Great Malvern No. 2 / Malferna / Malvern Magna / Malverne / Moche Malv'ne / Moche Malverne / Much Malvern

The Victoria County History (Worcester, vol. 4, 1924) notes: "The original parish church, built some time before 1269, [...] was dedicated to the honour of St. Thomas the Martyr [...] and stood at the north-west corner of the present churchyard; [...] Before the Dissolution it fell into decay and efforts were made to repair it. About 1521 there is an entry in the accounts of the Prior of Worcester 'to ye sexten of Moche Malv'ne to ye byldyng of ye Parish church there 5s.' [...] Early in the same century a free tenant named Thomas Pope gave land for the repair of the parish church. [...] The priory church 'so far exceeded it in beauty and in every respect that the inhabitants determined to purchase it for their own use.' [...] About 1541 they bought the church, tower, and chancel with aisles and chapels for £20 from the Crown, and it has ever since been the parish church. [...] St. Thomas's Church was then destroyed, its goods removed and its font taken to the chapel at Newland, [...] where it is still preserved." [NB: cf. Index entry for Newland, Worcs.]