This is a rather gruesome event in
history which took place on 27 June 1556 at Stratford in East London.
The St John the Evangelist website [visit link] tells
us:
"In 1553 Queen Mary Tudor came to
the throne of England. She was a devout Roman Catholic and longed to bring her
people back to the church of Rome. This made her unpopular with English noblemen
who had acquired wealth and lands when Henry VIII confiscated the Catholic
monasteries, and also with Parliament. In 1554 an unsuccessful Protestant
insurrection broke out under the leadership of Sir Thomas Wyat. Wyat was
defeated and executed. Mary married the Catholic King Philip II of Spain, she
restored the Catholic creed, and revived the laws against heresy. For three
years rebel bodies dangled from gibbets, and heretics were relentlessly
executed, some 300 being burned at the stake. The queen, now known as Bloody
Mary, was hated. She died in 1558, in London, and with her died the
persecutions.
In 1879 a memorial was erected in
St. John's churchyard to commemorate some of those martyrs who were executed
locally.
'The Graphic' for 13th September
1879 records the unveiling of the memorial :
"ON Saturday, the 2nd, the Earl of
Shaftesbury presided at the inauguration of the monument erected in front of St.
John's Church, Stratford, to commemorate certain Reformation martyrs who were in
that neighbourhood burnt to death. These Christian martyrs (the largest number
of Protestants ever burnt together for their religion in this country) were for
the most part natives of Essex, and all of them belonged to the laity. They were
brought early on Saturday morning, June 27, 1556, in three carts, from London.
When offered their lives if they would recant they all refused. having embraced
one another, and prayed earnestly to the Lord, the men were fastened to three
stakes, the women being left untied in the midst, 'and so were all burned
together in one fire.'
Under the chairmanship of the Rev.
W. J. Bolton, Vicar of the parish, a sum of money was collected for the
commemoration of this noteworthy incident, and the result is this handsome and
substantial monument, engraved on which are the names of the sufferers, and also
the principal points for which they braved death. There are six sides to the
monument, which is supported by eighteen columns, the whole structure, 65 feet
in height, having its spire surmounted by a martyr's crown."
Most of the information about these
martyrs comes from John Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs', an excellent transcription,
and study, of which can be found at the website of the Humanities Research
Institute of the University of Sheffield.
Interestingly, Foxe actually says
that all these martyrs, except Steven Harwood, who was burnt at 'Stratforde',
and Patrick Packingham, who was burnt at Uxbridge, were burnt at
'Stratford-le-Bow', which we now know as Bow, this area then being known as
either 'Stratford Langthorne' or simply Stratford. The 16th century diarist
Henry Machyn, the Scottish reformer John Knox in 1559, John Fuller in 1684 and
the antiquarian John Strype, writing in 1822, also place them at
'Stratford-le-Bow'. It seems that it is not until the erection of this monument
that they become associated with our Stratford, an error which has been
perpetuated by many writers and historians since.
Due to this error it had long been
thought that the burnings took place on Stratford Green, once called Gallows
Green, where the UEL Stratford Campus now stands, however, there is no evidence
for this. The most likely site of the executions, and the only piece of common
land in the area large enough to hold a crowd of the size claimed to have been
there, about 20,000 according to Machyn, was the Fair Field which, at that time,
lay to the north of Bow Church, from which Fairfield Road, Bow, takes its
name."
The monument is adorned with
inscriptions as follows:
Around the top of the six panels, going
counter-clockwise, starting from the panel facing the church, is:
'WORTHY THE LAMB THAT
WAS SLAIN'
Around the base of the six panels,
again reading counter-clockwise is:
'THEY OVERCAME HIM BY
THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY AND THEY LOVED NOT THEIR
LIVES UNTO THE DEATH. Rev. XII. II'
The panels are inscribed as follows
(see photos):
Panel 1:
To the
Glory
of
GOD
in his suffering Saints
This Monument
is raised to
perpetuate the great
principles of the Reformation
and
to commemorate
the death
of 18 Protestant Martyrs
burnt in this neighbourhood
for the
pure faith of Jesus Christ.
ERECTED AD 1878
by
public subscription under
the direction of a committee.
President
Earl
of Shaftesbury KC
Treasurer
Revd. W J BOLTON, Vicar
Hon Secretary
J
W Brooks Esq
Architect
J T
Newman Esq
Erected by H Johnson & Co
Terra Cotta
Manufacturers
Ditchling, Sussex.
Panel 2:
In Pious
Memory
of
Patrick Packingham
aged 23, who suffered
Martyrdom
in
this place by order of
the Privy Council
August 28 AD
1555.
He was charged
with
not doing deference to
Romish ceremonies
and was condemned
by
Bonner, his cause not being heard.
"Precious in
the
sight of the LORD
is the death of
his
Saints"
Psa.116.15.
"Here is the patience
of the Saints, here are
they that keep the
Commandments of GOD
and the
faith of Jesus
Rev.14.12.
