I have just come back from a nice little trip to Burford, Oxfordshire, and the friend we were visiting told me about this wall at the rear of the ancient church there, so I went to visit. The story of the musket ball dents in it seem to resonate with what is going on in Parliament right now.
During the English Civil War of the mid 17th century, Oxford was a hotbed of dissent amongst the free-thinking liberals and intellectuals of the colleges, so much so that Oliver Cromwell sent troops there to purge them and replace them with dons of his own choice. Many were killed on the spot and some went into exile.
A group called 'The Levellers' were formed, and they saw themselves as free-thinking monarchists who desired a levelling-out of society to bridge the gap between the wealthy and privileged and the poor who had no voice. They were the beginning of the English Socialist movement.
For obvious reasons they could not stay in one place for very long, so moved around the country avoiding Parliamentarian troops who were out to hunt them down.
In 1649 a band of these troops in Salisbury became disgruntled and angry at not having been paid by Cromwell for many months, so rather than take what they needed from their fellow citizens, they deserted and joined-up with the Levellers who they caught up with near Banbury.
They were pursued by the Parliament troops and cornered near Burford. Once captured the 340 men were imprisoned in the church (Cromwell had no respect for the Church) for long enough to carve gaming boards on the tops of flat tombs so that they could while away the time playing Nine Men's Morris.
Eventually the ring-leaders were taken outside, put up against this wall and shot. The survivors were pardoned on the condition that they split up and stay out of trouble.
English Socialism was born from this execution.
I looked at the dents and saw that the shots were fired from a higher level (the stone had burst from the bottom of the dents) but the land behind is very flat. I think that the troops fired from the height of a cart or two parked there for the purpose.
ReplyDeleteIf they fired straight-on to the stone wall, the shot would have come right back at them with almost the same velocity, but increasing the height of the angle would mean that the ricochets would have hit the soft ground of the graveyard.
I hope Boris and his pet vampire don't follow your blog. It could give them ideas.
DeleteThat's a very interesting observation.
DeleteI once shot myself in the head with a .22 air pistol against a small piece of wood, so I know how I would behave with a lead ball musket now. The historians say that they do not know precisely where the execution took place, but everyone else does.
DeleteOh, and I have fired flintlocks and one matchlock from the same period. You don't see the damage until the smoke has cleared, and on a still day that can be quite a while.
DeleteGives me the heebie - jeebies !!!
ReplyDeleteWe had lunch in The Lamb at Burford when we visited.
Good to hear that you had a nice little trip. XXXX
The Lamb is the sister hotel to where we stayed - next door at The Bay Tree. It's a great hotel and we had a room upgrade.
DeleteI enjoyed that
ReplyDeleteWell then it was all worthwhile. It is, it has to be said, not only interesting but relevant to what is going on now. Serendipity brought me to it. It wasn't planned.
DeleteIt is one of the finest wool church in the Cotswolds with such a long diverse but interesting history. I was there three weeks ago, but was disappointed that I could not get inside as a wedding was going on which went on and on for ages!
ReplyDeleteYes, we coincided with a funeral but I intend to go back. All those woolsack tombs - very Cotswolds.
DeleteI had a similar experience in Perthshire when I went to see Ossian’s chapel which belongs to the National Trust for Scotland. They had let it out for a celebrity wedding and we could not get close. I left the National Trust as a result.
DeleteI have had similar experiences in other countries too. The Matisse Chapel outside Nice - inexplicably closed. The Egyptian section of the Louvre - also inexplicably closed for the whole of my sojourn in Paris. There are more.
DeleteI am told it is a lot cheaper to join the Scottish National Trust and membership covers the rest of Britain.
At least no one's going to be shot tonight.
ReplyDeleteAnd hopefully no other night.
DeleteI had to look up so much! Several history lessons, here. When I found a woolsack tomb to see, the sacks were laid out so properly.
ReplyDeleteI will post a few other pictures here today. The South of England made fortunes from wool. 'Sheep May Safely Graze' gave everyone a warm fuzzy feeling when it was played. Big landowners would have the sheep come right up to the Ha Ha so they could look out of the windows of their large country houses and be assured of their prosperous futures. Then The Levellers came along, followed by the oil industry, ICI and Nylon.
DeleteI also looked up woolsack tomb and was quite amused to see images of modern racers with the sack over their shoulders, their puffed cheeks looking every inch the harried, middle-aged cherub.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look them up.
DeleteVery interesting post, Tom. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome.
DeleteThank you for this history reminder..one that in history lessons in my grammar school was not covered. It should be better known along with Peterloo and the Chartists.
ReplyDeleteYes, we never got any further than the Industrial Revolution either.
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