EVESHAM WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY EDMUND H. NEW LONDON: J.M. DENT & CO. 29 BEDFORD STREET NEW YORK: E.P. DUTTON CO. MDCCCCIV [Illustration: Bridge St. Evesham] DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF _H.N._ 1820-1893 _D.N._ 1834-1901 NOTE For the historical matter contained in the following pages the writer is indebted mainly to George May's admirable history of the town issued in 1845, a book which, since its publication, has been the acknowledged authority on local history. To Mr. Oswald Knapp his thanks are especially due not only for permission to make use of the series of articles, founded on the monastic chronicles, which appeared some years ago in the _Evesham Journal_, most of them under the title of "Evesham Episodes," but also for much generous help and criticism. CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. EVESHAM AND THE VALE III. THE ABBEY 1. THE FOUNDING OF THE ABBEY 2. THE ABBEY AFTER THE CONQUEST. 3. THE DISSOLUTION. IV. THE REMAINS OF THE ABBEY V. THE PARISH CHURCHES VI. THE TOWN--INCLUDING BENGEWORTH AND GREEN HILL VII. THE BATTLE OF EVESHAM VIII. CAVALIERS AND ROUNDHEADS IX. THE RIVER X. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _Bridge Street_ _Evesham and Bredon Hill, from the Parks_ _The Bell Tower_ _The Gatehouse and Almonry_ _Abbot Reginald's Gateway_ _In the Market Place_ _High Street_ _The Bell Tower, from Bengeworth_ _St. Egwin's, Honeybourne_ Evesham CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION _Yonder lies our ... village--Art and Grace are less and less:_ _Science grows and Beauty dwindles--roofs of slated hideousness!_ --LOCKSLEY HALL, SIXTY YEARS AFTER Those who love with a deep reverence the work of their forefathers, whether because of the character and beauty of their handiwork, or from the historical associations which are indissolubly connected with it, cannot but regard with pain and abhorrence any cause which tends towards the demolition or destruction of the monuments of the past. To these it is a significant and distressing fact that hardly any modern English buildings or streets possess the qualities which give the value and charm to the old cities, towns, and villages of which we are the grateful inheritors. If any reader is inclined to doubt the truth of this statement, or to consider the sentiment expressed extravagant or groundless, let him consider the difference between the old towns and the new. Evesham provides a typical and sufficiently striking instance of the contrasted methods and results. Here there is hardly an old house which has not a local and individual character. Many of them may be plain, severely plain, some possibly ugly; but in each can be read by all who will, a distinct and separate thought, or series of thoughts, connecting the dwelling with its builders and owners, and with the soil out of which it has sprung.