A Malvern spa site where Florence Nightingale was nursed back to health after the Crimean War is coming up for sale at auction.

Malvernbury, in Abbey Road, is a large detached house dating from 1907-8 and designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Worcester architect A Hill Parker.

It replaced an earlier structure established by Dr Walter Johnson in 1854 as a facility for patients to take the water from the famous Malvern springs.

Florence Nightingale, who was extremely ill with Crimean Fever – now thought to have been brucellosis – coupled with stress, arrived in August 1857 and stayed for five weeks, returning in 1858 and 1867.

Malvernbury now presents a freehold residential development opportunity.

Planning permission has been granted for its conversion into eight apartments plus the construction of three town houses and a coach house.

Sitting on a 1.2-acre plot with views across the Severn Valley, it is offered for a guide price of £500,000-£600,000 at CPBigwood auction at Aston Villa’s Holte Suite on Thursday, (December 12), staring at 11am. There are 91 lots including a three-bedroom semi in New Road, Solihull, guide price £215,000-£235,000; a link detached with five bedrooms in Arthur Road, Erdington, guide price £150,000-£200,000, and a three-bedroom midterrace in Woodbridge Road, Moseley, guide price £115,000-£130,000.

Agent: CPBigwood on 0121 233 5046 or go to www.cpbigwood.com