ing cures, rest and entertainment. Local legend
has it that the curative benefit of the spring water was known in mediaeval
times. The medicinal value and the bottling of Malvern water are mentioned
"in a poem attributed to the Reverend Edmund Rea, who became Vicar of
Great Malvern in 1612". Richard Banister, the pioneering oculist, wrote about
the
Eye Well, close to the
Holy Well, in a short poem in his
Breviary of the Eyes (see Malvern
water), in 1622. In 1756, Dr. John Wall published a 14-page pamphlet on the
benefits of Malvern water, that reached a 158 page 3rd edition in 1763. Further
praise came from the botanist Benjamin Stillingfleet in 1757, the poet Thomas
Warton in 1790, and William Addison, the physician of the Duchess of Kent
(mother of Queen Victoria) in 1828, all quoted in a review by the medical
historian W.H. McMenemy. In his lecture about Malvern at the Royal Institution,
Addison spoke of "its pure and invigorating air, the excellence of its
water, and the romantic beauty of its scenery". Similar views appeared in
the press, Nicholas Vansittart brought his wife Catherine to Malvern for a rest
cure in 1809. Chambers, in his book about Malvern, praised Elizabeth, Countess
Harcourt (daughter-in-law of the 1st Earl Harcourt), whose patronage
contributed to the development of hillside walks.
Bottling and shipping of the Malvern water grew in volume. In 1842, Dr.
James Wilson and Dr. James Manby Gully, leading exponents of hydrotherapy, set
up clinics in Malvern (Holyrood House for women and Tudor House for men).
Malvern expanded rapidly as a residential spa. Several large hotels and many of
the large villas in Malvern date from its heyday. Many smaller hotels and guest
houses were built between about 1842 and 1875. By 1855 there were already
95 hotels and boarding houses
