Event Description
Legendary fantasy authors JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were frequent visitors to the Malvern Hills around the middle of the 20th century and the distinctive landscape may have inspired features of Middle Earth and Narnia, like the Giant’s Cave from the Hobbit and the Victorian gas lamps from The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.
A century earlier, authors Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens visited Malvern for the Water Cure and most of the treatment centres and guest houses still remain.
The Malvern Hills Literary Loop starts at the Mr. Tumnus bench in Priory Park and heads up past Knotsford House where Dickens stayed to Lewis’s former school Cherbourg House before pausing at the Lewis Memorial in Rosebank Gardens and following the gas lamps up to St. Ann’s Well cafe.
After admiring the views around North Hill, the trail descends to Alexandra Rd where Lewis’s close friend & biographer George Sayers lived, opposite the former home of composer Edward Elgar.
The loop then heads up past Montreal House where Darwin stayed during his daughter’s treatment and past Lewis & Tolkien’s favourite pub The Unicorn Inn before passing the Hobbit door and down to Malvern Priory to find Anne Darwin’s grave and potentially the original Narnian gas lamp.
Dates and booking
The walks are available on many dates, often with the option of two start times on the same day. For more information, including prices, availability and to book. visit the Malvern Hills Literary Loop: Tolkien, Lewis, Darwin & Dickens page on Airbnb.
