Malvern. At the point where the A449 road passes through Malvern Link it is called Worcester Road, as it leads directly into the centre of the city of Worcester about eight miles to the east. The Link Stone A perambulation of the boundaries of the Malvern Chase in 1584 describes "a great Stone in a Tufte of bushes" at Link Top which was recorded on a Stuart map as the "Whore Stone" (meaning hoar or ancient stone). In 1744 the Link Stone was located at the beginning of Pickersleigh road. It has since been relocated to the St Matthias churchyard. An inscription on a plaque near the stone reads:- This stone originally marked the boundary between the Manors of Leigh and Powick. It was already old in 1584 when a breathless Elizabethan gentleman noted it during "beating the bounds". In the Stuart period it was marked on an estate map as the "Old Stone". The central recess is a receptacle for coins perpetuating the very old custom of receiving payment for the right of passage through the parish. This custom was acknowledged by mourners, who would rest a coffin on the Link Stone on its way to Leigh from the Pickersleigh side of the Link, a practice probably not discontinued until 1846 when St Matthias was consecrated. Development Malvern Link is the location of the majority of Malvern's council and private housing estates, and retail parks and factory centres that have emerged since the 1950s. The expansion in the second half of the 19th century began essentially as ribbon development along the Worcester Road, the eastern approach to Malvern, at the same time as Malvern's rise to popularity as a Spa Town. When the railway arrived in the mid 19th century, the settlement had reached sufficient dimensions to justify its own fully featured station although the Great Malvern station is only about one mile further down the line. Large villas and small hotels were constructed along the entire length of the northern side of the Worcester Road, from the railway station to Link Top affording them an unhindered view over the Malvern Common and many of them were converted to boarding schools following the decline of the spa industry, and major middle class residential areas developed northwards during the inter-war years of the 1920s and 1930s. Further development is planned for the second decade of the 21st century with approximately