Madingley and William Dowsing

An engraving by Kip of Madingley Hall in 1705. Credit: University of Cambridge

I enjoyed this blog post by Adrian Barlow about Madingley Hall, Cambridgeshire, during the English Civil War.

The Hynde family who built the Hall were committed Royalists, as were the Stewkeleys of Hinton Ampner, who inherited the estate, though their allegiance to the King would eventually bring them to the attention of a notorious iconoclast ...

William Dowsing was a puritan from Suffolk who served as Provost-Marshall of the Eastern Association. The Earl of Manchester appointed him '"Commissioner for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition' in 1643 with a mandate to remove the following from churches:

• fixed altars
• altar rails
• chancel steps
• crucifixes
• crosses
• images of the Virgin Mary
• pictures of saints or superstitious inscriptions.

In May 1644 the scope was widened to include:

• representations of angels
• rood lofts
• holy water stoups
• images in stone, wood and glass and on plate.

On 6th March 1644 Dowsing arrived at Madingley church. Uniquely, he kept a diary of his activities. There he removed:

... 31 pictures superstitious, and Christ on the cross, and the two theves by him, and Christ and the Virgin Mary in another window, a Christ in the steple-window, order’d [sic] and the steps to be leveled, and 14 cherubims in wood to be taken down, which promised to be taken down.

Barlow's blog article tells the story of the families buried there, and the destruction carried out to their memorials in support of the Parliamentary Ordinance.

Madingley Hall today. Photo: ICE/University of Cambridge

The 16th century hall has been owned by the University of Cambridge since 1948 and is home to its Institute of Continuing Education. A number of early-modern history courses are on offer at the Institute, which specialises in offering programmes to adult and part-time learners, including short residential courses.

Until recently Mr Barlow taught at the Institute. He is currently national chair of the English Association, and now blogs here.

The Civil Wars in East Anglia (course)
Other courses in medieval and modern history at the ICE