Evesham Things to Do

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St Lawrence's Church, Evesham, is an Anglican church no longer in use and is now on the English Heritage list.

Both Churches, St Lawrence's Church and All Saints were built by the Benedictine monks of Evesham Abbey in the 12th century. The present church dates from 1470, replacing the earlier church.

Initially St Lawrence's was a richer church than All Saints, and it was better endowed than its neighbour, but in latter year's, this changed, with All Saint's becoming the richer Church.
The church deteriorated badly by 1718, so repairs were started in 1737, but these were done badly, and the roof collapsed in 1800. The church was then abandoned until the 19th century, when a major re-building in 1836–37 took place.
In 1978 the parish of St Lawrence united with that of All Saints, and St Lawrence's was declared redundant.

All Saint's Church is a lovely Anglican Chuch in Evesham.
The Church was built by the Benedictine monks of Evesham Abbey in the 12th century, to serve the people of Evesham and is still in use today.
All Saints is now the town's parish church, as St Lawrence's was declared redundant in 1978.

The Church Yard, is shared by the two churches, rather unusual, but still to this day, not known why they were built so close together, as parishoner's came from both sides of town.
All Saints for some reason, attracted the wealthier residents.

The organ was originally installed at Ranelagh Garden's before coming to All Saint's. It dates back to the 18th century and may have been played by Mozart!

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The Almonry was another delightful building in Evesham. This building, dated back to the 14th century. Following the closure of the Abbey by Henry VIII, the Almonry became the personal home of the last Abbot, Philip Ballard, whilst the rest of the Abbey buildings were sold to Sir Philip Hoby who arranged for the quarrying of the stone. What a shame!

The Almonry has been used as an ale house, offices, tea rooms, private home, until it was finally purchased by Evesham Borough Council in 1929 and then opened in 1957 as a Heritage Centre.

The collection spans from prehistoric to the 20th Century, and includes exhibitions about the Abbey, the battle of Evesham in 1265, horticulture in the area, Anglo-Saxon burial treasure, 18th Century clothing and the impact of war upon this little market town.
The house has a lovely garden, including a Flower Clock, and also some "stock's' on display in the garden.

OPEN...
Monday to SaturdaY 10.00am till 5.00pm
Sunday (March to October) 2.00pm till 5.00pm

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The most perfect architectural remain's of the Norman Abbot's is Abbot Reginald's Gateway.

It's a Norman arch leading from the Market Place to the Abbey Church yard. I passed by the 15th century Walker Hall and the Church House. The sign I saw said it date's to 1151.

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As the name suggest's, I found Abbey Park as I walked around the Abbey Ground's.
It's a really nice riverside park, with concrete pathway's, lovely garden's, sculpture's, playground, Skatepark, Water Play and general play area with trampoline, swing's, slides and sand pit and the River Avon. Along the River Bank's, were Long-boat's tethered.

The site of the Abbey is marked out in the grass in the park and interpretation panels explain the history.
The designer of this garden has come up with some good idea's, like the water canal and the terraced garden's, but the best idea is turning the derelict Abbey Fish Pools into ornamental bog gardens and a lily pool!

Boat trips are available from the quayside.
It is here, Eversham hold's Fair's, Concert's, river activities such as the Evesham Regatta, Raft Races and attractions such as the Evesham Show.

This park is a credit to the people of Evesham!

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Once the great Evesham Abbey stood here, founded by Saint Egwin between 700 and 710 A.D., following a vision of the Virgin Mary by Eof.

Now all that remain's is the magnificent Bell Tower from 1539, and the twin churches of All Saints and St Lawrence.
This happened because Henry VIII closed the monasteries in 1540. When most of the Abbey was destroyed, the townspeople saved the tower. The tower houses 14 bells and a recently restored carillon.

The Statue of Eof - the Legend of Evesham, is located in the Market Place, near the Round House.

It depicts the swineherd Eof on his knees covering his face at the apparition of the Virgin Mary, whose face is emering from the canopy of trees.

So, What is the story?

"Eof was an 8th century swineherd employed by Egwin the third Bishop of Worcester, working in the forest area on the banks of the river, known locally as "homme".
The legend tells us that 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.
This resulted in the development of the town adopting the name of Eoveshomme (Evesham)."

Around the base of the statue, the River Avon is depicted in the form of ripples of water and fish.
Evidently there is key in the sculptur somewhere, I don't remember seeing it, but wasn't looking either!

The key related to an episode in the life of Egwin (later Saint Egwin).
He critised the local people about lack of spirituality and the way they were living their lives.
The more influential among them, started to spread false accusations about him to the Pope and to the King.
Eventually the Pope summoned Egwin to Rome to account for himself. Egwin left for Rome, but as a sign of his penitence for any offence he may have caused the people, he locked chains around his ankles, dropping the key into the river in Evesham before he left, saying that he would not believe that his sins had been forgiven unless the chains had been removed.

On arrival at Rome, one of Egwin's attendants went to catch a fish in the River Tiber for their meal and while it was being prepared for cooking, the key to Egwin's chains was found in the belly of the fish! Egwin was exonerated by the Pope and he returned triumphant to resume his position as Abbot of the Abbey he had founded here at Evesham.

The Statue was erected as a result of a vote by the local people and was entirely financed by the local people.
It was unveiled on Sunday 15th June 2008.

The statue stands on a stone plinth made from stone from the original Abbey, which was donated by readers of the Cotswold and Vale Magazine.

What a story, one I enjoyed reading, and I do hope, you did too!

The Pennywhistle sculpture I came across in the riverside Abbey Gardens.
The piece was commissioned to commemorate the start of the 2007 Evesham music festival and was carved out by using a chainsaw from a cedar log.

The Pennywhistle occurred thousands of years ago, but is was only in the mid 1800's, that a modern whistle with six finger holes was made.