Location: There are three sites which may be linked,
i. Holly Mount Spout 576 feet above sea level.
ii. Ivy Scar Spring
iii A spring beneath Queen's Drive
Description: there is nothing visible of the latter but the second spout survives as the nineteenth century brickwork niche, now in a private garden of a modern house. Ivy Scar Spring is contained but the course of the original streamway can be seen.

Holly Mount Spout
Holly Mount Estate was a piece of former Thirds Land. In exchange for giving up his hunting rights, Charles I accepted 3,000 acres of Malvern Chase, which was eventually sold to different landowners. The acres were one third of the Chase and these plots of land are known as Thirds Land. The house Holly Mount was built on the estate c.1820, possibly for wealthy Thomas Woodyatt and is where, in 1830, the young Princess Victorian and her mother stayed. This once magnificent house was demolished and for many years Holly Mount Fountain lay neglected and forlorn. In the second half of the twentieth century the site was developed with new houses and the fountain was rediscovered. The small spout sits in a niche in a wall, today making it an attractive garden feature where once it might have been a practical aid to householders and servants before the age of water mains and public supply. Most of the time it is dry but gushes unpredictably from time to time.

There was reputedly a cave in the grounds of Holly Mount House. One hyposthesis was that "Nine o' Clock Cave" as it was known, was linked to Clutters Cave and the tumulus on Pinnacle Hill to form a prehistoric astonomical observatory.[1] More likely it was the cave where St Werstan, the founding monk of Malvern lived in the 11th century.

Ivy Scar Spring
The above source may be linked with the Ivy Scar Spring that is now captured for the collector main that traverses the hills. Ivy Scar Rock lays immediately above the Holly Mount Estate and the spring was a substantial source before containment. Below and on the northern side of Ivy Scar Rock there is a streamway channel that is dry. This is believed to be the original valley head for the Ivy Scar Spring. A large oak tree about 50 yards below the path marks the channel.

Queen's Drive
There is apparently a water source in the Queen's Drive near Holly Mount Church. The exact location is beneath the road surface by the lower end of number 25, next to the church. Nothing is visible. This is believed to be part of the same water system as the above.

Illustrations:
1. Ivy Scar Rock by Chambers circa 1855. (courtesy Chris and Roland Bannister)

 

Footnotes:
[1] Simons A (2011) British Camp Herefordshire Beacon, Wisteria Books, p.54.

 

The map alongside is a small section of our more comprehensive map of the area. For the complete map together with a description and history of this site see "Celebrated Springs of the Malvern Hills" (2012).

 

Click on Website below or the top banner to go to the DISCOVERY TRAIL INDEX of springs and wells.

Celebrated Springs of 
THE MALVERN HILLS  

A definitive work that is the culmination of 20 years researching the springs and wells of the Malvern Hills, published by Phillimore. This is the ideal explorers guide enabling the reader to discover the location and often the astounding and long forgotten history of over 130 celebrated springs and wells sites around the Malvern Hills. The book is hard back with dust cover, large quarto size with lavish illustrations and extended text. Celebrated Springs contains about 200 illustrations and well researched text over a similar number of pages, together with seven area maps to guide the explorer to the locations around the Malvern Hills. It also includes details on the long history of bottling water in the Malvern Hills.

Written by Bruce Osborne and Cora Weaver, this book is available on-line for £15.00 (delivered UK) - click Malvern Bookshop on the green panel top left. Alternatively send a cheque payable to Cora Weaver with your name and address to 4 Hall Green, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3QX.