Malvern Hill

For the area in England, see Malvern Hills.

HABS photograph of Malvern Hill, presumably before 1905 when house was burned

Malvern Hill stands on the north bank of the James River in Henrico County, Virginia, USA, about eighteen miles southeast of Richmond. On 1 July 1862, it was the scene of the Battle of Malvern Hill, one of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War.

The name referred primarily to the house built by Thomas Cocke in the 17th century, and which belonged to the Cocke family until much later. The house was named after the Malvern Hills area in England. The house was burned in 1905. All that remains are end gables including a fireplace. The ruins, nonetheless, are architecturally significant as evidence of the house, which one of few known cruciform-plan design houses in the state. Also, "the one surviving chimney is perhaps the finest example of seventeenth century diaper brickwork in the state."^[1]

The property figured in three wars: Lafayette camped there twice in 1781 in the American Revolutionary War; Virginia militia camped there in the War of 1812; it is most known for being the site of bloody Battle of Malvern Hill in 1862.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission staff (1967). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Malvern Hill". Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Henrico/043-0008_Malvern_Hill_1969_Final_Nomination.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-27.  and Accompanying 2 photos at Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, undated

External links

• Malvern Hill — information, with photographs, from the Henrico County Historical Society
• "Interpretation Update: Archeological Success at Malvern Hill" — The Richmond National Parks Newsletter 6 (2001)
• "Malvern Hill" — a poem by Herman Melville

Coordinates: 37°24′45″N 77°15′03″W / 37.41244°N 77.25092°W / 37.41244; -77.25092