The talk - following our - AGM  was given by our Chairman Carmel’, and called “In praise of Evesham”.

 

It covered the history of the area from the Ice Age, a period when the local river flowed north towards the Trent.  Immediately after this period it turned and joined the stream which is now the Avon we know today; hyenas, woolly rhinos and other exotic fauna roamed the area.  She showed slides of local archaeological finds - bones from these creatures, and neolithic items such as the lovely axe found under what is now Evesham Leisure Centre and on display in the Almonry.  There were loom weights and Saxon items from excavations at Fish Hill, near Broadway, all contributing to a fascinating picture of what was happening in the area before the town grew up.

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Then Carmel touched on the foundation of the Abbey, by Ecgwin, the third Bishop of Worcester, listing the original grants of property by the Anglo-Saxon Kings.  She also showed a list of pre-Conquest abbots, among them three saints – Ecgwin, Credan and Osweard.

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There is a book in the Bodleian Library – the Liber Evesham – giving complete details of the marriage ceremony as drawn up in the 1100s and containing vows which bear a remarkable resemblance to the wedding vows as we know them today.

 

Passing quickly over the dissolution of the monastery and the giving of the lands and buildings to Sir Philip Hoby, she discussed Prince Henry’s links with Evesham, leading to the granting of the Town’s Charter by James I in 1604.

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Sadly, time constraints led to the curtailing of the talk during discussion of the form of land tenure known as the “Evesham Custom”, but we can only look forward to a continuation of the amazing story of Evesham at a future date