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.
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.