Evesham is an attractive market town on banks of River Avon and surrounded by the rich fertile Vale of Evesham renowned for its fruit and market gardening.
An Abbey (#2) was founded here in the C8th after the Virgin Mary had appeared to a local swineherd called Eof. A town grew up around the abbey in a loop of thes River Avon. It was granted a market in 1055. After the Norman Conquest, the abbey was extended and became the third largest in England.
The medieval town had two parish churches, All Saints (#4) and St Lawrence (#3) built within the abbey precinct.
Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester who had gained control of parliament was defeated by Prince Edward ( later Edward I) at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. His remains were buried in front of the altar in the Abbey and soon became a place of pilgrimage.
The Abbey was dissolved in 1540 and the buildings apart from the bell tower which was bought by the Townsfolk and the Almonry, were dismantled.
Evesham remained a fairly small market town with limited transport links to the rest of the country. Agriculture was primarily crops, such as cereals, which could withstand lengthy travel times from farm to customer. The arrival of the railway 1852 opened up markets in Oxford, Worcester, Birmingham , Bristol and London. The fertile soil of the Vale of Evesham turned out to be perfect for growing high value, short shelf-life crops. Fields of wheat and barley were replaced by apples, pears, plums, cabbages, onions, and Evesham’s signature crop, asparagus. This brought new prosperity to the town.
Evesham is a small and compact town and easily explored on foot. It has a range of shops with the main shopping are along Vine Street, High Street, Bridge Street and surrounding alleys. There is also the large Riverside Shopping Centre.
Apart from the churches and Abbey, the oldest building in Evesham is the C14th Almonry, (#5) once the home of Abbey’s Almoner, who ministered to the poor and sick of the parish. It became the home of the last Bishop following the Dissolution of the Abbey. It then had a variety of uses before being bought by the Borough Council. It now houses the museum and tourist information office.
On the green in front are the town stocks.
Evesham retains many old buildings, particularly timber frame buildings from the C15th. The Round House may originally have been the home of a wealthy merchant. By the start of the C20th it had shops on the ground floor and is now a branch of the Nat West. (In October 2023 it was covered with scaffolding and polythene and undergoing restoration.
Ye Olde Red Horse inn was a C15th coaching inn and is one of oldest inns in Evesham
The Royal Oak is a similar date.
The Trumpet Inn is later, being C17th and has been altered and added to over the years.
Evesham Town Hall dates from 1586, and was built using stone recovered from the ruins of the Abbey following its Dissolution. Markets were held in the arcades on the ground floor with an assembly room on the first floor. It also had a lock up for holding petty criminals. The building was substantially remodelled in the late C19th with the addition of the clock tower commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Qeen Victoria. It
ceased being the seat of local government in 1974 with the formation of Wychavon District Council.
Later buildings were built using brick.
The Old school House was built in 1844 as a National School. It is now a cafe with flats above.
The statue of Eof is in Market Place. near the Round House, depicts the swineherd Eof on his knees covering his face at the apparition of the Virgin Mary, whose face is emerging from the canopy of trees.
Eof was an 8th century swineherd employed by Egwin, the third Bishop of Worcester. While Eof was searching for some stray pigs he was confronted by a vision of the Virgin with her two attendants. Partly in fear and partly in excitement he went to Worcester to tell Bishop Egwin what he had seen. Egwin came to the same spot and after a period of prayer, the vision appeared to him in the same form, but this time the Virgin spoke to the Bishop, saying "This is the place I have chosen". Egwin interpreted this message as an indication that the Virgin required a Church to be built on the spot in her honour and he set about establishing a monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, becoming the first Abbot.
It is a short walk from the centre to Hampton Ferry. Monks from Evesham Abbey planted a vineyard on the terraced slopes of Clarkes Hill in Hampton. As the only bridge across the river was two miles from the vineyard, they installed a rope ferry to make the journey easier along with a building where they could make and store the wine.
The ferry proved popular with the villagers of Hampton and surrounding villages allowing them to reach Evesham. The ferry continued to run after the Dissolution of the Abbey of the abbey, people still preferred to cross the river via ferry. The winery was converted into a private house, rebuilt many times over the centuries.
The ferry still works today and is one of the few surviving examples of a chain ferry. It is manually operated by pulling on a cable that is suspended across the river. When the ferry is docked at either bank the cable is allowed to sink to the river bottom, so as not to interfere with other river traffic. Now it is mainly used by walkers and mobile home owners on the Hampton side.
Visit Evesham has a list of walks around the Vale.
Evesham Rambling Club have a five mile walk of Evesham and the surrounding area.
There is also a Battle Trail around the site of the Battle of Evesham.
There are also several inscribed pavement slabs detailing the history of the town.
Evesham also hosts the Annual River Festival in July and a re -enactment of Battle of Evesham along with a Medieval Market in August.
