Of course, the best-laid plans and all that, meant that the day of our May 2026 walk was cancelled because of wet weather. It seems impossible given the recent protracted dry spell but that’s what happened.
So eventually we re-arranged it and four of us walked to the obelisk erected to Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, on the edge of Evesham. The monument is on private land and reached by a concessionary path – there is no signage so unless you knew about it you would not visit. Fortunately one of our members did know and took us on a journey of discovery.
Simon de Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 and has a memorial in his burial place, which was alongside Evesham Abbey’s altar which is now in the park in Evesham. The original grave was ransacked by the King after he found that the remains were being venerated and formed the basis of a ‘miracle cult’. A chapel built on the Battlefield near the Battle Well was also removed by Henry’s son Edward when miracles were being attributed to the well.
Excavations have found the remains of a number of bodies where the crypt would have been in the Abbey which have obviously been killed in battle and some may be those of Simon though since he was hacked to death by the Royalists and various body parts sent around the country maybe not much was left. His head and testicles were sent by Roger de Mortimer to his wife at their castle in Wigmore, Herefordshire – a lovely gift which any woman would be delighted to receive!
Fighting took place on Greenhill, on the battlefield at the top of Greenhill, (a road in Evesham) and throughout Evesham itself including the Abbey where it is said that blood ran in the aisles as no quarter was given. One field on Greenhill has been known as ‘Dead Man’s Ait’ (an old term for field) on account of the many bones dug up there over the centuries and country churchyards throughout the area have housed the remains of those killed in this horrendous battle.
Simon was born in Montfort l’Amaury in France in 1208. Although he had many less than admirable attributes, among them his murderous antisemitism and constant persecution of the Jews, he championed a cause which aimed to take away absolute power from King Henry III, who was his brother-in-law, and enable the Barons and other notable local figures to have a say in the government of the country.
Simon was a campaigner and tactician seasoned by the Crusades. After the Battle of Lewes in 1264 he captured King Henry III and in 1265 he called the first directly-elected Parliament in mediaeval Europe. This included nobles and some townsmen too which was quite revolutionary. Voting rights depended on the ownership of land and each county was asked to send two elected members of Parliament. He was not advocating giving a say to the common man but he is nevertheless known as the ‘Father of Parliament’. He even appears in a relief in the United States House of Representatives.
It was this conflict with the King and his son Prince Edward (later Edward I) which led to his final hour in Evesham when he was killed by the forces of the King’s son, Prince Edward, who was in fact his Godson.
Four NWR members met for a cuppa in a tearoom near the beginning of the walk; braved the fast traffic at the roundabout and walked uphill to the monument. It’s about 2 miles and we went at a pace as our cars were in the tearoom car park which we knew would shut at 4.00 p.m. We definitely wanted to be able to get home again afterwards so our feet carried us swiftly up the hill passing wooded areas, fields and what appeared to be the remains of an overgrown shrubbery.
Abbey Manor House, Evesham
En route we took in the parched but still beautiful views on this hot summer’s day. In the distance was Abbey Manor. Later we reached a tower which is in a poor state of repair although it was renovated in the 1990s.
This is Leicester Tower which was built in 1842 (the obelisk was built a few years later), on the orders of Edward Rudge, in the grounds of his home, Abbey Manor House.
Leicester Tower
An inscription states that it was built to commemorate Simon de Montfort the ‘Father and Founder of the British House of Commons’. When I used to drive past the tower with my children we would fantasize that Edmund of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ fame sat with there with the White Witch eating his favourite but enchanted Turkish Delight!
NWR members at the obelisk to Simon de Montfort, Evesham
ON THIS SPOT
In the Reign of HENRY III THE BATTLE OF EVESHAM was fought August IV 1265 between the Kings forces commanded by his eldest Son PRINCE EDWARD and The BARONS under SIMON DE MONTFORT. EARL of LEICESTER; in which The PRINCE by his Skill and Valour obtained a complete Victory, and The EARL with his eldest son HENRY DE MONTFORT, Eighteen Barons one hundred and sixty knights and Four thousand Soldiers, were slain in the Battle.
It is not clear whether the obelisk actually marks the site of the battle. Nowadays there is an annual re-enactment of the battle of Evesham in August and around the area various place names refer to him – a bridge, a road, a school and a University among others.