Judge Jeffreys

Dorchester again today.

Just as I was walking up the High Street I met the gaze of Judge Jefferies hanging above me. He was the "Hanging Judge" in the aftermath of Monmouth's Rebellion in 1685 at the Battle of Sedgemoor, Somerset.

King James II had inherited the throne from Charles II and was upopular because of being a Roman Catholic, England being a Protestant country. Charles' illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth wanted to claim back the throne and created an uprising in the West Country. Monmouth lost the battle and was one of the many executed. Judge Jeffreys was sent down to Dorchester to try Monmouth's men who had survived, at the "Bloody Assizes" held in the Oak Room of the Antelope Hotel in Dorchester - he lodged in the half-timbered dwelling round the corner in High West Street where this photograph was taken. It is now a shop.

The trial lasted five days. Three hundred and twelve were put to trial, and out of these 74 were executed, 175 were transported to the West Indies, 9 were whipped and a number discharged. The bodies of three executed men were placed on the bridge at Wareham and their heads nailed to a wooden tower.

The memory of Judge Jeffreys haunted the area for many years to come.

This is a back-blip as the evening turned into a busy one!

A late St David's day greeting to all of you in Wales!