Malvern Hills

The Malvern Hills are a narrow ridge of ancient igneous and metamorphic rock straddling Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire in western England, running about thirteen kilometers between Great Malvern and Colwall and reaching their highest point, Worcestershire Beacon, at 425 meters. Their exposed rock, known as Malvernian and dated to the late Precambrian at roughly 680 million years old, includes granite, gneiss, schist, pegmatite and dolerite, among the oldest rock exposed anywhere in England, brought to the surface along the north-south Malvern Line fault and left standing as a ridge once softer surrounding rock wore away. The hills are also known for the mineral springs that emerge from their ancient rock, long associated with Malvern's spa water industry.