The Malvern Inn was one of the meeting places for the plotters and participants in the bitter and violent Leckhampton Riots of 1902 and Easter 1906. Henry J Dale of the Leckhampton Quarry Company had bought Leckhampton Hill in 1894 and had fenced it off, publicly stating that anyone found on the previous common land would be treated as a trespasser. In March 1902 group of 10,000 protesters gathered at Tramway Cottage on the hill, the residence of Mr Dale, and tore the building down with their bare hands. Some of the rioters had previously drunk several pints of Cheltenham Ale at the Malvern Inn.
Cheltenham Examiner, 27th November 1867 – notice of sale by auction by Engalls, Sanders & Co on Thursday 28th November at two for three o’clock precisely at Cheltenham Auction Mart –
Freehold property, for many years known as the Victoria Brewery, situate at the junction of the Tewkesbury Road and Sun Street, with necessary yards, stabling, malt and hop rooms. Offices and extensive cellarage.
With. The Malvern Inn [note – also in the sale was the Leckhampton Inn, Endeavour Inn (Charlton Kings) and Pilgrim Inn]
The Malvern Inn is situate on the Leckhampton Road, is of recent erection and now in the occupation of Mr Robert Cotton, Butcher. It contains kitchen, parlour, scullery, three bedrooms, with butchers shop at side, and cellarage, scullery and other conveniences. The hill water is laid on. The outbuildings comprises brew-house, two stall stable, piggeries, etc. There is a good garden and orchard, which has extensive frontage to the road leading from Leckhampton to Charlton Kings, well adapted for the erection of small tenements.
Cheltenham Original Brewery were the owners of the Malvern Inn in 1891. Licensed as an ale house it had an annual rateable value of £25.10s.0d. Twelve years later the rateable value on the property had increased by eight pounds and ten shillings to £34.0s.0d. The Original Brewery remained owners.
The pub had a long association with the town brewery, passing through Cheltenham Original, Cheltenham & Hereford, West Country and Whitbread ownership. The Malvern Inn was acquired by pub company Greenall’s in the early 1990’s. Greenall’s had previously been a regional brewery in the North West of England (Greenall Whitley).
Gloucestershire Echo, 20th September 1997 – Last orders are called on local: Gill Havvock has launched an 11th hour bid to save the Malvern Inn from closure. Housewife Mrs Havvock, 46, of Pilley Crescent, discovered last week her local, built in the 19th century, is due to close its doors on Wednesday. Brewers Greenhalls are closing the pub but have not found a buyer for it. Mrs Havvock says the loss of the Malvern Inn is a blow to the area and has collected more than 100 signatures in two days for her petition to keep the pub open. She said: “We’ve heard it may be converted into houses but we’re not sure what’s going to happen. The problem recently is the pub has been allowed to run down and no money has been spent on it and so trade has dropped off.”
A Cheltenham Borough Council planning department spokeswoman said no plan had been submitted to change the use of the pub. A spokeswoman for Greenalls said: “The Malvern Inn has lacked a permanent manager for the last 12 months and for a long period of time customer support has greatly fallen. It is sadly no longer commercially viable to keep it open.”
Gloucestershire Echo, 13th December 1997 – Residents win time in fight to save pub: Campaigners battling to save the Malvern Inn have been given a boost by councillors. Residents are locked in a battle to stop the 19th century pub being developed for housing. They presented the council with a 450-name petition. Members of Cheltenham Borough Council’s planning committee deferred a decision on whether to allow houses to be built on the site of the Malvern Inn in Leckhampton Road. Developer David Deacon, of Battledown, who wanted to build five houses there and convert the pub into a home, scaled down his plans after members of the planning committee visited the site earlier this week. He sent in a new application for four homes and the conversion of the pub and council officers recommended it be approved. But councillors agreed people had not been given 21 days to assess the latest changes to the plan. Petition organiser Mrs Gill Havvock will use the extra time to gather her support for her campaign. Residents want to know why a clause has been put in the contract stopping the buyer from using the building as a pub.
Gloucestershire Echo, 17th January 1998 – “Save pub” campaign defeated: Plans to turn the Malvern Inn in Leckhampton Road into a private house and build four other detached houses next to it have been given the green light. Cheltenham Borough Council’s planning committee gave builder David Deacon, who owns the site, permission to develop the luxury homes despite objections from neighbours.
Residents mounted a campaign to save the Malvern Inn. Bulldozers moved onto the site yesterday.
Gloucestershire Echo, 20th January 1998 – Pub fight rages: Mystery protesters put up a banner outside the doomed Malvern Inn today in a last-ditch effort to save it from demolition. Campaigners lost their battle to stop the 19th century pub in Leckhampton Road being turned into a house with four luxury homes last Thursday when councillors gave builder David Deacon the go-ahead to develop the site.
The ‘Save Our Pub’ banner was taken down by workmen at 7.30am. One campaigner said: “The bar may have gone but there’s still plenty of spirit left there.”
Above image courtesy Chris Amies
Landlords at the Malvern Inn include:
1878,1883 Mrs Cotton
1891 Letitia Miriam Kirkham
1903 Robert George Cotton
1919,1939 Frederick Albert Tovey