England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Evesham All Saints

The Parish

The market town of Evesham lies in southeastern Worcestershire, divided into the twin parishes of All Saints, serving the eastern portion of the town, and St Lawrence, for the west. Evesham is located about 15 miles southeast of the city of Worcester and sits at the crossroads of the A44 (from Worcester to Stow on the Wold) with the A46 (Birmingham to Bristol) roads. Evesham is a substantial market town with a long history. The site of the town, within a broad sweeping meander of the River Avon was obviously an easily defended site and an obvious place for a market to develop. Such was its advantageous situation that an Abbey was founded here as early as 701AD, albeit it suffered numerous calamities, the first church collapsed in 960, the central tower of the replacement fell in in the early 13th century and of course the abbey was removed as part of Henry VIII's reformation. Despite these setbacks Evesham developed as a local market, the region around being very fertile providing much agricultural produce for the same. Evesham has not missed out on modern developments, the rail line from Oxford to Worcester passing through the town. Today Evesham is also bypassed to its east making for much pleasanter streets within. The Avon drains the parish westwards to meet the Severn at Tewkesbury and thence to the Bristol Channel. Evesham is sited at around 40 metres above the sea, the ridge forming the meander rising gently to the north to reach heights a little over 100 metres within a couple of miles. All Saints parish, itself, was tiny, covering just a small portion of the eastern part of the town yet supported a population of around 1,600 parishioners. It should be noted that All Saints records included St Lawrence' marriages between 1754 & 1837. In Domesday times Evesham was a holding of the Abbey of St Mary and a relatively small place offering 7 ploughs, a small meadow and a mill..

The Church

All Saints' church sits within the precinct formed by the former Abbey grounds, rather unusually both Evesham churches sit within feet of each other. The church has its origins in the Norman Romanesque period, the western doorway with its rounded archway illustrating that origin. The northern transept is also mediaeval and dates from the early 14th century. Much else is later and Perpendicular in style although the church has been extensively restored in the 1870s masking many of those Perpendicular features. The chancel in particular was completely rebuilt during that period but in the Decorated style of the transept. Despite these changes the western tower, porch and aisles still retain those styles of their original dates. The whole area around both churches is set to parkland, a real asset for the town, but making it necessary to use the nearby Merstow Green car park for an extended visit, Within the parkland setting the churchyard has been set to grass and provides uninterrupted views of the church from most angles, the northern faces are the exception being flush with neighbouring properties.