Evesham

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.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



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.