Location: Swinyard Hill
Description: two covered cisterns

From the car park (grid ref. 765382) on Castlemorton Common, walk northward up the track past the house called Foxhall. Continue uphill, passing on your right the track that leads downhill to Pink Cottage. After 150 metres, before the path splits into three ways, you will see two chambers with iron covers. The springs are underneath.

By 1086 William I had afforested several thousand acres of land on the east side of the Malvern Hills to form Malvern Forest. 'Afforestation' is the introduction of forest law to protect the animals of the chase and their environment for the king to hunt. (The planting of trees is 'forestation')

In the same year 1086, Hanley Castle was the heart of the forest. The Domesday survey of that year records the number of villagers, smallholders and slaves living in Hanley, and also woodland measuring 5 leagues (One league is one and a half miles) in width and length, and six pigmen. A falconer was also recorded in Malvern Forest. The pigs were then let out when the king came to hunt. Swinyard Hill was in the forest and this is believed where the pigmen reared the brown, hairy, Tamworth-type swine in pens. The availability of water was essential for both the stock and their minders so perhaps it was the location of the spring that determined the location of the swine yard. Rearing pigs in this manner had several advantages. It stopped the pigs roaming loose and grubbing up people's crops. It also ensured a ready supply of hunting pigs for the King's sport.

 

Illustrations:
1. Minding swine (H S Marks, The Graphic, April 1871)
2. The spring in 2011 during a walk on the hills.

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).

 

 

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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.