AN AMBITIOUS project to recreate the footprint of Evesham’s historic abbey has been handed a further £788,300 funding boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Observer understands trustees’ bid to create a heritage hub in the centre of the town has been handed the major cash injection by heritage chiefs two years after initial funding to get the project up and running was rubber-stamped.
Trust bosses have now been awarded the grant to implement the restoration plans first revealed some four years ago.
Made possible by National Lottery players, the project will undertake the repair and conservation of the Grade II listed walls and undertake an archaeological investigation of this nationally important historic Scheduled Ancient Monument site.
This award is complimented by significant additional funding from Historic England and many local donors and national funding organisations
As the Observer first revealed in 2016, two acres of land in Abbey Gardens will be transformed into public gardens in the shape of the town’s former abbey to show visitors the size and scale of the demolished monastery and create a major tourism destination in the heart of Evesham.
An initial sum of £93,000 was released in 2018 for volunteers to convince the Heritage Lottery Fund the next part of the project is viable.
Trustees and volunteers have spent the past 18 months examining the existing archaeology of the ruins, tackling conservation issues and working with English Heritage and all the other authorities involved.
Their work has been rewarded with a six figure sum to enable hard-working trust chiefs to embark on their bold project to bring the past to life.
Visit www.eveshamabbey.org.uk for more information on the project.