Panel 3:
In Pious
Memory
of
Stephen Harwood
a brewer and
associated with
Thomas,
Fust of Ware. "For their
faithful perseverance they
were
condemned by Bishop
Bonner and finished their
Martyrdoms the one
at
Stratford, the other at Ware",
August 30 1555.
"The conquests
of
Martyrs are the
triumphs of CHRIST.
Unto Him that hath
loved
us, and washed us from our
sins in His own blood and
hath made us
Kings &
Priests unto GOD and
His Father,
to Him be
glory and
dominion
for ever Amen
Revn. 1.5.6
How long O LORD
holy and
true?
Revn. 6.10
Panel 4:
In Pious
Memory
of
Elizabeth Warne,
widow and gentlewoman
who was taken at a
Prayers
Meeting and burned to death
at Stratford-le-Bow, Middlesex
on
23rd of August, 1555
for denying the corporeal
presence of Christ's
body
and blood in the Sacrament.
Her
husband suffered in
Smithfield
as also her daughter Joan
and her son was either burnt
or
died in prison a whole
family of Martyrs.
Behold
the great things that
Faith
can do and the great things
that Faith can suffer.
Who through
Faith
quenched the violence
of fire were tortured not
accepting
deliverance
of whom the world was
not worthy.
Heb.XI
Panel 5:
In Pious
Memory
of
Hugh Laverock, a lame man
& John Apprice, a blind
man
who were burned to death
at one stake in this Town
May 15th
1556.
When in the flames one said
to the other "Hold on, John, it
won't
be for long. Remember the
text
"These are they which came
out of great
tribulations and
have washed their robes and
made them white in the
blood
of the Lamb".
In honoured
Memory
of the
Revd. Thomas Rose
Chaplain to the Earl of Essex
and
Vicar of West Ham.
AD 1551 - 1563
who although not a Martyr
was
tortured and exiled for
preaching against auricular
confession,
transubstantiation,
purgatory and images.
He
was a distinguished
Preacher
of the Reformation
and greatly encouraged
these
Martyrs.
Panel 6:
In Pious
Memory
of
Henry Allington
Laurence Parman
Henry Wye
William
Hallywel
Thomas Bowyer
George Searles
Edmund Hurst
Lyon
Cawch
Ralph Jackson
John Derifall
John Routh
Elizabeth
Pepper
Agnes George
On Saturday June 27th 1556
these 11 men and 2
women
were brought pinioned from
Newgate and suffered death
here in the
presence of 20,000
people for their firm adherence
to the word of
God.
They were all burnt in
one fire
with such love to each other
& constancy in our
Saviour
Christ that it made all the
lookers on to marvel.
"The
righteous
shall be had in ever
lasting remembrance.
The BBC Radio 4 website [visit
link] gives some more information:
"Eleven men and two women were burned at the stake in 1556 as part
of the persecution of Protestants by Queen Mary I ('Bloody Mary'). The site of
the burning, Stratford Green, was once a large green area which has now been
whittled down to a small churchyard. In 1879 an 85-foot Gothic-style terracotta
memorial was built in the churchyard. It is a six-sided monument with all the
names of the people who died on it. It was like a monumental version of John
Foxe's Book of Martyrs built 400 years on. Its size and prominence reflected the
division in the church in the late 19th century. Such is the hustle and bustle
of the traffic past the church - situated on an island surrounded by roads -
that many passers-by have never really noticed the memorial, large though it
is.
The burnings probably took place on Stratford Green, once called
Gallows Green, where the University of East London now stands. It was the widest
part of the Green and would have had room for a huge crowd to watch the
spectacle. The woodcut from Foxe's Book of Martyrs is reproduced in stone on the
memorial and it tells the story graphically. The 13 were arrested from all over,
though most came from Essex. Some undoubtedly zealous Protestants were among
them but for others the offence they had committed was absurdly mild. They were
taken to Newgate Prison and then transported the six miles to the village of
Stratford in a cart. They were questioned by Bishop Bonner's men and were
divided into two groups, each group being told that the other had recanted. But
the Protestants were determined to die bravely, which they did. The 11 men were
tied up but the two women - mercifully, supposedly - were allowed to walk freely
in the flames. One was pregnant. They died bravely, embracing the
stake.
Professor Diarmid MacCulloch says that the executions were meant
as a stern warning but they were ultimately counter-productive. Later on,
executions were carried out the executions early in the morning in order to
avoid crowds gathering. Protestant monarchs, for different theological reasons,
also conducted burnings, but these Marian burnings were very bad public
relations for Queen Mary. The last burning in Britain was in 1612 in the reign
of James I."
The monument is Grade II listed and the
entry at the English Heritage website [visit
link] describes the monument:
"Memorial 1878: J T Newman. Hexagonal
monument of buff terracotta in Gothic style. Inscribed panels to each face, with
relief plaque to east. Triple angle shafts to corner with stiff leaf capitals
running together to form rich frieze. Gabled oversailing canopies to each face
with richly ornamented brackets and diaper beneath. Twelve sided spire topped
with crown. Erected to commemorate Protestant Martyrs burnt nearby in 1556.
Terracotta produced by Johnson & Co, Ditchling,
Sussex.