950s | |
| A MALVERN BIBLIOGRAPHY | Roger Hall-Jones | First Paige 19 Abbey Road Malvern WR13 2ES | An historical and descriptive account of books published about Malvern 1725-1987 | ||
| CASTLEMORTON FARMER - John Royner Lane 1798-1871 | Pamela Hurle | 0-95229366-0-7 | Collection of diaries of the articulate and reasonably well-off farmer who travelled widely during his lifetime | ||
| COLWALL COLLECTION | Stephen Ballard | 1999 | 1-873809-37-9 | Colwall Millennium Project | Memories of an Herefordshire Village |
| THE GUARLFORD STORY | The Guarlford History Group | 2005 | 0-9550498-0-6 | An Account of Guarlford and its inhabitants from pre-Roman days until the present time, with emphasis on social activities and working enfironments over the last 150 years | |
| THE GUARLFORD SCENE | The Guarlford History Group | 2005 | 978-0-9550498-1-1 | The Group's 2nd book is a pictorial celebration of the village which remains a vibrant community and a pleasant place to live | |
| UPTON | Pamela Hurle | 0-85033-687-2 | Upton is fortunate to have reached the 21st century with so much of its ancient charm and so many of its older buildings still intact. |
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| DEAR POLLY | Ed Meriel Hayes | 1-85858-221-0 | Letters to a Victorian Lady's Maid from Alfred Hayes an orderly at Sandhurst collected by their grand-daughter | ||
| OLD WORCESTER: PEOPLE AND PLACES | Bill Gwilliam | 0-951352-8X | Local, social and industrial history collected from a range of sources not easily obtained elsewhere | ||
| MEMORIES OF WORCESTER | True Northern Books | 1-903204-25-9 | A collection of pictures showing people and places covering the 19502 and 1960s | ||
| WORCESTER | Paul Harrison | 2005 | 0-7524-3726-7 | Tempus Publishing Ltd | Black and white pictures of different ares of the city including sport, Royal Worcester and Elgar |
| KAYS OF WORCESTER | Bernard Mills | 2003 | 0-9546662-0-8 | Kays' long history from the latter part of the 18th century to the end of the 20th century | |
| THE HISTORY OF BARBOURNE | Claire and Terry Wardle | 2007 | 978-0-955-3809-0-7 | MTC Ltd PO Box 665 Worcester WR1 3WN | The history of a Victorian suburb on the north of Worcester from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day illustrated with maps, plans, drawing and photographs |
| OLD REDDITCH VOICES | Anne Bradford | 2005 | Hunt End Books | The history of Redditch told by people who experienced or were closely associated with it | |
| STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN | Anne Bradford | 2002 | Hunt End Books | The history of Stourport-on-Severn told by people who experienced or were closely associated with it | |
| OF THE PARISH HERE AND THERE | Gill Lawley | None | Anmar Publications Fernhill Heath Worcester sunny.side49@ virgin.net.co.uk | The history of Martin Hussingtree | |
| WYCHBOLD BEFORE THE MOTORWAY | Robin Skerratt | Droitwich Print North Street Droitwich | Full of pictures of people, mostly named, at work, rest and play from the early 20th century to the 1960s | ||
| MEMORIES OF WYCHBOLD | Robin Skerratt | E Baylis & Sons Ltd Worcester | Recounts memories through the 20th century of the village telling where people lived and their occupations | ||
| PERSHORE PEOPLE | Janet Daniels and Marion Freeman | 2004 | Privately printed | Description of the lives of people of Pershore's past, many just ordinary folk | |
| AROUND PERSHORE IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS | Michael Dowty | 1988 | 0-80299-480-2 | Visual memories via the lens of William Ward Dowty (1887-1979) covering the time he was learning the family business in the High Street, Pershore. Simple tour of Pershore and its villages | |
| PERSHORE | Marion Freeman | 1997 | 0-7524-0726-0 | Collection of old phographs and postcard in a nostalgic look at old Pershore and surrounding villages | |
