Evesham
Evesham is a market town and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesham, an area comprising the flood plain of the River Avon, which has been renowned for market gardening.
The town was founded around an 8th-century abbey, one of the largest in Europe, which was destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, with only Abbot Lichfield's Bell Tower remaining. During the 13th century, one of the two main battles of the Second Barons' War took place near Evesham, marking the victory of Prince Edward, who later became Edward I of England; this was the Battle of Evesham.
The town centre, situated within a meander of the river, is subjected regularly to flooding. The 2007 floods were the most severe in the town's history. As at the 2021 census, Evesham has a population of 27,684.
History
Toponymy
Evesham is derived from Old English homme or ham, and Eof, the name of a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third Bishop of Worcester. It was originally named Homme or Haum; it was recorded as Eveshomme in 709 and Evesham in 1086. The second part of the name typically only signifies a home or dwelling but, in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, it was commonly applied to land on the sides of a river, generally in bends of a river, which were liable to flooding.Abbey
, which became possibly the third-largest in England, was founded by Egwin of Evesham, the third Bishop of Worcester about AD 701, following the vision of the Virgin Mary to a local swineherd or shepherd named Eof.An entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 lists Evesham, mentioning: "Two free men; Two radmen; Abbey of St Mary of Evesham; Abbey of St Mary of Pershore; Edmund, Abbot of St Mary of Pershore; Walter, Abbot of St Mary of Evesham; Aethelwig, Abbot of St Mary of Evesham; King William as donor; Odo, Bishop of Bayeux; Ranulph; Turstin, Abbot of St Mary of Pershore; Walter Ponther; Westminster, Gilbert Crispin, Abbot of St Peter."
The abbey was redeveloped and extended after the Norman Conquest, employing many tradesmen and significantly contributing to the growth of Evesham. Income for the abbey came from pilgrims to the abbey to celebrate the vision and visitors to the tomb of Simon de Montfort. As a result of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, Evesham Abbey was dismantled in 1540 and sold as building stone, leaving little but the Lichfield Bell Tower. The abbey remains are a Scheduled Ancient Monument ; parts of the abbey complex, Abbot Reginald's Wall and the ruins of Abbot Chryton's Wall, are listed buildings managed by English Heritage. The abbey's coat of arms is used as the crest of Prince Henry's High School. Two surviving buildings with links to the abbey are the Middle Littleton Tythe Barn and the Almonry Museum and Heritage Centre, which is housed in the old almonry of the abbey and also displays artefacts from excavations there.
Battle
Following the Battle of Lewes on 14 May 1264, where Simon de Montfort had gained control of Parliament, the Battle of Evesham on 4 August 1265 was the second of the two main battles of the Second Barons' War. It marked the victory of Prince Edward, who led the 8,000-strong army of his father, Henry III, over the 6,000 men of de Montfort and the beginning of the end of the rebellion. The battle was a massacre; de Montfort's army were trapped in the horseshoe bend of the river, Although Simon de Montfort and his son were killed, Prince Edward's victory was not decisive towards the King's hold on the country and the struggle continued until 1267; after which the Kingdom of England returned to a period of unity and progress that was to last until the early 1290s. During the battle, the royal army wore the Saint George's Cross as their distinguishing mark. It is believed that the Battle was one of the first times that the cross was used to officially represent England. According to the chronicler William Rishanger, when de Montfort saw the advance of the royal troops, he exclaimed that "They have not learned that for themselves, but were taught it by me."Town
The medieval town developed within the meander of the River Avon, while Bengeworth developed to the east on the opposite bank of the river. In 1055, a market was granted to the Saxon town by King Edward. In the 11th century, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, had a hunting lodge at Bengeworth. Leofric founded Holy Trinity Church with his wife Godifu. Godifu, who died in around 1067, is possibly buried at the abbey. During the reign of Stephen, King of England, William de Beauchamp erected an adulterine castle at Bengeworth, whose occupants vied for control of the town and abbey. When Abbot William had the castle destroyed between 1149 and 1159, he consecrated the site as a graveyard to prevent the castle being rebuilt. Evesham was a borough and market town in the hundred of Blackenhurst, in Worcestershire; after 1837, head of the Evesham Poor Law Union, which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law, built a workhouse for that area.Governance
