Evesham Abbey

Evesham Abbey

Evesham Abbey bell tower
Monastery information
Order	English Benedictine Congregation
Denomination	Catholic
Established	700-710
Disestablished	1540
Dedicated to	• Our Lady of Evesham • Saint Eoves • Saint Egwin
Diocese	Worcester
People
Founder(s)	Saint Egwin
Architecture
Functional status	ruined
Site
Visible remains	Bell tower; Gatehouse; fragments of Chapter House, Almonry, and walls.
Public access	yes

Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in Worcestershire, England between 700 and 710 following an alleged vision of the Virgin Mary by a swineherd by the name of Eof.^[1]

According to the monastic history, Evesham came through the Norman Conquest unusually well, because of a quick approach by Abbot Æthelwig to William the Conqueror.^[2] The abbey is of Benedictine origin, and became in its heyday one of the wealthiest in the country. Simon de Montfort (1208–1265) is buried near the high altar of the ruined abbey, the spot marked by an altar-like memorial monument dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1965.^[3]

During the 16th-century dissolution of the monasteries, almost all of the abbey was demolished. Today, only one section of walling survives from the abbey itself, although fragments of the 13th-century chapter house, together with the almonry, the 16th-century bell tower and a gateway remain. The abbey's site is a scheduled monument and has several listed structures within it and adjacent to it, of which four are designated at the highest Grade I level.