The bust, of Oliver Cromwell, is carved from
Portland stone and is about 150% life-size. Great care has been taken with the
carving and the resemblance between the bust and drawings of Cromwell, made at
the time of his life, leaves no doubt as to who it is. The bust shows Cromwell
with his familiar thick, wavy hair and looking slightly to his left.
The sculptor was Tim Crawley and he has this to say about the bust on his
website (visit
link):
"The new Guildhall Art Gallery houses the
substantial collection of paintings owned by the City of London. The Portland
stone building was designed with an open loggia opening onto Guildhall Yard with
four shallow niches on the rear wall. New portrait busts were commissioned
commemorating individuals particularly associated with the history of the City:
Cromwell, Wren, Shakespeare and Pepys. The project involved researching the
appearance of each figure as the basis for designing new busts, which were
produced at one and a half times life size, a scale demanded by the
architectural location."
The Spartacus website (visit
link) tells us:
"Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon in
1599. Educated at Huntingdon Grammar School and Sydney Sussex College,
Cambridge, he studied law in London.
Sponsored by the Montagu family he was elected to the House of Commons in 1628.
When Parliament was dissolved in 1629 he took up farming in Huntingdon. Soon
afterwards he was converted to Puritanism.
In 1640 Cromwell returned to Parliament when he was elected to represent
Cambridge. Cromwell was a strong critic of Charles II and on the outbreak of the
Civil War he joined the Parliamentary forces and served under Edward Montagu,
Duke of Manchester.
Although Cromwell had no military training, his experience as a large landowner
gave him a good knowledge of horses. Cromwell became convinced that if he could
produce a well-disciplined army he could defeat Prince Rupert and his Cavaliers.
He knew that pikemen, armed with sixteen-foot-long pikes, who stood their ground
during a cavalry attack, could do a tremendous amount of damage.
Cromwell also noticed that Prince Rupert's cavalry were not very well
disciplined. After they charged the enemy they went in pursuit of individual
targets. At the first major battle of the civil war at Edgehill, most of Prince
Rupert's cavalrymen did not return to the battlefield until over an hour after
the initial charge. By this time the horses were so tired they were unable to
mount another attack against the Roundheads.
Cromwell trained his cavalry to keep together after a charge. In this way his
men could repeatedly charge the Cavaliers. Cromwell's new cavalry took part in
its first major battle at Marston Moor in Yorkshire in July 1644. The king's
soldiers were heavily defeated in the battle. Cromwell's soldiers became known
as the Ironsides because of the way they cut through the Cavaliers on the
battlefield.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Parliament relied on soldiers recruited by
large landowners who supported their cause. In February 1645, Parliament decided
to form a new army of professional soldiers. This army of 22,000 men became
known as the New Model Army. Its commander-in-chief was General Thomas Fairfax,
while Cromwell was put in charge of its cavalry.
Members of the New Model Army received proper military training and by the time
they went into battle they were very well-disciplined. In the past, people
became officers because they came from powerful and wealthy families. In the New
Model Army men were promoted when they showed themselves to be good soldiers.
For the first time it became possible for working-class men to become army
officers. Cromwell thought it was very important that soldiers in the New Model
Army believed strongly in what they were fighting for. Where possible he
recruited men who, like him, held strong Puritan views and the New Model Army
went into battle singing psalms, convinced that God was on their side.
The New Model Army took part in its first major battle just outside the village
of Naseby in Northamptonshire on 14 June 1645. The battle began when Prince
Rupert led a charge against the left wing of the parliamentary cavalry which
scattered and Rupert's men then gave chase.
While this was going on Cromwell launched an attack on the left wing of the
royalist cavalry. This was also successful and the royalists that survived the
initial charge fled from the battlefield. While some of Cromwell's cavalry gave
chase, the majority were ordered to attack the now unprotected flanks of the
infantry. Charles I was waiting with 1,200 men in reserve. Instead of ordering
them forward to help his infantry he decided to retreat. Without support from
the cavalry, the royalist infantry realised their task was impossible and
surrendered.
By the time Prince Rupert's cavalry returned to the battlefield the fighting had
ended. Rupert's cavalry horses were exhausted after their long chase and were
not in a fit state to take on Cromwell's cavalry. Rupert had no option but to
ride off in search of Charles I.
