Dorset Martyrs
The Dorset Martyrs Memorial is a grade II listed sculpture by Elisabeth Frink in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It was unveiled in 1986 on the site of the gallows where Catholic martyrs were hanged in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The memorial takes the form of two martyrs facing an executioner figure placed in triangular formation, looking inward. Each of the figures stands on a flat rectangular base This arrangement commemorates the Dorset men and women who suffered for their faith and, in particular, seven known Catholics who were executed where the memorial stands today.
In memory of all Catholics in Dorset who suffered and died for their faith. This is Gallows Hill, Dorchester's execution site in the 16th and 17th centuries, until it was moved to Maumbury Rings around 1703. Condemned people were brought here from the prison below Icen Way (then known as Gaol Lane).
Hundreds of people died here among them the Chideock Martyrs, who died defending there Catholic faith. During the reign of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) Catholics were forced to worship in secret for fear of prosecution. The stronghold of Catholicism in Dorset was at Chideock in the castle belonging to the Arundell family.
In 1591 the family's chaplain was Jabo Cornelius. Born in Bodmin he was taken into the Arundell household and educated, along with his servants Patrick Salmon and John Carry. When Thomas Bosgrave, a relation of the Arundells, offered the bare-headed Cornelius his own hat, he too was arrested.
Cornelius was taken to London. Under torture, he refused to name any of his converts. He was returned to Dorchester where all four men were tried, found guilty and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
On 4 July 1594 they were executed in this place. All four men made declarations of faith before their deaths. The last martyr hanged here was Father Hugh Green.
Despite such martyrdoms, worship continued in Chideock. After the castle was destroyed in 1645 during the Civil War, Catholics met in a nearby barn, later converted into a chapel which is now the church of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs and St Ignatius. All that now remains of the castle is a moated mound on a hill outside the village, crowned by a Cross.
Dorset Martyrs
The Dorset Martyrs Memorial is a grade II listed sculpture by Elisabeth Frink in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It was unveiled in 1986 on the site of the gallows where Catholic martyrs were hanged in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The memorial takes the form of two martyrs facing an executioner figure placed in triangular formation, looking inward. Each of the figures stands on a flat rectangular base This arrangement commemorates the Dorset men and women who suffered for their faith and, in particular, seven known Catholics who were executed where the memorial stands today.
In memory of all Catholics in Dorset who suffered and died for their faith. This is Gallows Hill, Dorchester's execution site in the 16th and 17th centuries, until it was moved to Maumbury Rings around 1703. Condemned people were brought here from the prison below Icen Way (then known as Gaol Lane).
Hundreds of people died here among them the Chideock Martyrs, who died defending there Catholic faith. During the reign of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) Catholics were forced to worship in secret for fear of prosecution. The stronghold of Catholicism in Dorset was at Chideock in the castle belonging to the Arundell family.
In 1591 the family's chaplain was Jabo Cornelius. Born in Bodmin he was taken into the Arundell household and educated, along with his servants Patrick Salmon and John Carry. When Thomas Bosgrave, a relation of the Arundells, offered the bare-headed Cornelius his own hat, he too was arrested.
Cornelius was taken to London. Under torture, he refused to name any of his converts. He was returned to Dorchester where all four men were tried, found guilty and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
On 4 July 1594 they were executed in this place. All four men made declarations of faith before their deaths. The last martyr hanged here was Father Hugh Green.
Despite such martyrdoms, worship continued in Chideock. After the castle was destroyed in 1645 during the Civil War, Catholics met in a nearby barn, later converted into a chapel which is now the church of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs and St Ignatius. All that now remains of the castle is a moated mound on a hill outside the village, crowned by a Cross.