Evesham
Evesham is a middle-sized, rural market town in Worcestershire,
UK in the Local Authority District of Wychavon.
Roughly
equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham, and Stratford-upon-Avon,
it was originally built within a loop of the River Avon,
which flows through the Vale of Evesham. The surrounding
area (the Vale of Evesham) is known for fruit growing
and market gardening, due to its unusually fertile soil
which, on a commercial level, has led to a large number
of migrant temporary workers living in the Vale, but
also means it is one of the country's most well-known
production centres for fruit and vegetables. The Vale
of Evesham at its height was second only to Kent as
the Garden of England.
A
decline in the second half of the 20th century in domestic
agriculture and home cleaning led to the closing of
Evesham garden market in the 1990s, and many orchards
in the town's Greenhill area fell into disuse.
The
distinctive local dialect, now declining in use but
strong still in older generations of the town's inhabitants,
has 'Asum' as a contraction of the town's name. Asum
was the name given to the produce of a popular micro-brewery
based at the historic Green Dragon public house (built
1510 and boasting fine Tudor architecture) - Asum Ale.
The pub has since been relaunched and the micro-brewery
closed.
Another
quirk of local language gives rise to the debate as
to the pronunciation of the town's name itself. 'Eve-shum'
is the more common phonetic pronunciation, but the pronunciation
'Eve-er-shum' is not uncommon. Younger generations of
the town's inhabitants give a pseudo-affectionate name,
The Sham, to the town.
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