152 EVESHAM AND BENGEWORTH.

hence the abbey church was no further required at the Dissolution. In other towns, such as Malvern, Pershore, Tewkesbury, and Sherborne, there being no other parish church but that attached to the monastery, the townsmen bought it for a small gum—not so much to, prevent its destruction as to avoid the expense of building a new church, which would have been consequent thereupon. So then, of the splendid establishment at Evesham, within whose walls had been collected the costly shrines and remains of Saints Egwin, Wulsin, Wiston, Odulph, Credan, and the popular leader, Simon de Montfort, scarcely a vestige remains save that beautiful tower which Clement Lichfield, the hist abbot but one, had erected. This structure combines the function of a bell-tower and gateway, as also a lich gate, corresponding therein with Bury St. Edmund's and West-Walton. Lichfield, rather than surrender his abbey to the demand of the King, resigned his office, and was succeeded by a more pliant individual—Philip Hawford, who afterwards became Dean of Worcester. The site of the monastery was granted to Philip Hoby, Esq., and now consists chiefly of gardens, in one of which the entrance arch to the chapter-room still remains. The abbot's chair and other relics are in the possession of Mr. Rudge, of the Abbey Manor. The tower before named was purchased by the townsmen as being nseful to them; bnt the abbey church and buildings, as being merely ornamental, were destroyed for the sake of their materials.

Mention has been made of the two churches standing within the monastic precincts; they are dedicated to St. Lawrence and All Saints. Both are very poor, and of late work, but All Saints contains a richly decorated mortuary chapel of Abbot Lichfield, with handsome vaulting. There is a black-letter book attached to a lectern by a chain, and on a boss in the porch is a curious representation of the five wounds of Christ. Sculptures of the Crucifixion, and a figure in a niche, may also be seen in these churches, but both buildings require a