Joy Horn with some places to go as we remember the outworking of the Reformation in this country
Five hundred years seems a very long time ago.
Yet the Reformation had such a profound effect that there are plenty of memorials, statues and places where the momentous events can be remembered and relived – so many, in fact, that the list below is merely a tiny sample.
Henry VIII promoted to influential positions several of the Reformers (mostly from Cambridge) without endorsing their convictions. Edward VI (1547-53) advanced the Reformation’s progress in the country, but Mary I (1553-8) tried to suppress belief in a Bible-based gospel and nearly 300 believers were burnt to death. The large number of memorials shows the impression that their sacrifice made on their appalled fellow-countrymen.
Cambridge
Where some of the Reformers studied.
• Jesus College, where Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) slowly developed his Protestant views.
See also:
• St Edward’s Church, Peas Hill, where several of the Reformers preached, and Hugh Latimer’s (1487–1555) pulpit can be seen.
• Trinity Hall, the college of Thomas Bilney (1495–1531), who was converted through reading Erasmus’s edition of the Greek New Testament.
Oxford
Where Reformers were burnt.
• In Broad Street (formerly the town ditch, outside the walls), there is a cross set in the tarmac, marking site of the burning of Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer in 1555.
See also:
• Hertford College, a portrait of William Tyndale (1494–1536) in the dining hall.
• St Giles, a prominent memorial to Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer.
• University Church of St Mary the Virgin, where Thomas Cranmer declared his faith (a pillar in left aisle).
London
• The Tower of London, where several Reformers were imprisoned and Lady Jane Grey (1537–1554) was executed.
See also:
• Hampton Court Palace, taken by Henry VIII from Cardinal Wolsey when he failed to secure the king’s divorce.
• Smithfield, where Anne Askew (1521– 1546) was martyred having been condemned as a heretic in the reign of Henry VIII.
Stately homes
Built on sites of abbeys closed by Henry VIII:
See also:
• Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire (National Trust).
• Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, N. Yorkshire (National Trust).
• Lacock Abbey,Wiltshire (National Trust).
Some memorials to martyrs
See also:
• Bolton, Lancashire, Deane parish churchyard, a memorial cross.
• Brighton, East Sussex, Black Lion Street, a tablet.
• Canterbury, Kent, Martyrs Field Road, a memorial cross.
• Chichester, West Sussex, Providence Chapel, Chapel Street, a plaque.
• Coventry, West Midlands, Quinton Road, a cross.
• East Grinstead, West Sussex, St Swithun’s churchyard.
• Gloucester, St Mary’s Square, a monument to John Hooper (c.1495–1555).
• Ipswich, Suffolk, Christchurch Park, a pillar.
• London, Smithfield, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, a tablet to Smithfield martyrs.
• London, Victoria Embankment Gardens, a statue of William Tyndale with an early printing press.
• North Nibley, Gloucestershire, Tyndale’s tower.
• Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Malmesbury House, Cathedral Close, a tablet.
• West Hoathly, West Sussex, St Margaret’s Church, a brass tablet.
Wales
• Penmachno, Gwynedd, has the house, Ty Mawr Wybrnant (National Trust), where William Morgan (1545–1604), the first translator of the whole Bible into Welsh, was born.
• Carmarthen, Dyfed, where Robert Ferrar, Bishop of St David’s, was burnt in Nott Square in 1555 and has a memorial.
Scotland
Being an independent kingdom, Scotland followed its own course. The Reformation was firmly established by John Knox during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-67).
• St Andrews, Fife, has cobblestones outside St Salvator’s College that mark where the first Scottish martyr, Patrick Hamilton (born 1504), was burnt in 1528. In the NW corner of the Castle is the infamous ‘Bottle Dungeon’ where George Wishart (1513– 1546) was imprisoned. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club has a memorial near the clubhouse to Walter Myln (born c.1476–1558) and others who were burnt for their faith.
• Edinburgh has John Knox’s House in Canongate, with a museum to the Reformer. St Giles Cathedral, where he was minister for 13 years, has a statue of Knox, who was buried in the churchyard, marked by a plaque in parking space 23 of what is now a car park in Parliament Square.
