Reign of King James l (1603 to1625), King Charles l (1625 to 1649)
Jeremy Beale succeeded Dr. William Smith as Rector in 1615. He was yet another Rector of Willingham to achieve high office outside the village, becoming Master of Pembroke College, Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University and Chaplain to King James l during his 15 years here. On his death in 1630 he was succeeded by John Buckeridge, a relative of the Bishop of Ely, and son of a London haberdasher, who held the living of Willingham until his death in 1647. He was to witness some very turbulent times indeed.
Civil War and Oliver Cromwell
The whole country became increasingly involved in what was to become the ‘The Great Rebellion’. Anti-monarchist sentiment grew under Oliver Cromwell and his ‘roundheads’, who clashed with the ‘cavaliers’ of the autocratic King Charles I. The Fens were more involved than most areas of the country, as Oliver Cromwell was a native of the area. He was born in Huntingdon, educated at Cambridge and married in Ely, before leading the Parliamentarian roundhead armies to eventually defeat the Royalist armies of Charles I. The King was publicly executed in 1649, and Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of the new ‘Commonwealth’.
Destruction in Willingham
The Bishop of Ely, Matthew Wren, was a fervent Royalist and now found himself imprisoned in the Tower of London for 18 years, from 1642 to 1660. Cromwell could not tolerate the ritual of the Established English Church and sent one of his lieutenants, William Dowsing, to “destroy and abolish all monuments of superstition and idolatry” in East Anglian churches . Dowsing came to Willingham in 1643. He recorded his destruction meticulously: “Willingham 16th March 1643: We destroyed 40 superstitious pictures, a crucifix, 2 superstitious inscriptions, 1 ‘Pray for the Soul’, 2 pictures of the Holy Ghost, and 1 of the Virgin Mary in brass”. No wonder there are no brasses in the Church now. Fortunately the wallpaintings had been limewashed over and escaped this destruction. Lead pellets were found embedded in the nave oak roof during treatment against death watch beetle in the 1990’s. Could they have been fired by Dowsing’s men? All this must have shaken the village, and made people realise that the Rebellion was not just something happening elsewhere. Willingham’s population by now was around 450. There must have been some very real strains arising from divided loyalties in the village, not only between families, but also within families.
When John Buckeridge died in Willingham in 1647, Bishop Wren gave authority from his prison in the Tower of London for a Royalist, Edward Mapletoft, to be appointed as Rector. Mapletoft was known to have been preaching against “the wicked devils in the new Parliament” at his previous living at Hardwick. So it was perhaps not surprising that, despite also being instituted as Archdeacon of Ely, he was replaced as Rector at Willingham within six months by a Cromwell supporter, Nathaniel Bradshaw. Bradshaw was a Cambridge graduate, and a member of the Presbyterian Cambridge Association. There is just the possibility that he was related to John Bradshaw, the Lord Chief Justice who presided over the trial of King Charles I and pronounced the death sentence.
Next time: Bradshaw – Cromwell’s Man in Willingham
Oliver Cromwell
Bishop Bradshaw
