A look at some little known and apparently purposeless features of the Malvern Hills was the subject of an enlightening talk on 14 November by MSC member George Demidowicz
King Charles I and Parliament were in stalemate over the sovereign’s right to raise taxes without Parliamentary consent, a struggle which resulted in the Civil Wars. The king looked for other ways to raise money, and one option was to exploit his rights over the Royal Forests (or Chases) such as Malvern. He shared these rights with neighbouring lords, and he agreed with them to give up his rights to “venison and vert” provided he could enclose one third of the land which he could then lease or sell. George Demidowicz’s talk took the audience through his investigations into these transactions, with the documentary evidence and a series of photos which illustrated the boundary markings of the King’s new “thirds” areas on the Hills. These boundaries, in the form of shallow ditches and humps are in many places clearly visible, but to the casual observer like most of us they have no obvious purposes and are merely part of the scenery. After this talk, walkers on the Hills will now recognise a new significance in what they are seeing.