Enlighten

Enlighten is a partnership project between Wychavon District Council, Evesham Town Council, The Almonry Museum, Churches Conservation Trust, All Saints Church, Evesham Abbey Trust and various interested parties such as Evesham Civic Society and The De Montfort Society.

The remaining phases of Enlighten will be project managed by Caroline Tredwell, Arts Development Officer on behalf of Wychavon District Council.

For more information or to get involved contact Caroline Tredwell on 01386 565396 or info@enlightenevesham.co.uk

This project has been funded by –

Evesham’s historical highlights.

In the beginning there was a forest: the area Evesham is in now was once part of the great forest of Feckenham and apart from a few dwellings, isolated churches and the river Avon, there was very little.

Evesham The Market Town

It is thanks to this vision that it is a thriving town today, for around the abbey grew other dwellings. Under Edward the Confessor, Evesham was granted the status of Market Town: the fertile soil around the river Avon providing excellent conditions for growing crops. In the 8th Century, this area was owned by Ecgwin, bishop of the Hwicce (people of Worcester) and he had a swineherd, Eof, who watched his pigs here.

The Legend of Eof

As legend has it, Eof saw a vision of the Virgin Mary whilst searching for some lost pigs near a place known locally as ‘Homme’. He took word of this miraculous appearance to Ecgwin who visited the same spot and saw the same vision, then interpreting it to mean he had to raise an abbey in her name on this spot.

The Battle of Evesham

On 4th August 1265, one of the most bloody battles in England’s history took place in Evesham between the forces of Prince Edward (later Edward I) and Simon de Montfort (earl of Leicester), following months of bitter wrangling over the control of the king, the enforcement of the Magna Carta and the barons rights under law.

Simon’s forces were outnumbered and thoroughly routed with Simon himself taking the brunt of a most vicious attack and dying on the field. Eye witness accounts called it “the murder at Evesham, for battle it was none”.

The Closure of Evesham Abbey

During the 1530s, Henry VIII undertook the Reformation of the church within England at the time, breaking ranks from Rome and undertaking a process of dissolving all the great abbey and monastical houses throughout the country. The closure of Evesham Abbey, which had in its heyday been the 3rd largest in England, took place on 30th January 1539 when troops entered the abbey church during evensong and would not allow the monks to finish the service.

The closure effectively left Evesham without an infrastructure to educate, look after the poor and sick or administrate on legal matters; this contributed to a decline in the town until 1604 when James I granted the town a charter allowing them to elect public figures to a council and created the role of elected mayor.

The Civil War

During the nationwide turmoil of the Civil War, Evesham was not left unscathed: following a visit from Charles I, who stayed in Langston Mansion on Bridge Street, the bridge to the north of the town was ordered to be destroyed. The town proved its Roundhead sympathies by rebuilding it, for which misdemeanour it was forced to make boots for the King’s army. In 1650 Cromwell had about 30,000 men garrisoned in and around Evesham which he continued to use as a headquarters following the Battle of Worcester. The Civil War left Evesham, as so many small towns, devastated economically and personally: it took many years to rebuild what had been destroyed and to begin economic growth again.

Author Tonia Byrd

Our projects

 

Phase 1 included lighting The Bell Tower, The War Memorial and a light projection on the Almonry Museum in Evesham. Phase 2 plans to creatively light All Saints and St Lawrence’s Churches and the Cloister Arch of the Abbey remains.

Get involved?

We are asking you to upload any good quality photos you have of Evesham and it’s history or photos of objects you have significant to Evesham’s past.

‘It Began with Light’ projection launch

The launch of the new projection at the Almonry Museum was attended by a small number of Wychavon and Evesham Town Councillors, Illuminos the video projection artists who designed the work and representatives who have supported the development of the project. Sue...

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Evesham Library Exhibition

We held an exhibition at Evesham library over the month of November 2018. The content was the results of the community engagement work that has been happening in Evesham with young and old. From painting, to knitting, to collage and creative writing local people have...

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Animation workshops

Children's animation project. Tom Cross ran 2 x 1.5hr sessions in Evesham at Garage Arts, which was a  brief and a fun introduction to how to make an animation. The children drew what they loved about Evesham and were shown how you can make their drawings come alive....

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The Hut of Silence

Lots of people immersed themselves in the 'Hut of Silence' a contemporary sound and film installation based on the untold stories of WW1 and other wars at All Saints Church, Evesham from 18th October to 15th December 2018. The installation was designed by Creative...

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The Launch Events

On Saturday 15 December we launched the new permanent lights to the Bell Tower from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.  After some speeches from Chairman Tony Rowley and Reverend Andrew Spurr people saw all the colours that we can have on the Bell Tower now- green, red, blue, white,...

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Drop in arts and crafts workshops

We ran drop in arts and crafts workshops at The Battle of Evesham in the summer using ideas from the Evesham coat of Arms and those of the leading families involved in The Battle of Evesham. People made their own family coat of arms. We were also at The Valley and The...

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Image courtesy of SDNA