Tradition has it that St. Werstern (or Werstan), a monk at Deerhurst, built himself a cell upon a ledge of rock on the Malvern Hills, in a ravine leading to the position of St. Anne's Well. H.S. Brassington in Historical Worcestershire says that when the Danes destroyed the monastery at Deerhurst, Werstan fled through the marshes and forests to the solitude of the Malvern Hills, where he lived a holy and solitary life. As recently as 1825, (he adds), portions of the hermitage incorporated with a little cottage were standing. Many encaustic tiles and carved stones adorned the building, and in the orchard rude cists containing human bones were constantly found. The ancient deeds belonging to the house prove without doubt that this was the site of a recluse's cell, for in them the place was called 'The Hermitage'. The cottage and all visible relics of the anchorage have disappeared, and the pump house and its Italian style villa now occupies the site.
Victorian St Anne's Well