The ancient market town of Evesham can trace its existence back to the eight century when Evesham Abbey was founded on the spot where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to a humble swineherd call Eoves while he was searching for a stray pig in the area called 'Lomme'.  Eoves reported his experience to Ecgwin the third Bishop of Worcester for whom he worked who came to the spot and also saw the vision. Ecgwin founded the Abbey in 709 and became the first Abbot. The area became known as Eoveshomme (later Evesham).  The town grew around the Abbey which in 1540 when it was dissolved by Henry VIII was estimated to be the 3rd largest and most powerful Abbey in England.

The Abbey Church and most of the monastic buildings were dismantled and sold off as building stone but the twin Churches of All Saints and St. Lawrence and Abbot Lichfield's fine 16th Century Bell tower remain.  These fine buildings built within the Abbey precincts form an impressive backdrop to the Abbey Park with its grassy banks, shady trees and flower beds ablaze with colour sweeping down to the river.

The town witnessed the Battle of Evesham on 4th August 1265 during which Simon de Montfort, known as the father of the English Parliament, was bitterly defeated and brutally killed.  His remains were brought by the monks from the battlefield, (north of the town and known now as Greenhill) and solemnly buried in front of the High Altar in the Abbey Church.  A modest stone memorial in the park marks the spot where the burial took place.

The town boasts a wealth of historic buildings including a fine 15th Century timbered merchants house called the 'Round House' now occupied by the Nat West Bank, Abbot Reginald's gateway, a Norman arch leading to the abbey site, flanked by the 15th century Walker Hall and Church House.  In the High Street is a notable late 17th Century town house, Dresden House, once occupied by Dr. Baylies, physician to Frederick the Great of Prussia, and tucked away in the area of the town called Bengeworth is an old manor house once owned by King Canute.

Perhaps the most notable building in the town after the Churches and Bell Tower is the Almonry.  Dating back to 1400 this was once the home of the Abbey Almoner, who was charged with the duty of administering to the poor and needy and providing hospitality to visitors to the Abbey.  The Almonry now houses the town's busy Tourist Information Office and Heritage Centre, an excellent museum with ten rooms of exhibits relating to the history of the Abbey, the Battle of Evesham as well as the social and economic life of the Vale.  More details may be obtained by phoning the Tourist Information Centre Tel. (01386) 446944.

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