Malvern is actually a spa town in addition to civil parish within Worcestershire, England, controlled by Malvern Town Council. At the time of the 2001 census it offers a populace of 28,749, and features the old settlement and industrial hub of Great Malvern on the high eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and also the former independent urban area of Malvern Link. Most of the main suburbs and settlements that encompass the town are split up by large tracts of open common land and fields and, in conjunction with small civil parishes adjoining the town council boundaries plus the hills, the built up area is commonly referred to collectively as The Malverns.