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Evesham

Evesham (grid reference SP037438) is a rural market town in Worcestershire, England, in the Local Authority District of Wychavon. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon, in an area known as the Vale of Evesham, that was once a major English centre of market gardening. The town was originally built within a loop of the River Avon, and is subject to severe flooding. Evesham was the location of one of Europe's largest abbeys, of which only Abbot Lichfield's Bell Tower remains.^[2]

Economy

Due to its exceptionally fertile soil market gardening is carried out on a commercial scale and the surrounding area known as the Vale of Evesham) an area which is known for its production of fruit and vegetables. A decline in the second half of the 20th century resulted in the closing of Evesham Garden Market in the 1990s, and many orchards in the town's Greenhill area fell into disuse.

Between 1983 and 2008, Evesham was home to computer manufacturer Evesham Technology, formerly called Evesham Micros. The company employed up to 300 people before it went into liquidation in 2008. A group of former employees have now set up Tewktech which is based in Tewkesbury which maintains all Evesham products and does their own computer range ^[3]

History

Evesham was the site of a major battle—the Battle of Evesham, in which Simon de Montfort was defeated and killed on 4 August 1265.^[4]Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin, third Bishop of Worcester, following the vision of the Virgin Mary by a local swineherd or shepherd named Eof (sometimes Eoves).^[5] Eof legendarily went straight to Egwin, who journeyed to the site and shared the vision. He was moved to establish a Benedictine abbey on the site.

While Egwin was beatified and later canonised (a local Church of England middle school is named after him), Eof arguably had the greater historical resonance and posterity. The name of Evesham is derived from "Eof's ham" ("ham" in English placenames meaning "homestead"). Evesham Abbey funded smaller abbeys and churches in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. A large source of income came from pilgrims to the abbey to celebrate both the vision and the tomb of de Montfort.

As a result of historical development of the town, the main part of Evesham lies within the loop of the river and Bengeworth to the east on the other side of the river. Bengeworth at one stage had a castle vying for control with the abbey across on the other side. Unfortunately for Bengeworth, the knights went on a drunken spree and damaged a grave or two in the abbey graveyard, giving the monks an excuse to attack and level the castle. To prevent its rebuilding the site was sanctified as a graveyard. This historic imbalance is still visible in the distribution of shops and roads.

Also to the southern side of the town is the parish of Greater and Little Hampton, an independent village of the town until approximate 80 years ago. To celebrate the linking of the village to the town and improve access, Abbey Bridge, or "New Bridge" as it was often known was built. The bridge was also the first completely structural concrete bridge to be built in the UK.^[6] Due partly to redevelopment of Hampton and the redrawing of the electoral boundaries, Hampton has come into a resurgence in recent years.

Abbey

Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in England around 701 A.D. It was one of the largest in Europe,^[2] but only Abbot Lichfield's Bell Tower remains. The presence of the abbey, its residents and the pilgrims coming to the site led to a growth in the town within the loop of the river. A model of the town in the Middle Ages is sited in the Almonry Museum in the town centre. Henry VIII's Dissolution of the monasteries saw the Abbey dismantled and sold as building stone, leaving little but Evesham's landmark Lichfield Bell Tower.

Geography

Evesham has always been susceptible to heavy flooding and floods in the region are well documented since the 13th century In May 1924 floods at Evesham ranked 5th in the annual flood list 1848 to 1935.^[7] In May 1998, Evesham was one of the towns worst hit by record flooding along the River Avon. The river rose 19 feet (5.8 m) 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 the bridge's arches. In July 2007, the rainfall had been the heaviest for 200 years, reaching more than 320% the average in some areas. In the Severn catchment, it caused the some of the heaviest floods recorded, and in Evesham the flooding was the worst in its recorded history.^[8]

Travel

Evesham is at the junction of the A46 and A44 trunk roads - the four-mile A46 £7 million single-carriageway bypass to the east of the town opened in July 1987 as the A435.^[9] The town is on the once planned line of the Strensham to Solihull motorway, linking the M50 to the M42.^[10] However, in 1974 the scheme was dropped in favour of widening the M5 through Worcestershire.^[11]

Evesham Railway Station is about two hours from London Paddington on the Cotswold Line.

