Ipswich Martyrs
Encyclopedia
The Ipswich Martyrs were nine people burnt at the stake
for their Protestant beliefs around 1538-1558. The executions were mainly carried out in the centre of Ipswich
, Suffolk
on The Cornhill, the square in front of Ipswich Town Hall. At that time the remains of the medieval church of St Mildred were used for the town's Moot Hall. Later, in 1644 Widow Lackland was executed on the same site on the orders of Matthew Hopkins
the notorious Witchfinder General.
Other groups of protestants were persecuted (and some martyred) in various parts of Suffolk during the same period, notably those of Hadleigh, Beccles
, Yoxford
, Laxfield
, Wetheringsett
, Stowmarket
, Framsden
, Hintlesham
, Haverhill
, Winston
, Mendlesham
, Stoke-by-Nayland
, East Bergholt
, Dedham
, Thwaite
, Bedfield
, Crowfield
, Long Melford
, Somerton
and Little Stonham
. The most famous was Dr Rowland Taylor
of Hadleigh, burnt on Aldham
Common in 1555.
Martyrs named on the Ipswich Memorial:
Also mentioned by Foxe:
s was erected in Christchurch Park
in 1903, a short distance from Christchurch Mansion
. It can be found by walking from the front of the mansion towards the children's play area. The monument has a square, stone base that bears a testament to the martyrs on the front, and lists their names on the other three sides. It was designed and executed by the Art Memorial Company of West Norwood
, and is 27 ft (8.2 m) high and 10 in 6 in (3.2 m) square at the base. The base is of Ketton stone
, and the shaft of polished red granite.
The Ipswich Martyrs' Memorial was funded by private subscription opened in November 1902, after attention had been drawn to the story of the martyrs in a series of newspaper articles by Nina Frances Layard
in the East Anglian Daily Times
between 1898 and 1900, which were then reissued as a book entitled Seventeen Suffolk Martyrs in 1902 (Smiths Suitall, Ipswich). It was originally hoped to erect it on the Cornhill, the site of the original stake in the Town centre, but this was changed after the entire project met with some local opposition. It was unveiled by the Very Rev. Henry Wace, D.D., the Dean of Canterbury, on Wednesday December 16, 1903, in the presence of the deputy-Mayor, the M.P. Sir William Brampton Gurdon
, K.C.M.G., the Rev Canon Samuel Garratt and many others, including a deputation from the Bury St Edmund's Martyr's Memorial Committee.
The unveiling address
The Very Rev. Dean Wace delivered a very lengthy address, concerning the importance of the sacrifice made by the martyrs on behalf of the Reformed Faith, and of justification by faith. The idea brought to light by Martin Luther
was for men and women to stand face to face with God, and claim forgiveness and God's blessing from Him, without the intervention of any human being - then it was that a new spirit of life arose wherever the doctrine was believed... There is no doctrine which has ever commanded such a sense of freedom of soul and power of mind as this: that the soul can have direct communion with God, and be sure of safety in this world and in the next. That is the charter of moral and religious freedom, of all freedom.
The Dean went on to speak of emancipation from Rome. The Church of Rome
at that day, as the Church of Rome at this day, was a standing and eternal enemy of all liberty. With the Reformation
Europe had passed through a great Revolution, and was now divided into two great parts, the one under Roman domination and the other asserting the great principles of Christian liberty. He was convinced that this country took a right step, and that we must never again part with that freedom by going back to the domination of Rome. "This country has been made by the Word of God. The effect of that Word upon the English character has been incalculable. I trust that the memorial will help to keep in mind the reading of the Bible, and above all, simple trust in God. The words of Latimer
to Ridley
, I would repeat to all - 'Play the man, for by God's grace we shall today light a candle in England which shall never be put out.'"
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
for their Protestant beliefs around 1538-1558. The executions were mainly carried out in the centre of Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
on The Cornhill, the square in front of Ipswich Town Hall. At that time the remains of the medieval church of St Mildred were used for the town's Moot Hall. Later, in 1644 Widow Lackland was executed on the same site on the orders of Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins was an English witchhunter whose career flourished during the time of the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament...
the notorious Witchfinder General.
