Location: In the garden of a modern development adjacent to Malvern College's music school
Description: a spout and ornamental basin set in the wall,

The music school building and the modern Malvern College development were formerly part of Townshend House, built in 1851 as Dr Ralph Barnes Grindrod's water cure establishment. His therapies included use of a compressed air chamber and he had a wide ranging interest in many aspects of science that he shared with his patients. Dr Grindrod, a champion of the temperance movement, was one of Malvern's leading water cure practitioners in the nineteenth century. The fountain was probably fed with water from Melton Lodge Estate on Wells Road. It was set into the western perimeter wall of his extensive gardens and would have provided a pure potion for perambulating patients. The gardens hosted the Temperance Society's annual fetes, the annual gatherings of the donkey boys, and children from the parochial schools, when upwards of 500 youngsters would play on the lawns. The Temperance Society also held its annual fetes in the grounds, retiring in the evening to within the walls of the house.[1] At such times the fountain would have been well used.

Although it is now dry this fountain is one of Malvern's spa heritage treasures. So it is alarming to see that it is no longer accessible to the public being now sited behind a garden fence. Following new building development in 2008/9 on the site, it was noted that the fountain was damaged, however it has subsequently been repaired. It can be seen by looking over the garden fence.

Illustrations:
1. The Fountain in the 1990s.

2. Anthony Clark, Headmaster of Malvern College displays the restored Grindrod Fountain at the unveiling of the Civic Society plaque in June 2012. 

 

Footnotes:
[1] Hood P 1857 The Metropolis of the Water Cure, p.151. 

  

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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