EVESHAM

town (parish) located in Wychavon district, administrative and historic county of Worcestershire, England, on the right bank of the River Avon. Evesham is an agricultural centre situated in the middle of a fertile vale that has become an important fruit-growing area. The medieval town grew beside the abbey (established in the 8th century), and the town was controlled and patronized by the abbot until the dissolution of the monasteries (153639), when the abbey was almost completely destroyed. On the ridge north of the town in 1265, Henry III's son (later Edward I) intercepted the army of Simon de Montfort, who was defeated and killed. The town's market rights date from 1055, and it was incorporated by James I in 1604. Pop. (1991) 17,823.