Owned now by the Abbey Hotel, the Promenade Gardens and fountain were a public space created in 1880 to entice visitors away from the hills into the town and had one thousand visitors on its opening day. Regular open air concerts were held there until 1913.

The spectacular fountain originally cost £600 and took the form of a tiered “cake stand”, probably in cast iron. The top tier had disappeared by about 1922 and the lower tier had gone by the 1950`s. By the 1990’s the water fountain itself was nolonger working and so in 2005 the Malvern Spa Association encouraged the Abbey Hotel management to restore the fountain and showed them copies of early pictures of its former glory. As a result the remaining lowest tier is now supplied by an electric pump, which provides a small fountain of water from a little stone water baby, usually turned on for wedding photos. The centre pedestal and raised “moat” of water still survive, above a large brick reservoir (now dry), and the moat has recently been planted with water irises.

RG 2007

  • Location In the gardens opposite the Abbey Hotel, by the priory gatehouse
  • Grid Ref. SO77514580