Other groups of protestants were persecuted (and some martyred) in various parts of Suffolk during the same period, notably those of Hadleigh, Beccles
Beccles
Beccles is a market town and civil parish in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 Blythburgh and A12 road, northeast of London as the crow flies, southeast of Norwich, and north northeast of the county town of...
, Yoxford
Yoxford
Yoxford is a village in the east of Suffolk, England close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve , Aldeburgh and Southwold.-Location and features:...
, Laxfield
Laxfield
Laxfield is a small ancient village in northern Suffolk, England. It is located at a distinct bend in today's B1117 road.-History:Laxfield arose in Saxon times as it is known that an early church was there and the village itself appears in the Domesday Book...
, Wetheringsett
Wetheringsett
Wetheringsett is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the east of the A140, it is the largest village in the parish of Wetheringsett-cum-Brockford....
, Stowmarket
Stowmarket
-See also:* Stowmarket Town F.C.* Stowmarket High School-External links:* * * * *...
, Framsden
Framsden
Framsden village is north of Ipswich and south of the small market town of Debenham, Suffolk.The B1077 runs through the west of the Parish and the A1120 cuts across the north of the Parish....
, Hintlesham
Hintlesham
Hintlesham is a small village in Suffolk, England, situated roughly halfway between Ipswich and Hadleigh.The village is notable for Hintlesham Hall, a 16th Century Grade I listed country house that was restored and turned into a hotel by the famous chef, restaurateur and food writer Robert Carrier...
, Haverhill
Haverhill, Suffolk
Haverhill is an industrial market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies southeast of Cambridge and north of central London...
, Winston
Winston, Suffolk
Winston is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around eight miles east of Stowmarket, in 2005 its population was 160. The parish also contains the villages of Winston Green and Fenn Street. There is a church and an old school room, and every...
, Mendlesham
Mendlesham
Mendlesham, Suffolk is a small village with 1328 inhabitants, north east of Stowmarket and from LondonMendlesham is known for its large street fair which is held on every May Day bank holiday. Mendlesham has a popular community newsletter, and a good primary school. There are two public houses in...
, Stoke-by-Nayland
Stoke-by-Nayland
Stoke by Nayland in the English county of Suffolk, lies close to the border with Essex in what is sometimes referred to as Constable Country. It contains a church, St Mary, part of the Deanery of in the Diocese of Chelmsford...
, East Bergholt
East Bergholt
East Bergholt is a village in the south of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border. It is "twinned" with the village of Barbizon, France....
, Dedham
Dedham, Essex
Dedham is a village within the borough of Colchester in northeast Essex, England, situated on the River Stour and on the border of Essex and Suffolk...
, Thwaite
Thwaite, Suffolk
Thwaite is a rural village in England.Thwaite is based on and around the A140 road, midway between Suffolk's county town of Ipswich and the city of Norwich, in Norfolk...
, Bedfield
Bedfield
Bedfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England....
, Crowfield
Crowfield, Suffolk
Crowfield is a village from Ipswich which is the county town of Suffolk. Crowfield is in Helmingham and Coddenham ward in the Mid Suffolk local authority in the East of England region.As at the 2001 Census, Mid Suffolk 007B had 2,034 residents...
, Long Melford
Long Melford
Long Melford is a large village and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by the River Stour, approximately from Colchester and from Bury St. Edmunds...
, Somerton
Somerton, Suffolk
Somerton is a civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk in eastern England.Somerton is split into two smaller villages: Upper Somerton with a population of approximately 50 and Lower Somerton with a population of about 20. Upper Somerton is at the top of one valley and has St. Margaret's...
and Little Stonham
Little Stonham
Little Stonham, also known as Stonham Parva, is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located just off the A140, around three miles east of Stowmarket, in 2005 its population was 350....