Evesham Borough Council, which was based at the town hall, administered the town until 1974, when Wychavon District Council became the local authority. It is now a town and civil parish, governed at the lowest tier of local government by Evesham Town Council, part of the Wychavon District of the County of Worcestershire. Residents in the eight council electoral wards are represented by 24 elected members. The wards, based on streets, are represented by elected councillors: Abbey, Avon, Bengeworth, Fairfield, Great Hampton, Little Hampton, South and Twyford. The council is chaired by a mayor and has a Town Clerk, who acts as chief officer.Geography
Evesham is situated on a horseshoe-shaped peninsula, almost completely surrounded by water in a meander of the River Avon between Stratford-upon-Avon and Tewkesbury. The modern town encompasses Bengeworth and Greater and Little Hampton, which were originally independent villages on the opposite bank of the river. The town is linked to Bengeworth by Workman Bridge and Hampton by Abbey Bridge, or New Bridge, the first completely structural concrete bridge in the country. The Cotswold hills stretch from the east to the south-west; to the west, the area is bounded by the Malvern Hills. To the north, the land is flat with gentle undulations. The Avon, a tributary of the River Severn, is navigable but mainly used by leisure traffic and there is a marina, providing moorings.The River Avon at Evesham has always been susceptible to heavy flooding, which is well documented from the 13th century. In May 1924, floods at Evesham ranked fifth in the annual flood list 1848 to 1935. In May 1998, Evesham was one of the towns worst hit by record flooding along the River Avon. The river rose in just a few hours, sinking tethered narrowboats, flooding areas of Bengeworth and threatening the 19th-century Workman Bridge, as static homes from a riverside caravan site broke up and became wedged in its arches. In July 2007, Evesham had its heaviest rainfall for 200 years, reaching more than 320% of the average in some areas. In the Severn catchment, it caused some of the heaviest floods recorded; in Evesham, the flooding was the worst in its recorded history.
Climate chart
Demography
At the 2001 UK census, Evesham had a total population of 22,304. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. The average household size was 2.3. Of those aged 16–74 in Evesham, 57.5% had no academic qualifications or one General Certificate of Secondary Education, above the figures for all of the Wychavon district and England. According to the census, 2.4% were unemployed and 9.4% were economically inactive. 20.1% of the population were under the age of 16 and 7.7% were aged 75 and over; the mean age of the people of the civil parish was 38.2. 69.9% of residents described their health as "good", similar to the average of 69.1% for the wider district.Economy
Due to its exceptionally fertile soil, market gardening is carried out on a commercial scale in the surrounding area; the Vale of Evesham is known for its production of fruit and vegetables. A distinctive form of leasehold tenure, known as the Evesham Custom, still regulates market garden tenancies in the area. A decline in the second half of the 20th century resulted in the closing of Evesham's Smithfield Market, while the Central Market stopped being used for produce auctions.Between 1983 and 2008, Evesham was home to computer manufacturer Evesham Micros, later renamed Evesham Technology. It was a significant contributor to the United Kingdom's domestic computer and digital television market. At its peak, the company employed up to 300 people with a chain of 19 retail stores in towns and cities throughout the UK. It went into liquidation in 2008.
Evesham's town centre provides a number of food outlets and some retail along its traditional high street and the Riverside Shopping Centre, though the latter is struggling with only 9 of the 40 units being occupied as of May 2024.
Evesham is home to several out-of-town retail parks that draw shoppers away from the centre; these include Four Pools Lane Retail Park, Evesham Shopping Park, the Sinclair Retail Park, Charity Crescent Retail Park and The Valley. The Valley formerly Evesham Country Park, is a large retail and leisure park with a diversity of stores, restaurants and cafés. The Vale includes the Evesham Vale Light Railway miniature railway.