bbot himself. At best,
however, the fight must have been an unequal one, with wealth,
learning, and power on the one side, and poverty and ignorance on the
other. After an honourable career of eight hundred years the monastery
was overthrown. Even this great abbey, with its wealth and power and
integrity, was impotent to withstand the popular prejudice aroused by
the exposure of the degradation and vice prevailing in so many kindred
institutions, the greed of Henry VIII., and the ruthless energy of
Thomas Cromwell. In a few years it was swept away, leaving only a few
beautiful fragments to tell of its former grandeur.

Evesham's next great claim to notice is as the field of the decisive
battle of 1265, ending in the defeat and death of Simon de Montfort,
and the allies still remaining faithful to their leader. This event,
we know, added much to the fame of the monastery, and reacted on the
town by bringing many pilgrims to the grave of that popular hero. The
tomb of the great Earl vied with, or exceeded in popularity, the many
sacred relics already enshrined in the abbey church.

In early days, as has been pointed out, Evesham lay out of the common
beat; the Avon formed a _cul-de-sac_, and the main road from Worcester
to London and Oxford merely skirted the town, ascending Green Hill
from Chadbury, continuing its course by what is now known as Blayney's
Lane, and crossing the river by a ford or bridge at Offenham Ferry. In
consequence of the growing importance of the town, the road was
probably diverted to its present line.

Although in pre-Reformation days the abbey dominated the town and the
abbot's will was practically law to the inhabitants, yet the townsmen
on the whole lived quite apart, doing their own work, managing their
own affairs, and enjoying themselves in their own way. The monastery,
too, was complete in itself, having its own staff of servants and
needing little, if any, outside help. The precincts of the abbey were
as entirely shut in with their high wall and strong gates, all
fortified in the Edwardian times, as any castle; and little of what
went on in this self-contained society would be known to the people
living without. It must be remembered also that the townsmen had their
own church, that of All Saints, and only on special occasions would
they be allowed entrance to the great church belonging to the monks.
It would seem that the second church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was
principally used b