[1][3] Considered one of England's finest medieval belfries,[1][4] the tower sits in the centre of Abbey Park, alongside the parish churches of All Saints and St Lawrence.

[2] The tower has been widely celebrated for its architecture, being possibly the largest and most complete example of a late medieval belfry in the country.

[1] In 1291, the majority of the tower collapsed in a storm, referenced in John Leland's Antiquarii de rebus britannicis collectanea.

[1] From 1319−1320, William of Stow, at the time the Abbey's sacrist, is recorded as building a new detached bell tower, the cost of which he subsidised by twenty marks.

[1][4][5][6][7] During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbot of Evesham, now Philip Hawford since Lichfield's resignation in 1538, petitioned Henry VIII to save the abbey by converting it into a royal collage.

[1][6][7][8] In August 1541, Philip Hoby, a member of the royal household, was granted a twenty-one year lease of the monastery site in a letter from Henry VIII.

However, in John Scudamore's accounts (acting as receiver for Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire), he makes note of the fact there is still one bell in the tower.

In 1553 or 1554, Mary I granted the one remaining bell to the town, describing the tower as a "clock house", thus saving it from demolition.

[1][9] At a meeting of the town council in May 1674, it was reported that the pinnacles on the west side of the tower were decaying and that to fund their repair, a levy could be ordered.

[1] The church accounts show that regular repair work to the tower and the bells were necessary, most notably in 1848 when the stonework was repointed and the roof renewed, requiring scaffolding to be erected.

The firm of architects Ellery Anderson Roiser & Falconer was commissioned to produce a detailed report on the fabric, and their findings were that the pinnacles were in particularly poor condition, suffering both the full force of the prevailing wind and damage from within by the iron clamps.

Following a successful Heritage Lottery Fund application, which awarded £45,000[10] in November 2013, and further fundraising, the work was undertaken between April 2015 and February 2016.

[1][3][4][11][12][13] The tower is virtually unaltered from its original appearance in the 16th century, which makes it a rare survivor of the medieval period.

The only other difference is the lack of the original white limewash, which has faded over time and is now no longer visible except for in isolated patches on the eastern side of the tower.

By October 1540, much of the abbey complex including the main structure of the church, had been demolished, leaving the bell tower as the principle monument.

A survey in 1546 found one bell remaining in the tower, listed as weighing approximately 30 long cwt (1,524 kilograms (3,360 lb).

[1][14][15] During 1875, Whites of Appleton rehung the bells in a new timber frame that had been provided by George Vale, a local craftsman.

The first peal in the tower was eventually scored on 27 December 1889 but with considerable difficulty, for it required three men to ring the tenor.

The bells, frame and their fittings were removed from the tower in the spring of 1951 and sent to their foundry on Freehold Street in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

[1][14][15][18] The bells were recast by John Taylor & Co in 1951, with additional metal, to make a slightly heavier ring of twelve.

[15] Following the restoration of the tower from 2015 to 2016, the bells received major maintenance by Taylor's, which included the repainting of the frame and the checking/replacement of moving parts.

[1] The first recorded image of the tower is a drawing by Thomas Dingley between 1670 and 1680, where a clock face, supported by jacks, obscures one of the sets of belfry windows.

In 1742, the clock and the chimes were replaced by John Steight of Pershore, reflecting the augmentation and recasting of the bells the previous year.

The meeting also mentions that the wooden figures or 'jacks', suited in armour, placed on the tower to strike the bells with hammers, needed restoration.

This appears to have made some impression, for in October 1848, Solomon Hunt removed the clock dials, jacks and canopy from the belfry windows.

[1][14] During the late 20th century, the carillon slowly deteriorated in condition, to the point where it no longer played any recognisable tunes, and had to be dismantled.

A new clock and chime mechanism was installed in 2002 by Joyce of Whitechurch, using a Smiths of Derby-provided control system which featured 54 pre-programmed tunes played at three hour intervals during the day.

[1][23] There are 54 tunes installed in the carillon machine, arranged into 9 weekly groups depending on the season of the church calendar.

The tunes include Abide with Me, Amazing Grace, Away in a Manger, Ding Dong Merrily On High, Hark!

There is also the ability to place a local tune, called 'Evesham Andante', composed by Edward Elgar for a group of musicians in the town.