A couple of miles to the north of the town is the Vale of Evesham Light Railway, a 15” guage railway on a mile of track
website
cont...
An Abbey (#2) was founded here in the C8th after the Virgin Mary had appeared to a local swineherd called Eof. A town grew up around the abbey in a loop of thes River Avon. It was granted a market in 1055. After the Norman Conquest, the abbey was extended and became the third largest in England.
The medieval town had two parish churches, All Saints (#4) and St Lawrence (#3) built within the abbey precinct.
Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester who had gained control of parliament was defeated by Prince Edward ( later Edward I) at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. His remains were buried in front of the altar in the Abbey and soon became a place of pilgrimage.
The Abbey was dissolved in 1540 and the buildings apart from the bell tower which was bought by the Townsfolk and the Almonry, were dismantled.
Evesham remained a fairly small market town with limited transport links to the rest of the country. Agriculture was primarily crops, such as cereals, which could withstand lengthy travel times from farm to customer. The arrival of the railway 1852 opened up markets in Oxford, Worcester, Birmingham , Bristol and London. The fertile soil of the Vale of Evesham turned out to be perfect for growing high value, short shelf-life crops. Fields of wheat and barley were replaced by apples, pears, plums, cabbages, onions, and Evesham’s signature crop, asparagus. This brought new prosperity to the town.
Evesham is a small and compact town and easily explored on foot. It has a range of shops with the main shopping are along Vine Street, High Street, Bridge Street and surrounding alleys. There is also the large Riverside Shopping Centre.
Apart from the churches and Abbey, the oldest building in Evesham is the C14th Almonry, (#5) once the home of Abbey’s Almoner, who ministered to the poor and sick of the parish. It became the home of the last Bishop following the Dissolution of the Abbey. It then had a variety of uses before being bought by the Borough Council. It now houses the museum and tourist information office.
On the green in front are the town stocks.
Evesham retains many old buildings, particularly timber frame buildings from the C15th. The Round House may originally have been the home of a wealthy merchant. By the start of the C20th it had shops on the ground floor and is now a branch of the Nat West. (In October 2023 it was covered with scaffolding and polythene and undergoing restoration.
Ye Olde Red Horse inn was a C15th coaching inn and is one of oldest inns in Evesham
The Royal Oak is a similar date.
The Trumpet Inn is later, being C17th and has been altered and added to over the years.
Evesham Town Hall dates from 1586, and was built using stone recovered from the ruins of the Abbey following its Dissolution. Markets were held in the arcades on the ground floor with an assembly room on the first floor. It also had a lock up for holding petty criminals. The building was substantially remodelled in the late C19th with the addition of the clock tower commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Qeen Victoria. It
ceased being the seat of local government in 1974 with the formation of Wychavon District Council.
Later buildings were built using brick.
The Old school House was built in 1844 as a National School. It is now a cafe with flats above.
The statue of Eof is in Market Place. near the Round House, depicts the swineherd Eof on his knees covering his face at the apparition of the Virgin Mary, whose face is emerging from the canopy of trees.
Eof was an 8th century swineherd employed by Egwin, the third Bishop of Worcester. While Eof was searching for some stray pigs he was confronted by a vision of the Virgin with her two attendants. Partly in fear and partly in excitement he went to Worcester to tell Bishop Egwin what he had seen. Egwin came to the same spot and after a period of prayer, the vision appeared to him in the same form, but this time the Virgin spoke to the Bishop, saying "This is the place I have chosen". Egwin interpreted this message as an indication that the Virgin required a Church to be built on the spot in her honour and he set about establishing a monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, becoming the first Abbot.
It is a short walk from the centre to Hampton Ferry. Monks from Evesham Abbey planted a vineyard on the terraced slopes of Clarkes Hill in Hampton. As the only bridge across the river was two miles from the vineyard, they installed a rope ferry to make the journey easier along with a building where they could make and store the wine.
The ferry proved popular with the villagers of Hampton and surrounding villages allowing them to reach Evesham. The ferry continued to run after the Dissolution of the Abbey of the abbey, people still preferred to cross the river via ferry. The winery was converted into a private house, rebuilt many times over the centuries.
The ferry still works today and is one of the few surviving examples of a chain ferry. It is manually operated by pulling on a cable that is suspended across the river. When the ferry is docked at either bank the cable is allowed to sink to the river bottom, so as not to interfere with other river traffic. Now it is mainly used by walkers and mobile home owners on the Hampton side.
Visit Evesham has a list of walks around the Vale.
Evesham Rambling Club have a five mile walk of Evesham and the surrounding area.
There is also a Battle Trail around the site of the Battle of Evesham.
There are also several inscribed pavement slabs detailing the history of the town.
Evesham also hosts the Annual River Festival in July and a re -enactment of Battle of Evesham along with a Medieval Market in August.
A couple of miles to the north of the town is the Vale of Evesham Light Railway, a 15” guage railway on a mile of track
website
cont...
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