EVESHAM, a borough and market-town, having
separate jurisdiction, locally in the lower division of the
hundred of Blackenhurst, county of WORCESTER, 15
miles (S. E.) from Worcester, 13 (N. E.) from Tewkesbury,
and 96 (N. W. by W.) from London, containing,
exclusively of the parish of Bengworth, 2634 inhabitants.
This place has at different times been called
Homme, Chronuchomme, Hatholm, Hetkelhomme, and
Mthommo, all originating in the Saxon holm, a river
island, and sometimes a hill, or rising ground, in either
sense applicable to its situation. The appellation Ernesholme,
or Evvesham, is said to be derived from Ewes,
a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third bishop of
Huicca, a Saxon province and bishoprick, the greater
part of which now forms the diocese of Worcester. Evyes
is superstitiously said to have had an interview with
the Virgin Mary on this spot, and to this circumstance
is attributed the erection of an abbey for Benedictine
monks, the foundation of which was laid in 702
and the building completed in 709, when the charter,
was confirmed: it was consecrated in 712, and dedicated
to the Virgin Mary in 714, by Egwin, who retiredhither
after he had been unjustly dispossessed of the
bishoprick of Worcester by the pope. To this establish .
ment the town owes its origin and subsequent participation
in the varied fortunes of the former. The abbot
and convent received several grants of land, manorial
privileges, and ecclesiastical property, from the Anglo-
Saxon kings and nobility, as well as from other benefactors,
both before and after the Conquest: its
possessions were ample, and its privileges numerous;
the abbots sat in parliament as spiritual barons. It
shared the fate of similar institutions, having been
suppressed on the 17th of November, 1539, at which
time the annual revenue amounted to £1268. 9.10. The
buildings and site were then alienated by the King; the
former, with the church, were demolished, and the materials
sold: an arch, or gateway, on the northern side of
the present church-yard, probably leading to the cloisters,
and a few fragments visible in some out-buildings,
are the only remains of this edifice, which appears to
have been of the decorated style of English architecture,
and highly enriched with sculpture. The handsome
isolated tower, which is so great an ornament to the
town, was erected by Clement Lichfield, the last abbot
but one; it is a beautiful specimen of the later English
style, strengthened with panelled buttresses, and crowned
with open battlements and pinnacles; but it does
not appear to have been connected with the monastic
buildings. From recent excavations, the old tower
appears to have stood at the north side of the west entrance
to the great cathedral. At the general demolition,
the present tower was purchased by the inhabitants;
it is one hundred and ten feet high, and about
twenty-eight feet square at the base; the north side is
plain, the other three sides adorned with tracery. In 1745,
a clock with chimes was put up in the tower, by Edward
Rudge, Esq. Several abbots and monks have been
interred here, among whom was abbot Lichfield, whose
tomb was opened in 1817 j but so complete has been the
destruction of this once magnificent pile, that the exact
place of their interment cannot be ascertained. The
most memorable occurrence in the history of the town
is the decisive battle which was fought here, on the 4th
of August,. 1265, between Prince Edward and Simon
Montfort, Earl of Leicester, by whom Henry III. was
detained a prisoner. The combat was characterised by
savage ferocity; and of those who fell victims were the
earl and his son, about one hundred and sixty
knights, and four thousand of their followers. The
bodies of the Earl and his son, with those of
Henry and Hugh le Despenser, were interred in the
abbey church, before the high altar, the king himself
assisting solemnly at the earl's funeral. The issue of
this contest, by releasing the captive monarch, turned
the tide of his fortunes, and led to that success by which
he was subsequently reinstated on the throne. This
celebrated battle was fought about three quarters of a
mile from the town, at a place called The Old Road,
which crosses a small stream subsequently denominated
Battle-well.
The town is pleasantly situated on an eminence
rising from the bank of the river Avon, by which it
is almost encircled, and over which is a stone bridge of
seven arches, uniting it with the parish of Bengworth,
which is within the borough; it consists of two principal,
and some inferior streets, of which the High-street
is particularly spacious. From the foundations of houses
being discoverable in various parts of the environs, it
appears to have been of greater magnitude than it is
at present. The country adjacent is remarkable for
its interesting scenery, and has consequently attracted
many respectable families to the town and neighbourhood.
The vale of Evesham is celebrated for
the extreme richness and fertility of its soil, which,
by the successful mode of cultivation, produces earlier
and more abundant crops than that of any other
part of the country; near the town, on both sides of
the river, large portions of ground have been converted
into gardens, horticulture constituting the
chief occupation of the labouring class; asparagus
attains an unequalled perfection in this soil, and
is extensively cultivated, and vegetables of every
kind are, by means of the river Avon, conveyed hence
to the principal towns in the surrounding district.