| PERSHORE REVISITED | Marion Freeman | 07524-7524-3737-2 | Tempus Publishing Ltd | Images of Pershore | |
| PERSHORE, WHERE D'YE THINK? | Compiled by Margaret Bramford. | Sedgeberrow Retail Market Pershore 01386 751830 | An account of life in a small market town in the 1920s and 1930s as recalled by Pershore folk themselves | ||
| DOMESDAY BOOK - WORCESTERHIRE | Compiled by direction of King WIlliam I | 1982 | 0-85033-161-5 | Phillimore | Statistical survey carried out in 1086AD of population and productive resources of the whole country |
| WORCESTERSHIRE CONTIGUOUS PARISHES | Allen/ Thompson/ Chalkley | 1998 | 1-901824-26-8 | Alphabetic list of all parishes with their adjoining parishes | |
| PIGOT & CO's NATIONAL COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY 1835 | 1996 | 1-898593-15-9 | Facsimile edition | Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Monmouthshire, Rutland, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, north and south Wales | |
| WORCETERSHIRE AT WORK | Ray Jones | 1994 | 0-7509-0703-7 | Old photographs | |
| THE DEFENCE OF WORCESTERSHIRE AND THE SOUTHERN APPROACHES TO BIRMINGHAM IN WORLD WAR II | Mick Wilks | 9- 781904396802 | Logaston Press | Explanation of the vital role played by Worcestershire in the defence of Britain from invasion. | |
| THE WORCESTERSHIRE VILLAGE BOOK | Worcestershire Federation of WIs | 1988 | Countryside Books | Research of Worcestershire villages by WIs | |
| WORCESTERSHIRE VILLAGES, CHURCHES AND PUBS | Roy Millar | 0-9549455-1-4 | An interesting book showing older arts of the county. Profits to to St Richard's Hospice | ||
| WORCESTERSHIRE | J L Leatherbarrow | 1974 | 0-7134-2786-8 | A sympathetic and well-informed guide | |
| WARTIME WORCESTERSHIRE | Jeff Carpenter | 1995 | 1-85858-0587 | Compulsive reading for those who can remember WW2. | |
| THE UNIFORMS OF THE BRITISH YEOMANRY FORCE 1794-1914: WORCESTERSHIRE YEOMANRY | R J Smith | 1990 | 0-9515714-2-7 | ||
| NOAKE'S GUIDE TO WORCESTERSHIRE 1868 | A few paragraphs given to each town and village in the county. | ||||
| A LAD OF EVESHAM VALE | Fred Archer | 1974 | 0-340-18623-2 | The native raconteur par excellence connecting the generations with storytelling and bring to robust life a rural world which post-Second World War changes might seem to have buried for ever. | |
| A COUNTRY TWELVEMONTH | Fred Archer | 1992 | 0-7509-0268-X | ||
| THE TIBBLESTONE HUNDRED | Fred Archer | 1996 | 0-7509-1256-1 | ||
| CHAPTERS IN NEWENT'S HISTORY | Newent Local History Society | 0-9544648-0-X | Research which covers of 500 years of buildings, transport industries and people with family trees and photographs | ||
| ELGAR THE CYCLIST - A CREATIVE ODYSSEY | Kevin Allen | 0-620-350318 | Elgar Shop at www. elgarfoundation.org.uk | In and around Malvern | |
| THE CHATEAU AT IMPNEY | Barbara MIddlemas | 2009 | 0-9510463-1-4 | Short history of the house originally known at Impney Hall in the parish of Dodderhill. | |
| DOWN THE SEVERN | Franicis Frith Collection | 2000 | 1-85937-118-3 | The Severn and nearby towns and villages from mid-Victorian times | |
| FROM FRUIT TREES TO FURNACES | Bob Pooler | 2002 | 0-94358503 | Blacksmith The Paddock Blacksmith Lane Lower Moor Pershore WR10 2PA | The history of the Worcestershire Constabulary from 1839-1967. Malvern and surrounding districts feature. |
| A HISTORY OF MALVERN | Brian Smith | 1966 | Leicester University Press | Probably the most comprehensive history of Malvern to date. Can be bought second hand. | |
| MALVERN COUNTRY | Vincent Waite | 1968 | 0-85033-333-4 | JM Dent & Son Ltd. | |
| RETURN TO DUTY | Fran & Martin Collins | The story of the US army hospitals in Malvern during WW2 | |||
| WORCESTERSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY GUIDEBOOK | Vanessa Morgan | 2011 | 978-0-7524-5969-1 | The History Press, Stroud GL5 2QG | Very readable book about the whole county by a local genealogist. |
