Agricultural History Review, Volume 64 Part 2 (2016), p. 261

Established around 701, the early minster located on a promontory in the lower Avon valley would develop by the time of the Norman Conquest into a regionally, if not nationally, important Benedictine abbey. David Cox charts the history of this transformation in the fortunes of Evesham Abbey in the context of its relationships with first regional, then national, Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings; other ecclesiastical authorities, most particularly successive bishops of Worcester; members of the regional nobility; and the people who lived and worked in the Vale, including the growing numbers who settled in the burgeoning town beyond the abbey’s precinct wall. Drawing on a wealth of published editions and commentaries on a broad range of primary sources, Cox seeks to set this religious community in its valley landscape through an exploration of landholding over time and its impact on the spiritual life of those inside, and, to a lesser extent those outside, the cloister.

The book is divided into three sections, the first offering a chronological narrative from the foundation of the earliest church by Bishop Ecgwine with King Æthelred’s support to the abbacy of Æthelwig. Within this, the introductory chapters provide some valuable details concerning the regional kingdoms and how the early secular division of the area was mirrored in the ecclesiastical make-up of the Vale and adjacent territories. Æthelwig’s abbacy straddled the Conquest and the abbot is shown to have worked hard, and sometimes aggressively, to maintain and even enhance his abbey’s estates. The differing characteristics of the various abbots form the skeletal framework of much of the first and second sections, the latter devoted exclusively to Walter’s (1078–1104) abbacy and including amongst other matters, the abbey as the controlling power in the spiritual lives of the inhabitants of the Vale.

Because this is a history of an important Benedictine house, it is not surprising that developments within the precinct boundary – such as the growth of book production in the scriptorium, the creation of several shrines for the abbey’s increasing relic collection by abbots Ælfweard and Manni, and the enlarging of the church under Abbot Manni – form the core of Cox’s study. In addition, there is some consideration of the abbey as landholder and landlord including its relations with the peasantry, but more on these aspects of the abbey in the landscape would have been welcome. However, this may not have been possible due to a lack of suitable sources for the institution’s Anglo-Saxon and Norman history, and to a degree this is remedied in the third and final thematic section which covers the long twelfth century.

For this later period, Cox charts the activities of particular abbots – most notably Abbot Norreis – who were in dispute with those within their own community as well as with outsiders, especially the bishop of Worcester, that at times involved matters of lordship, both ecclesiastical and secular. As he highlights, at Evesham, as elsewhere, this led to and was the product of a marked expansion in the use of written evidence: charters, cartularies and estate surveys. His assessment of the various seals is interesting in terms of how visual symbols of saints might be employed to enhance the abbey’s credibility, and these ideas are similarly explored with respect to the abbey’s saints and its abbots through pilgrim tokens and written sources including the revised vita of St Ecgwine, a compilation of miracles of the Virgin and the Gesta abbatum.

Although in this third section the chapter on ‘Investment’ briefly mentions the countryside, much of the chapter is on the town at the abbey’s gate. This focus on the urban landscape is not surprising because of its proximity to the monastery and the close relationship between the two communities either side of the precinct hedge, and then wall. Being particularly interested in urban development this caught my attention, although Cox’s end date of 1215 meant that matters such as any move towards the seeking of civic autonomy by the townspeople was beyond the scope of his study.

Overall, this is a well-structured and clearly written account of the leading personnel at Evesham’s religious community over 500 years as they mostly sought to enhance their house’s wealth and prestige, and to defend it from threats from outside and less frequently from within. By supplying this study on Evesham, Cox has provided another piece in the national jigsaw and a valuable addition to the histories of Benedictine communities in Anglo-Saxon and post-Conquest England. Consequently, this book will be of interest to those researching both early monastic and diocesan development and the regional history of the West Midlands.