Short answer: the Malvern Hills are made of hard, ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks: diorites, granites, schists and gneiss from the Precambrian. The Malvern Hills Trust puts their age at about 700 million years, and the Earth Heritage Trust says they formed around 677 million years ago. Either way, they are among the oldest rocks in the UK.
The Malverns Complex
Geologists call these rocks the Malverns Complex. The Earth Heritage Trust describes it as one of the largest and best-exposed outcrops of Precambrian rock in England, running from End Hill Quarry in the north to Chase End Hill in the south. The valleys and commons around the hills are made of much younger Silurian and Triassic sedimentary rocks. That is why the ridge rises so abruptly from the flat land.
Sources quote slightly different ages, from over 600 to about 700 million years. The hills and their rocks are protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Where to see the rocks
The old quarries are the best places to look, from a safe distance:
Landmark
Earnslaw Quarry
A former quarry beside the Wyche road with a lake and rock faces of pink granite and diorite, now a car park and the start of an easier-access trail.
Landmark
Gullet Quarry
A disused quarry in the southern hills with a deep, cold lake and a rock face showing ancient Malvern rocks. Swimming is prohibited.
Landmark
Tank Quarry
A former quarry on North Hill with display boards on the ancient rocks of the Malverns; the rock faces are unstable, so keep well back.
Landmark
Ivy Scar Rock
A natural crag on the eastern side of North Hill above Great Malvern, described as the highest natural rock on the hills and used by climbers.
- Earnslaw Quarry: pink granite and diorite, a rare trachyte dyke and pyroxenite. It is also a car park, so it is easy to visit.
- Gullet Quarry: a face showing diorite, granite, gneiss, schist, pegmatite and dolerite. Do not swim in the lake.
- Tank Quarry: display boards on the Malverns Complex and the East Malvern Fault.
- Ivy Scar Rock: the highest natural crag on the hills, a dyke of hornblende microdiorite.
Rocks and water
Rain soaks into the cracks and fissures in these hard rocks and comes out as springs around the hills. The water is famously pure because the rock gives it so little. See Malvern water: springs and wells.
Going further
The Geopark Way, a 109-mile trail from Bridgnorth to Gloucester, runs along the spine of the hills. The small Malvern Hills GeoCentre by the Wyche Cutting is its official visitor centre.
The facts in this guide were checked against published sources on 14 Sept 2026. Things change, so check before you travel.