23 June 2015

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COUNCILLORS have approved in principle a plan to install a plaque in the High Street to commemorate East Grinstead’s Three Martyrs who were burned at the stake.

The three – Thomas Dunngate, Anne Tree and John Forman – all lived in or near East Grinstead and were arrested in 1556 for refusing to abandon Protestantism.

“Bloody” Queen Mary was on the throne and wanted the country to revert to Catholicism, the faith practised in England until Henry VIII’s Reformation.

They met their deaths at the stake, somewhere outside Broadley Brothers, where they had spent their last night on earth imprisoned in the cellars, joining the 284 people known to have been burnt at the stake as heretics during Mary’s ten year reign.

There are already three memorial stones commemorating the East Grinstead martyrs laid flat to the righthand side of the south door outside St Swithun’s. These are not graves, as the ashes of heretics were not interred in consecrated ground.

The stones were refurbished ten years ago but the incriptions are now worn, and it has been suggested that a heritage-style plaque should be added to the High Street to mark their deaths – although the exact spot where the stake was erected is not known.

“Much like the placing of the VC commemorative paving stone, it is suggested by officers that a stone or plaque be commissioned and placed within the Market Square.

“This is a central spot where many people pass, and where groups can safely congregate during tours or educational outings.”

It has been suggested that the official unveiling of the plaque next year, which will be the 460th anniversary of the Martyr’s death, should be accompanied by some sort of event in the High Street, possibly a street theatre performance telling their story.