. The most famous was Dr Rowland Taylor
Rowland Taylor
Rowland Taylor was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions....
of Hadleigh, burnt on Aldham
Aldham, Suffolk
Aldham is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located around eight miles west of Ipswich, in 2005 it had a population of 200....
Common in 1555.
The Protestant martyrs
Protestant martyrdoms associated with Ipswich begin with:- Saint Thomas BilneyThomas BilneyThomas Bilney was an English Christian martyr.- Education :Bilney was born in or after 1495 at or near Norwich. He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, graduating LL.B. and taking holy orders in 1519...
, who was plucked from the pulpit of St George's church or chapel in St George's Street, just north of the Westgate, Ipswich, as he preached in favour of the Reformation in 1527. He had previously preached in St Margaret's church. This was during a preaching-tour undertaken with the NorfolkNorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
mass-priest Master Lambert. After being forced to recant he was imprisoned in the Tower of LondonTower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
for a year, and then returned to Trinity Hall, CambridgeTrinity Hall, CambridgeTrinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
for two years in great torment of conscience. In 1531 he went to NorwichNorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
and declared his convictions, and was there burnt at the stake.
Martyrs named on the Ipswich Memorial:
- N. Peke, 1538. (Burnt at Ipswich)
- - KerbyKerby (Ipswich martyr)Kerby , whose Christian name is not known, was a man condemned by the Justices and executed by burning at the stake in Ipswich, Suffolk, for his protestant beliefs, along with Roger Clarke. He is numbered among the Ipswich Martyrs...
, 1546. (Judged in Ipswich together with another man named Roger Clarke, and both being condemned, Kerby was burnt at Ipswich and Roger at Bury St Edmunds.) - Robert SamuelRobert SamuelRobert Samuel was an English priest of East Bergholt in Suffolk, England who was imprisoned, tortured and burnt to death as a judicial execution under the Marian persecutions, and is commemorated as one of the Ipswich Martyrs...
, 1555. (A minister of East BergholtEast BergholtEast Bergholt is a village in the south of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border. It is "twinned" with the village of Barbizon, France....
, burnt at Ipswich.) - Agnes Potten, 1556. (Agnes Potten and Joan Trunchfield, both of Ipswich, were condemned together and burnt together in one fire at Ipswich.)
- Joan Trunchfield, 1556. (See above.)
- John Tudson, 1556. (John Tudson of Ipswich was burnt at London.)
- William PikesWilliam PikesWilliam Pikes was a tanner in Ipswich, Suffolk who was arrested in Islington during the Marian persecutions as a member of a group studying the Bible in English, and was burnt at the stake in Brentford...
, 1558. (William Pikes of St Margaret's, Ipswich, was burned at BrentfordBrentfordBrentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...
.) - Alexander Gooch, 1558.(Alexander Gooch (of Woodbridge, SuffolkWoodbridge, SuffolkWoodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
) and Alice Driver (of GrundisburghGrundisburghGrundisburgh is a village of more than 1,530 residents situated in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Suffolk Coastal district, six miles north-east from Ipswich and four miles north-west of Woodbridge located on the B1079. Flowing through the village are the rivers Lark and Gull...
, Suffolk) were arrested together at Grundisburgh and both burnt on one day and in one fire at Ipswich.) - Alice Driver, 1558. (See above.)
Also mentioned by Foxe:
- Anne Bolton (burnt at Ipswich)
- John and Michael Trunchefielde (both of St Leonard, Ipswich, condemned to be burnt)
- Agnes Wardal (of Ipswich, persecuted but escaped)
Ipswich Martyrs' Memorial
A memorial to the martyrMartyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s was erected in Christchurch Park
Christchurch Park
Christchurch Park is a area of rolling lawns, wooded areas, and delicately created arboreta in central Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It contains Christchurch Mansion which holds a public museum and art gallery. The park opened as the town's first public park in 1895.-History:From the 12th century the...
in 1903, a short distance from Christchurch Mansion
Christchurch Mansion
Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house within Christchurch Park on the edge of the town centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England...