The battle was a disaster for the king. About 1,000 of his men had been killed,
while another 4,500 of his most experienced men had been taken prisoner. The
Parliamentary forces were also able to capture the Royalist baggage train that
contained his complete stock of guns and ammunition.
The Battle of Naseby was the turning point in the war. After Naseby, Charles was
never able to raise another army strong enough to defeat the parliamentary army
in a major battle.
In January 1647, Charles I fled to Scotland where he was captured and handed
over to the parliamentary army. Charles was imprisoned in Hampton Court, but in
November 1647 he escaped and managed to raise another army. This time Charles
was able to persuade the Scots to fight on his side.
In August 1648 Cromwell's parliamentary army defeated the Scots and once again
Charles was taken prisoner. Now that Parliament was in control of England its
members began to argue amongst themselves. Most Members of Parliament were
Presbyterians. These men were willing to share power with the king.
Presbyterians also had strong feelings on religion. They disapproved of other
puritan groups such as the Anabaptists, Quakers and Congregationalists and
wanted them suppressed.
The other major group were called the Independents. They tended to be followers
of the religious groups that the Presbyterians wanted to suppress. The
Independents argued for a policy of religious toleration. Some Independents also
wanted to bring an end to the monarchy.
The Independents had a strong following in the parliamentary army and had the
support of Oliver Cromwell. Afraid of their power, Presbyterianmembers of the
House of Commons tried to disband the army. The soldiers were furious,
especially as Parliament made no effort to pay them the wages that were due to
them. The army decided to take action. The Presbyterians were expelled from
Parliament. With the Independents now in control, it was decided to put Charles
I on trial as a traitor. In 1649 Charles was found guilty and executed outside
his Whitehall Palace.
The Independents now passed a series of new laws. The monarchy, the House of
Lords and the Anglican church were abolished. Lands owned by the royal family
and the church were sold and the money was used to pay the parliamentary
soldiers. The Independents also kept their promise regarding religious
toleration. People were no longer fined for not attending their local church.
However, everyone was still expected to attend some form of religious worship on
Sundays.
In August 1649, Cromwell and 12,000 soldiers arrived in Ireland. During the next
ten years of bloodshed it is estimated that about a third of the population was
either killed or died of starvation. The majority of Roman Catholics who owned
land had it taken away from them and were removed to the barren province of
Connacht. Catholic boys and girls were shipped to Barbados and sold to the
planters as slaves.
The land taken from the Catholics by Cromwell was given to the Protestant
soldiers who had taken part in the campaign. Before the rebellion in 1641,
Catholics owned 59% of the land in Ireland. By the time Cromwell left in 1650
the proportion had shrunk to 22%.
Although the House of Commons continued to meet, it was Cromwell and his army
that controlled England. In December 1653, the army decided that Cromwell should
become England's new ruler. Some officers wanted him to become king but he
refused and instead took the title Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. However,
Cromwell had as much power as kings had in the past. When the House of Commons
opposed his policies in 1655, he closed it down.
Cromwell now imposed military rule. England was divided into eleven districts.
Each district was run by a Major General. The responsibilities of these
Major-Generals included maintaining order, collecting taxes, granting poor
relief and imposing Puritan morality. In some districts bear-baiting,
cock-fighting, horse-racing and wrestling were banned. Betting and gambling were
also forbidden. Large numbers of ale-houses were closed and fines were imposed
on people caught swearing. In some districts, the Major-Generals even closed
down theatres.
Former members of the Levellers grew disillusioned with the dictatorial policies
of Cromwell and in 1655 Edward Sexby, John Wildman and Richard Overton were
involved in developing a plot to overthrow the government. The conspiracy was
discovered and the men were forced to flee to the Netherlands.
In May 1657 Edward Sexby published, under the pseudonym William Allen, Killing
No Murder, a pamphlet that attempted to justify the assassination of Cromwell.
The following month he arrived in England to carry out the deed, however, he was
arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London.
In 1658 Cromwell announced that he wanted his son, Richard Cromwell, to replace
him as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. The English army was unhappy with
this decision. While they respected Oliver as a skillful military commander,
Richard was just a country farmer.
Oliver Cromwell died on 3rd September 1658. His son became Lord Protector but in
May 1659, the generals forced him to retire from government. As a result of the
Restoration in 1660, Cromwell's body was disinterred from the tomb of kings in
Westminster Abbey and was hung from the gallows at Tyburn."