John Hooper - St Mary's Square, Gloucester, UK
N 51° 52.093 W 002° 14.906
30U E 551746 N 5746648
John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester 1551-1555, was burned to death at this location.
Waymark Code: WMCNC4
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/25/2011
Views: 6
The monument is carved from stone and stands about 5-6 metres in height. The lower part of the memorial is a plinth containing three bronze plaques - the fourth has been removed. The statue of John Hooper stands under a spire. The memorial is fenced off with railings.
The statue, about 125% lifesize, shows John Hooper clad in the robes of a bishop, with a mitre hat, and he is holding a book under his left arm. His right arm is extended forward as if blessing a person or congregation in front of him.
Th e front plaque reads:
"Gloria soli Deo / For the witness of Jesvs and for the Word of God / not accepting deliverance John Hooper DD Bishop of Gloucester / and Worcester was burnt to ashes on this spot February ix / Anno Domini mdlv"
The plaque to Hooper's right side reads:
"This monument was restored / by public subscription in the year mdccciv" the rest is difficult to read.
The plaque at the rear of the monument reads:
"This monument was erected by Public Subscription / Anno Domini mdccclvii on the site of a smaller one / of James Clealand Esq of Bangor Ireland".
An information board, close to the memorial, reads:
"John Hooper was born in Somerset in 1495. Little is known of his early life, but he took a degree at Merton College, Oxford in 1519 and then became a Cistercian monk, possibly living for some time at Blackfriars Friary in Gloucester.
Leaving monastic life, he returned to Oxford and became acquainted with the writings of the Swiss Reformers, Zwingli and Bullinger, who said that the only authority for truth was the Bible (not the church). At this time the people had no English Bible to guide them and the prayers of the church were in Latin. He became converted to Swiss Protestantism, claiming that through it 'I became rightly acquainted with the Lord'.
Leaving Oxford, he was employed by Sir Thomas Arundel, but soon fled the country, learning that his religious opinions put his life in danger. He lived for several years among people of the reformed faith in Switzerland and during this period married Anne de Tsercias of Antwerp, who gave him two children, Rachel and Daniel.
On the accession of the nine-year-old Edward VI in 1547, he returned to England and was appointed chaplain to the Protector, the Duke of Somerset. He preached twice every Sunday, drawing great crowds and was nominated Bishop of Gloucester after impressing the King with a course of sermons, but his consecration was delayed until 1551 by his objections to the ritual vestments and oath.
He worked tirelessly in the diocese and was very concerned at the appalling ignorance of the local clergy, 168 of whom could not even repeat the Ten Commandments and many of whom spent their time in hunting, hawking and gambling. He was an outspoken critic of many church practices, causing stone alters to be replaced by plain wooden tables, candles to be banned from churches and rood screens, tabernacles and painted images to be destroyed. He was also especially good to the poor, inviting them into his own house, where his table was described as 'being spread with a good store of meat and set full of beggars and poor folk'.
But when Mary Tudor came to the throne in 1553, she set about undoing the religious reforms of the preceding years. The married priests were driven from their churches, the images replaced and the mass restored. Hooper was sent to the Fleet prison in London, where he remained for seventeen months in horrible condition, but refused to recant and was condemned to death by burning at the stake.
Sent to Gloucester to be executed he was met by a crowd of people with tears and blessings. The day before his execution was spent at a house in Westgate Street in prayer and in speaking to those who came to see him.
On the morning of 9th February 1555 he was led to his place of execution just outside St Mary's Gate and marked now by his monument, but overshadowed then by a great elm tree. The place was crowded with over seven thousand spectators, even the boughs of the tree were filled. The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral were forced to watch from the windows of their Chapter House in St Mary's Gate.
He was bound to the stake and the fire lit, but it took three attempts to make a fire hot enough to kill him and he cried out ' For God's love, god people, give me more fire!' His ordeal then lasted three quarters of an hour, but he ' endured the fire with the meekness of a lamb, dying as quietly as a child in his bed.'
Bishop Hooper was not the last person to be burnt on this spot. The following year Thomas Croker, bricklayer and Thomas Drowry, a blind boy who had visited Bishop Hooper the day before his death, were both martyred in the Protestant cause.
The carved stone monument to Hooper was erected in 1862. During excavations, the stump of a charred wooden stake was discovered, which can now be seen, along with other artefacts associated with him in Gloucester Folk Museum, Westgate Street."
Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.