On the 20th of July in 1861, a Fete was held in Hampton. It was held in honour of the one-time Evesham Mayor, Henry Workman, who was responsible for the construction of the bridge over the Avon at the bottom of Port Street, Bengeworth. He lived in a large house in Hampton overlooking the river, but was moving because of the impending building of the Evesham to Ashchurch railway line, between his house and the river.
Children from all schools in Evesham were invited to the Fete and 900 assembled at the top of the High Street by 2.00 p.m. They then processed, with flags, banners and streamers, down Bridge Street and across the bridge. They went along the water side to the front of Mr. Workman’s mansion and through the grounds to the grassy slope of the river bank. W & H Smith had engaged a photographer to take a picture of the event and he set up his camera on the opposite side of the river. In the foreground of the crowd was the band of the Worcestershire Yeomanry, Evesham Battalion, under their bandmaster, Mr. Wheatley.
The photographer hoisted a red flag to indicate to the crowd that they must remain unmoving whilst he focused the camera and took the picture. They had to do this for five minutes! The photographer then took his equipment to a tent for washing and ‘bringing out’ the image on the negative. This proved to be satisfactory, but he took a second picture as well. Messrs Smith would later publish prints of the picture.
A lengthy report of the events of this date appeared in the Worcestershire Chronicle of 24th July, the following Wednesday, but at that time pictures did not appear in newspapers. The photograph that was taken appears below.
The number of children reported to have taken part would have exceeded those at schools in Evesham alone, so many are likely to have been residents of Wickhamford and Badsey and attended school there. The band was also involved in a march from Evesham to Wickhamford rifle range, some years later, in 1873. The picture below shows a close-up of members of the small band in 1861. The people photographed did remarkably well to remain motionless for five minutes.
The railway line was eventually constructed and the maps below, from 1903, show its route by the River Avon in Bengeworth and it can be seen to run between Mr. Workman’s house, then called Hampton Villa, and the river. It is unsurprising that he moved away before its construction. Today, the route of the now-closed railway is a public footpath and Mr. Workman’s house is called Hampton House.
Tom Locke, April 2025
Acknowledgement
Thanks are due to David Ella for drawing our attention to the photograph taken at the 1861 Fete. This was provided by Harvard University.