Malvern Link - Development

Development

Malvern Link is the location of the majority of Malvern's council and private housing estates, and retail parks and factory centres that have emerged since the 1950s. The expansion in the second half of the 19th century began essentially as ribbon development along the Worcester Road, the eastern approach to Malvern, at the same time as Malvern's rise to popularity as a Spa Town. When the railway arrived in the mid 19th century, the settlement had reached sufficient dimensions to justify its own fully featured station although the Great Malvern station is only about one mile further down the line. Large villas and small hotels were constructed along the entire length of the northern side of the Worcester Road, from the railway station to Link Top affording them an unhindered view over the Malvern Common and many of them were converted to boarding schools following the decline of the spa industry, and major middle class residential areas developed northwards during the inter-war years of the 1920s and 1930s.

Further development is planned for the second decade of the 21st century with approximately 700 new houses, 10 hectares of employment land, a primary school and community centre destined for former farm land between Malvern Link and Newland. This will effectively merge the two villages into the urban sprawl of Malvern Link, creating new neighbourhoods that have yet to be named. A new community hospital for Malvern on the site of Seaford Court, a former private prep school in Malvern Link, close to the station, was opened in 2011.