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Evesham in Worcestershire

Thursday, 4 January 2024 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Great Britain / Großbritannien
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Evesham is a market town and 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 centre, situated within a meander of the river, is subjected regularly to flooding. The 2007 floods were the most severe in recorded history.

The town was founded around an 8th-century abbey, one of the largest in Europe, which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with only Abbot Lichfield’s Bell Tower remaining. During the 13th century, one of the two main battles of England’s Second Barons’ War took place near the town, marking the victory of Prince Edward, who later became King Edward I; this was the Battle of Evesham.

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 (Lady Godiva). Godifu, who died in around 1067, is possibly buried at the abbey. During the reign of King Stephen, 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 county of
Worcestershire and after 1837 head of the Evesham Poor Law Union which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law, and built a workhouse for that area.

Due to its exceptionally fertile soil, market gardening is carried out on a commercial scale in the surrounding area, known as the Vale of Evesham, which 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.

Retail and food outlets are provided for in the traditional high street and the Riverside Shopping Centre, and Four Pools Lane Retail Park. The Valley (formerly Evesham Country Park), is a large retail and leisure park located out of town with a diversity of stores, restaurants and cafés. The Vale includes the Evesham Vale Light Railway miniature railway.

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. Evesham 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, while 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 5th 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 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 its arches. In July 2007 Evesham had its heaviest rainfall for 200 years, reaching more than 320% the average in some areas. In the Severn catchment, it caused some of the heaviest floods recorded, and in Evesham the flooding was the worst in its recorded history.

Read more on VisitEvesham.co.uk, VisitWorcestershire.org – Evesham, Battle of Evesham, Wikivoyage Evesham and Wikipedia Evesham (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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