Only a short distance away along the same road as the Malvernbury Care Home, is the Malvern Pre-School Nursery. The building is in a superb condition throughout and has clearly not been penetrated by the dastardly denizens of "The Sea of Moronity" as yet. It does not appear to have been empty all that long and there are a lot of bits and pieces still left lying around, not least in the kitchen area where coffee mugs sit on the draining board, washed up after the last brews had been finished. The bay windows at the front of the house - which is the down hill elevation - have been decorated with hand painted murals; sea creatures in one room, teddy bears in another, and the walls all the way up alongside the beautiful main staircase to the first floor have been painted with animals, both domestic and from the wild African savannah.

We have not been able to find out much in the way of history for this place though clearly it was not a purpose built nursery, but a converted Victorian or Edwardian stone built house, grand and imposing like so many others in Malvern, and particularly in keeping with those on this particular road. As with the Care Home the Nursery too is set down below the level of the road, but there is no clear view from the front down the hill over towards the old and picturesque Malvern College this time because the gardens and grounds are bordered by mature trees. The privacy here during it's occupation as a residential house must have been wonderful as the nearest neighbour is the adjacent college away to the rear right as you stand looking towards the front elevation. Of course this would mean that only during weekdays would there be anyone anywhere about, and presumably during holidays and at weekends silence would reign supreme, much as it did on the day we visited, for now the college building stands empty and there is little in the way of passing traffic up and down the road above the property.

We entered the building after a short wander around the exterior and explored the first two rooms at the front of the house - both had clearly been reception rooms during the period of residential occupancy, but had last seen use as children's play rooms. Through another door and we found ourselves in the hall with the magnificent staircase in front of us. The first floor had been used for a variety of purposes during the time that the house was a children's nursery, including administration - there was what appears to have been an office up here. beyond there was a large bathroom with a row of coat pegs at junior height. The top floor is accessed by a further staircase and appears to have been occupied by the caretaker as there is a completely self contained suite of rooms up there, with a fire escape down a vertical ladder through the floor/ceiling into one of the rooms below.

After exploring both of the upper floors we descended to the ground floor once again and discovered a piano in really good condition, guarded by a small and rather bellicose looking toy owl! From the ground floor we descended to the cellars and found another piano but this time it was a very different story, for the damp and humid atmosphere down there has caused the woodwork to bloom with white mould and to swell to the point where it is actually near impossible to get the keys to depress sufficiently to sound a note. Needless to say it is beyond repair now. It was clear that the cellars were also used for classrooms, if you can call them such in a pre-school nursery, for we found a charming portrait left behind of "Roy", presumably one of the carers, painted by "Alexander" who I imagine from the style of his artwork was one of the children.

What is planned for the Nursery now we do not know but something needs to be done with this building fast - at the moment the inevitable processes of decay have barely begun, but they will soon enough, especially if the chavs and metal farmers find a way in. There is little damp on the ground floor and above but in the cellars one room is so damp and mouldy the air is fetid and hard to breath. And woodwork down here won't last for long if that paino is anything to go by...

 

 

Click on the panoramic photograph above to open up an interactive panorama in a new window...

 

 

 

 

The yard and front elevation of the nursery...

 

In the cellars for the first time...

 

 

 

 

The sign on the wall says where to go!

 

As a residential property this was a reception room, but it was a playrooms when it became a nursery...

 

 

 

 

Hand painted bee murals on the windows...

 

 

 

The second playroom has a teddy bear theme...

 

 

The back wall is also painted with teddy bears...

This teddy looks like he's going flying!

 

 

 

A different theme in this room - sea life...

A dolphin looks out across the gardens...

 

Seahorses...

 

 

 

The coat hooks are labelled with the names of the children who last used them...

 

 

Click on the panoramic photograph above to open up an interactive panorama in a new window...

 

 

 

First sight of the hall and the main staircase...

Straight up to the roof skylight through the staircase...

 

 

 

 

Animals were skilfully painted on the staircase walls...

 

 

 

A duck and ducklings...

Badgers, pheasants and a hare...

 

 

 

Together with deer...

 

 

The hand painted animals go all the way up the staircase...

T taking M taking...

 

T!

 

 

 

Beautifully ornate balustrades, Edwardian or Victorian?

 

 

An archway has been bricked up and a doorway fitted....

Stair porn!

 

 

 

Only the dust on the cabinet shows this is an abandoned building...

 

 

Teaching aids for the children are littered about all over the place including the floor...

The drive approaches the gardens at the front of the building from the road...

 

This area appears to have been an office...

 

 

 

Admin trays...

 

 

This has the look of an art room...

Looking down to the yard at the side of the house...

 

 

 

A sewing machine in perfect working order...

A separate block possibly for PE...

 

 

 

Nativity Play - the children's faces have been obscured for privacy reasons...

The yard at the back is brightly painted...

 

The orange bathroom...

 

 

 

This building has much the same Marie Celeste feel about it as the nearby Care Home...

The blue bathroom with conveniences at Junior height...

 

A shameless self portrait!

 

Up in the attic now...

 

M exploring...

 

 

 

Part of a self contained area possibly for the caretaker...

Flaking plaster, evidence of the onset of decay...

 

A fire escape to the floor below through the ceiling...

 

 

 

On our way back down...

...and further down still to the ground floor again...

 

The kitchens...

 

 

 

Clean coffee mugs wait for the next brew break...

 

 

A pile of clean crockery is stacked in the corridor...

Couldn't resist it!

 

 

 

In search of the lost chord...

 

 

A bit out of tune but not in bad nick at all considering!

Oyoy!!!

 

D'you want a face full of beak pal???

 

The smelly room, purpose unknown!

 

 

 

Clearly this cellar room was used by the children because of the coat hooks...

A book stand?

 

Roy must have been a carer?

 

Another washroom, but normal sink height...

 

The boiler room...

 

The Nursery safe...

Damp plays havoc with pianos......

 

 

 

Back outside once more...

   

 

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