. It can be found by walking from the front of the mansion towards the children's play area. The monument has a square, stone base that bears a testament to the martyrs on the front, and lists their names on the other three sides. It was designed and executed by the Art Memorial Company of West Norwood
West Norwood
West Norwood is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth.It is primarily a residential suburb of south London but with some light industry near Knights Hill in the south....
, and is 27 ft (8.2 m) high and 10 in 6 in (3.2 m) square at the base. The base is of Ketton stone
Ketton stone
Ketton stone is a Jurassic oolitic limestone used as a building stone for many centuries. It is named after the village of Ketton in Rutland, England....
, and the shaft of polished red granite.
The Ipswich Martyrs' Memorial was funded by private subscription opened in November 1902, after attention had been drawn to the story of the martyrs in a series of newspaper articles by Nina Frances Layard
Nina Frances Layard
Nina Frances Layard was an English poetess, prehistorian, archaeologist and antiquary who made many important discoveries, and by winning the respect of contemporary academics helped to establish a role for women in her field of expertise...
in the East Anglian Daily Times
East Anglian Daily Times
The East Anglian Daily Times is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich.It started publication on 13 October 1874, incorporating the Ipswich Express, which had been published since 13 August 1839...
between 1898 and 1900, which were then reissued as a book entitled Seventeen Suffolk Martyrs in 1902 (Smiths Suitall, Ipswich). It was originally hoped to erect it on the Cornhill, the site of the original stake in the Town centre, but this was changed after the entire project met with some local opposition. It was unveiled by the Very Rev. Henry Wace, D.D., the Dean of Canterbury, on Wednesday December 16, 1903, in the presence of the deputy-Mayor, the M.P. Sir William Brampton Gurdon
William Brampton Gurdon
Sir William Brampton Gurdon KCMG, CB, JP was a British civil servant who became a Liberal Party politician.- Early life :...
, K.C.M.G., the Rev Canon Samuel Garratt and many others, including a deputation from the Bury St Edmund's Martyr's Memorial Committee.
The unveiling address
The Very Rev. Dean Wace delivered a very lengthy address, concerning the importance of the sacrifice made by the martyrs on behalf of the Reformed Faith, and of justification by faith. The idea brought to light by Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
was for men and women to stand face to face with God, and claim forgiveness and God's blessing from Him, without the intervention of any human being - then it was that a new spirit of life arose wherever the doctrine was believed... There is no doctrine which has ever commanded such a sense of freedom of soul and power of mind as this: that the soul can have direct communion with God, and be sure of safety in this world and in the next. That is the charter of moral and religious freedom, of all freedom.
The Dean went on to speak of emancipation from Rome. The Church of Rome
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
at that day, as the Church of Rome at this day, was a standing and eternal enemy of all liberty. With the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
Europe had passed through a great Revolution, and was now divided into two great parts, the one under Roman domination and the other asserting the great principles of Christian liberty. He was convinced that this country took a right step, and that we must never again part with that freedom by going back to the domination of Rome. "This country has been made by the Word of God. The effect of that Word upon the English character has been incalculable. I trust that the memorial will help to keep in mind the reading of the Bible, and above all, simple trust in God. The words of Latimer
Hugh Latimer
Hugh Latimer was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, Bishop of Worcester before the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was burnt at the stake, becoming one of the three Oxford Martyrs of Anglicanism.-Life:Latimer was born into a...
to Ridley
Nicholas Ridley
Nicholas Ridley may refer to:* Henry Nicholas Ridley , English botanist* Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale , British politician* Nicholas Ridley , English clergyman...
, I would repeat to all - 'Play the man, for by God's grace we shall today light a candle in England which shall never be put out.'"
Memorial texts
"This monument is erected to the memory of nine Ipswich martyrs who for their constancy to the Protestant faith suffered death by burning."
"Oh may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia."
Sources
- N. F. Layard, Seventeen Suffolk Martyrs (Smiths, Ipswich 1902)
- Editorial: Ipswich Martyr's Memorial, in The Christian, 24 December 1903.
- Editorial: The Martyrs of Ipswich, in Daily Graphic, 17 December 1903.