The names of the "Colchester 19" discovered


 It took some looking for, and needed light to illuminate it enough to be seen. Tucked away behind a large screen, in the chancel of St Peter's church on North Hill is a marble memorial to 19 Colchester protestants who died for their faith.
   St Peter's church guide books confirm our young archaeologists' club  researches. There were more protestant martyrs burned to death in and from Colchester than anywhere else in England, except for Smithfield, London.
       The names of the 19, if I read the memorial correctly are, John Lawrence, Nicholas Chamberlain, Christopher Lyster, John Mace, John Spencer, Simon Joyne, Richard Nichols, John Hammond, William Bongeor, William Pureas, Thomas Beynold, Agnes Silverside, Helen Ewing, Elizabeth Folks, William Munt, John Johnson, Alice Munt, Rose Allen and John Thurston.
    Of the ten who were martyred on that fateful day, August 2nd 1557, the memorial describes the places of execution as the castle bailey and outside the town walls, which confirms our researches for our trail. They would have passed St Peter's church, which had a central tower in 1557, on their way to their fate.


      

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