Memorial Type:

Memorial - Funerary

Does the monument still exist?

No

Inscription:

--

Allegiance:

Parliamentarian

Condition:

Good

Condition Description:

--

Memorial Notes:

In 1643, it was here that MPs accepted the Solemn League and Covenant which, in return for military aid from Scotland, demanded the reform of the Church of England along Presbyterian lines. In 1647, the churchwardens were fined for observing Christmas. In 1654, 1656 and 1659, the Lord Protector and his Councillors attended services to mark the opening of three Protectorate Parliaments. Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland was christened in 1641, Pepys was married in 1655, and a year later, Milton married Katherine Wood (she was buried in the church in 1658). Also buried in the church is Wenceslaus Hollar (d. 1677). In 1661, the bodies of a number of leading Parliamentarians (including John Pym, d. 1643, John Meldrum, k. 1645, Isaac Dorislaus, k. 1649, Edward Popham, d. 1651, Richard Deane, k. 1653, Elizabeth Cromwell, d. 1654, Jane Cromwell, d. 1656, and Robert Blake, d. 1657) were exhumed and buried in a pit in the churchyard, their final resting place now marked by a commemorative stone set in the west wall of the church, which was erected by the Cromwell Association.