Wyche ( ), often referred to locally as The Wyche, is a village and a suburb of the town of

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dra ...

, England, and part of the civil parish of

Malvern Wells Malvern Wells is a village and civil parish south of Great Malvern in the Malvern Hills district of Worcestershire, England. The parish, once known as South Malvern, was formed in 1894 from parts of the civil parishes of Hanley Castle, Welland ...

. It is situated approximately south of

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is ...

, the town's centre, on the B4218 road that runs from Malvern to

Colwall Colwall is a civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the AONB. Areas of the village are known as Colwall Stone, Upper Colwall which sha ...

. The western boundary of the village is marked by The Wyche Cutting, a

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

through the

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit affo ...

that was once part of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

salt route A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it. From the Bronze Age (in the 2nd ...

, hence the name "Wyche" — several places in England associated with salt have this (or similar) in their name. As the crest of the Malvern Hills (running north to south) defines this part of the border between the two counties of

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, The Wyche Cutting itself forms a narrow pass through the hills between the counties. From the 1920s until the 1960s, this road (passing through The Wyche Cutting and Colwall) was the A4105, before being re-classified as the B4218. The Wyche village comprises the two informal areas of Upper Wyche and Lower Wyche, mainly comprising residential properties. The Wyche Inn is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

situated in Upper Wyche and is the county's highest pub, with views to the east overlooking the

Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

valley. Old Wyche Road is one of the country's steepest streets, with an incline as great as 17.54° at Upper Wyche. Just on the Herefordshire side of the Cutting (in Upper Colwall) is the location of the Wyche Innovation Centre, that was the former Skot Transformers building. This is also the home of the Malvern Hills Geocentre, a visitor centre based entirely on iPads with an attached cafe. Also in Upper Colwall is the Wyche Free Church. The nearest railway stations are

(for the lower end) and

(for the upper end); both are on the same line. The Wyche CE Primary School is located in Lower Wyche.Wyche CE Primary School
/ref>

References

External links

Malvern Wells Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Mountain passes of England