Though favoured by the navigable river Avon, it
has never become the seat of any particular branch
of trade or manufacture; there are some corn-mills,
and a mill for extracting oil from linseed. The
market is on Monday: fairs are held on the 2nd of
February, the Monday next after Easter, Whit-Monday,
and the 21st of September, the last being famous
for the show of strong black horses. King Henry VIII.,,
in the thirty-eighth year of his reign, granted and sold
to Sir Philip Hobby the three fairs, tolls, customs, &c.,
together with the market.
The inhabitants were incorporated by a charter
granted by James I., in the third year of his reign,
which confirmed their prescriptive privileges, and conferred
others. The government is vested in a mayor,
seven aldermen, twelve capital burgesses, a recorder
and chamberlain, who, with twenty-four assistants,
form the common council. The mayor is chosen
on the Tuesday next after St. Bartholomew's day; the
mayor, the recorder, and four of the aldermen, are
justices of the peace: the mayor is almoner and clerk
of the market; he is also entitled to deodands, the goods
of felons, and tolls of fairs and markets, with other
manorial rights. A court of record, at which the mayor
or recorder presides in person, or by deputy, assisted by
two of the senior aldermen, is held every Tuesday, for
the recovery of debts to the amount of & 100, by charter
of James I.: a court of session is also held on the
Friday after the county quarter sessions. The assizes for
the county, now holden at Worcester, were formerly
held here. The corporation possess the privilege of
trying and executing for all capital offences except high
treason: the last infliction of this punishment occurred
in 1740, when a female was burnt for petty treason.
The town hall is a plain building in the" market-place,
in which the courts are held, and assemblies take place
during the season. The borough returned members to
parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but after that
king's reign it discontinued till the commencement of
that of James I., since which period it has uninterruptedly
returned two representatives. The right of election
is vested in the burgesses, of whom there are aboxit
seven hundred: the mayor is the returning officer. The
influence possessed by Lord Northwick enables him to
ensure the return of one member.
The borough comprises the parishes of All Saints,
St. Lawrence, and Bengworth, formerly in the peculiar
jurisdiction of the abbot of Evesham, now in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Worcester; the last, lying on the
eastern bank of the river, was added to the borough by
the charter of James I. The living of All Saints is a disEVE
150 E W E
charged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £10.16.O.,
endowed with £200 private benefaction, £400 royal
bounty, and £ 600 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage
of the Crown. The church was formerly a
chapel to the abbey, and is said to have been built about
1350, but probably earlier; it is an elegant structure in
the later style of English architecture, with a tower
and spire; the porch at the western entrance is of very
beautiful construction, embattled, and having pinnacles
at the corner; on the south side is a small chapel, built
by abbot Clement Lichfield, the roof of which is finely
groined, and beautifully adorned with fan tracery. The
living of the parish of St. Lawrence is a perpetual
curacy, united to the vicarage of All Saints, endowed
with £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Crown.
The church, which is in ruins, exhibits a rich specimen
of the later style of English architecture; attached
to it is a chapel of exquisite beauty; the tower and
spire are of earlier construction. There are places of worship
for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Wesleyan
Methodists, and Unitarians. The free grammar school
was endowed originally by abbot Lichfield. Henry VIII.,
after the dissolution of the abbey, refounded this
school, restoring only a part of its previous revenue. The
charter which James granted to the inhabitants remodelled
the institution, when it was called the free
school of Prince Henry. The master receives £10 annually
from the crown, with a house rent-free, and some
minor emoluments. In Bengworth is also a school,
founded in 1709, pursuant to the will of John Deacle,
Esq., alderman of London, dated three years previously,
whereby he bequeathed £2000 for the endowment of a
free school for the benefit of thirty poor boys, who are
clothed, educated, and apprenticed. The nomination of
the boys is vested in the churchwardens and overseers
of the parish; and, should there not be a sufficient
number of poor boys in Bengworth, in the mayor and
capital burgesses of Evesham. John Gardner, of London,
gave £4. 6. 8. annually, with the addition of 18s.
per annum, arising from some tenements in the town,
towards the instruction, in the English language, of
twenty-five poor boys belonging to the parishes of All
Saints and St. Lawrence. Several benefactions to the
poor, and for apprenticing children, are recorded on
tablets in the churches of the respective parishes. In the
parish of Bengworth was an ancient castle, which,
in 1169, was attacked by the abbot William DAndeville,
who destroyed it, and erected the present church
on its site; it is built on the surface of the soil
without sinking for a foundation. Ten years ago,
on levelling a bank in the grounds belonging to
B. Cooper, Esq., called the Moat-arches, about sixty
yards from the church, the foundation of a large room,
sixty feet by twenty-five, was discovered, which furnished
sufficient stone to build a convenient house. Walter
of Evesham, a monkish writer of great celebrity, and
John Feckenham, of Feckenham, in this county, received
the early part of their education in the abbey
here. John Bernardi, of Italian extraction, but born
here, was a daring, adventurous soldier; he was committed
to Newgate for suspected treason, where he died.
Sir Charles Cocks, Bart., on his elevation to the peerage,
on the l?th of May, 1784, assumed the title of
Lord Somers, Baron of Evesham, which is held by the
present Earl Somers.