Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 11.djvu/438

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428


NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. XL JUNE 5, 1915.


STATUES AND MEMORIALS IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

<See 10 S. xi. 441 ; xii. 51, 114, 181, 401 ; 11 S. i. 282 ; ii. 42, 381 ; iii. 22, 222, 421 ; iv. 181, 361 ; v. 62, 143, 481 ; vi. 4, 284, 343; vii. 64, 144, 175, 263, 343, 442; viii. 4, 82, 183, 285, 382, 444 ; ix. 65, 164, 384, 464; x. 103, 226, 303, 405; xi. 24, 145, 275.)

MARTYRS (continued). CHRISTOPHER WAID.

Dartford, Kent. In 1851 a costly memo- rial was erected to the memory of Christo- pher Waid on Dartford Brent, the site of "his martyrdom. It is spiral shaped, and rises from a square inscribed base. The inscriptions are as follows : West] 1851

Erected to the memory of

Christopher Waid, Linen-Weaver, of Dartford,

a Protestant,

who was burned for his faith on Dartford Brent

July 19* h , 1555. He repeated at the stake : " Show some token Tipon me for good that 'they which hate me may see it and be ashamed ; "because Thou, Lord, hast helped me and com- forted me."

This monument was restored by public

subscription, A-D. 1888. '[North]

Other Dartford martyrs were : Nicholas Hall, 1555. Margery Policy, 1555.

[Then follows the text of Revelation vi. 9-11.]

'[East] This Martyrs' Monument

in the spirit of the recorded anointing

of the Saviour with costly ointment

is for a memorial of love

to

Jesus and His truth. [South]

The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee.

'[Around base]

" Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."

JOHN ROGERS, JOHN BRADFORD, &c.

Smithfield, London. I have already briefly referred to this memorial (see 10 S. ix. 2), and now add a more extended notice. It is placed in an arched recess of the external wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital,


was unveiled by the Earl of Shaftesbury on 11 March, 1870. Its erection was brought about through the exertions of a committee formed under the auspices of the Protestant Alliance, by whom it was re- stored in 1899. It is constructed of polished granite and bronze, in harmony with the architecture of the building. In the arch are the words " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," and along the frieze " The noble army of martyrs praise Thee." On a panel in the centre is the following inscrip- tion : Near to thig . gpot

John Rogers

John Bradford

Archdeacon Philpot

and other

Servants of God

suffered death by fire

in the years 1555, 1556 and 1557.

Below the memorial is an oblong stone bearing the following words :

Near this spot likewise

a church is erected

to the memory of

the said martyrs.

The design of the memorial was presented to the committee by Messrs. Habershon & Pite of Bloomsbury Square, and was exe- cuted by Messrs. Cox & Son at their Lam- beth works.

The church mentioned in the above inscription stands in St. John's Street Road, and was consecrated in June, 1871. In niches on the outside walls are seventeen statues and a nurnber of medallions of Pro- testant martyrs, and five bas-reliefs of scenes of their martyrdom. Bound the walls of the interior are recorded on scrolls the names, accusations, memorable words, and dates of death of sixty-six persons burnt at Smith- field, commencing with William Sautre (1400), and ending with Roger Holland, burnt 27 June, 1558. This church, known as the Smithfield Martyrs' Memorial Church, was built at a cost of 8,OOOZ.

THOMAS SPENCER, &c.

Beccles, Suffolk. The Baptist Chapel is known as the Martyrs' Memorial. On the front of the building, which was erected in 1860, is a tablet inscribed as follows :

" Near this spot Thomas Spencer, John Deny, and Edmund Poole were burned for the faith of Jesus, 21st May, 1556.

' When they rose from praier they all went joyfulle to the stake, and being bound thereto, and the fire burning around them, they praised God in such an audible voice that it was wonder- ful to all those which stood by and heard them ' (Poxe's ' Actes and Monuments ')."