St Mary's Gate - St Mary's Square, Gloucester, UK
N 51° 52.088 W 002° 14.895
30U E 551759 N 5746638
A plaque mentioning two locations in central Gloucester.
Waymark Code: WMCNDN
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/25/2011
Views: 5
The plaque reads:
"St Mary's Gate (13th century) / is the entrance to St Peter's / Abbey precinct whose wall / can be seen to the left / in St Mary Street and in / Three Cocks Lane to the right. // Opposite, John Hooper, 2nd Bishop of / Gloucester, was martyred in 1555 for / his Protestant faith".
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St Mary's Gate
The Great Gate, or St. Mary's Gate, was the main entrance to the monastery's outer court. Although today it may appear to stand rather unobtrusively at the north west corner of College Green its former importance is more clearly appreciated from St. Mary's Square. This view presents an attractive composition, much of which would have been seen by the distinguished visitors who from the 13th century onwards have passed beneath the gateway's ribbed arch. The room above was used by the Cathedral's Chapter Clerk for his records and on one dreadful day in 1555 the Dean and Chapter made it their viewing place when Bishop John Hooper was burned. Today the visitor passes between gates of the 19th century German design erected in 1947.
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Bishop John Hooper
Queen Mary Tudor ordered John Hooper to be sacked from his job as Bishop of Gloucester, and burned alive before his own Cathedral. All because he was a Protestant when England was officially a Catholic country.
John had been a Roman Catholic monk. However the more he studied religion, the more radical his opinions became, until they eventually broke the law. He was forced to flee abroad disguised as a sailor. When the law changed, he returned and became the second person to be Bishop of Gloucester. He set about reforming the local churches, and preaching up to 3 or 4 times every day. After Mary became Queen, he refused to change his opinions on religion even when it could have saved him from being burnt.
Items and a display about Bishop Hooper may be seen in the Gloucester Folk Museum with which he has long been associated.
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