The River Avon is a navigable waterway linking the River Severn at Tewkesbury to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal at Stratford-upon-Avon. The ancient Hampton Ferry links the town to the nearby district of Hampton.

Education

Evesham's schools conform to the three-tier education model of first school (ages 5–10), middle school (ages 10–13), high school (ages 13–18) adopted by Wychavon District Council 1974 and completed by 1977.

Primary schools

Badsey First School

Bengeworth C of E First School

Bretforton First School

Honeybourne First School

Swan Lane First School

St Andrews First School (Hampton)

St Marys Catholic School

St Richards C Of E First School

Middle schools

Blackminster Middle School

Simon de Montfort Middle School

St Egwin's C. of E. Middle School

Bredon Hill Middle School

High schools

Evesham High School

Prince Henry's High School

Further education

Evesham and Malvern Hills College. The college caters mainly for students studying at the NVQ and BTEC level or undertaking practical vocational courses and courses in sewing. The college was formed by the merger of Evesham College and Malvern Hills College in September 2000.^[12]

Culture

Although both of Evesham's cinemas have now closed, the town does have a modern purpose built theatre in Evesham Arts Centre. Work is being undertaken to bring Evesham's last cinema (The Regal) back into use and special events are being organised regularly during the work^[13]. Recently The Regal signed a deal with Universal Studios to show all their movies ^[14].

Evesham is twinned with Dreux in France, Melsungen in Germany and Evesham Township in New Jersey, USA.^[15]

Language

The distinctive local dialect, now declining in use but strong still in older generations of the town's inhabitants, has 'Asum' as a contraction of the town's name.^[16] Asum was also the name given to an ale produced by a micro-brewery based at the historic Green Dragon public house built in Tudor architecture) in 1510.^[17] Further features of local language give rise to variations in the pronunciation of the town's name. 'Eve-shum' is the more common phonetic pronunciation, but the pronunciation 'Eve-er-shum' is not uncommon. Younger generations of the town's inhabitants give a pseudo-affectionate name, The Sham, to the town.

Sport and leisure

Rowing (Evesham Rowing Club)

Kayaking & Canoeing (Evesham Paddlesport)

Sailing (Evesham Sailing Club)

Rugby Union - Senior and Youth Sections (Evesham Rugby Club)

The town also has a Petanque team (Evesham Petanque Club).

Notable people

John Aldridge (cricketer) was born in Evesham, on 13 March 1935.^[18]

Molly Badham (founder of Twycross Zoo) was born in Evesham, on 18 May 1914.^[19]

Wilhelmina Baldwin (artist) was born in Evesham, in 1965. ^[20][21]

Jim Capaldi (singer-songwriter) co-founder of band Traffic was born in Evesham on 24 August 1944.

Muzio Clementi (composer) died in Evesham, on 10 March 1832

Daniel Flynn (actor) was born in Evesham, in 1961

Sir Henry Fowler, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Midland Railway and subsequently the London, Midland and Scottish Railway was born in Evesham, on 29 July 1870.^[22]

Edmund Hort New (artist) was born in Evesham in 1871.

Harry King (footballer) was born in Evesham, in 1886.

Robert Lanchbury (cricketer) was born in Evesham, on 11 February 1950.^[23]

Alistair McGowan (impressionist and actor) was born in Evesham, on 24 November 1964.^[24]

Andy Preece (footballer) was born in Evesham, on 27 March 1967.^[25]

P J Proby (American pop singer) lives in Evesham.^[26][27]

Edward Righton was born in Evesham, on 23 November 1884.^[28]

Satans Rats (band) were a punk based in Evesham, formed in 1977.

The Photos (band) is a new wave based in Evesham, formed in 1979.

Bishop John Watson was born in Evesham, in 1520.

William Jones, Victoria Cross winner at Rorkes Drift, Africa was born in Evesham c1839.

Guy Whittingham (footballer) was born in Evesham, on 10 November 1964.^[29]

Wrathchild (band) is a glam/heavy metal based in Evesham, formed in 1980.^[30]