Vale of Evesham History Portal

Gerald Heath, Chairman of the Vale of Evesham Historical Society

On the 5th October 2009 my wife Helen, and I went to Birmingham Museum to view the gold saxon treasure that had been found in Staffordshire by a metal detectorist. Although the queueing time was about 4 hours it was well worth the wait.
The pieces on display were varied and smaller than I expected but the quality of workmanship was exceptional. How the Saxons were able to create such work was mind blowing. We now hope that the full collection can remain in the midlands for all to see.

This brings me onto the fact that at our Museum in Evesham we also have some Saxon artefacts, which are grave goods found locally by a metal detectorist, and are now on display. Included in the display is a cruciform brooch, discs, a large string of amber beads and other small metal objects.

This is well worth seeing so come along and visit the Almonry and see the other items we have on display.

29th October 2009

Evesham Abbey before Henry VIII got hold of it.

This was the title of the lecture by Prof. Mick Aston (of Time Team fame) and Mick's long time colleague James Bond. This lecture was arranged by the VEHS at Evesham Arts Centre as part of the 1300th celebration of the forming of Evesham Abbey in 709 AD.

Mick spoke first and gave a very interesting talk on how Abbeys or Monasteries were in the 8th to 12th centuries and how they developed. He compared them to other Abbeys such as Tewkesbury and Pershore. He explained that during this period the same talk could be given about any Abbey in the country up to about 1100 AD.

From this point the lecture was taken over by James Bond who had a particular interest in Evesham Abbey and how it developed. He explained about the workings of the Monks and how they lived, what sort of accomodation they had and how the Abbey grew over the centuries.
He said that there were times when parts of the Abbey fell down and how and when it was rebuilt and under which Abbot the various happenings took place. This was not conjecture but was documented. He completed his fascinating talk by going through some of the Abbeys estate and their land holdings and wealth.

It was a fascinating lecture and confirmed some points which I knew but also I learnt a great deal of other interesting facts.

So in conclusion the VEHS thanks Mick and James for a very entertaining evening.

7th March 2010

A new year brings new thing on display. We are about to put on display some reframed pictures that have not seen the light of day for many a long year. These will be mainly in the Lecture Room and be involved with sport and pastimes. See if you can identify anyone.

Also a new case with Evesham United F.C (The Robins) will soon be erected.

The Telephone room is getting a makeover and is being carefully put together with displays and information.

20th April 2010

We have just received a trophy for football called the Common Cup which appears to have only been played for on 2 occasions in the 1920's.

The 2 teams that held the trophy were the Greenhill Rangers and Evesham Guild F.C. both captained by Albert Burden

We would like to hear from anyone who has knowledge of not only the teams but who played for them.

We do have a photo of each team so please contact me via the Almonry if you have any information.

12th June 2011

We have just received some items including group photos of Greenhill School which recently closed. These, or at least some will go on display with the other scholls memorabelia in our Lecture Room