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BBC News
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Failed uprising remembered 340 years after Somerset battle
A new exhibition telling the story of a 17th Century uprising aims to explore the tragic aftermath of the revolt and its affect on future generations. The Monmouth Rebellion, which ended at the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, was a failed attempt to depose the Catholic King of England, James Castle, which is hosting the event, was the scene of the Bloody Assizes where hundreds of mutineers were later condemned to be hung, drawn and quartered."The rebellion has a fundamental place in the story of Somerset, and the events that followed it have never been forgotten," said Sam Astill, chief executive of the South West Heritage Trust. Tom Mayberry, co-curator of the exhibition, said it was "the cruelty which followed the rebellion which stayed so powerfully in people's minds" and was passed down through the generations."It's a warning to us of how societies can fracture and we see some of those consequences around us in the modern world, so I think the lessons of Sedgemoor have much relevance to our lives today."We are still the inheritors of the echoes of the sense of outrage and grievance, which people felt - that their protest had been so violently answered," he said. At the centre of the exhibition are two paintings on loan from the Tate and Manchester Art Gallery. Edgar Bundy's The Morning of Sedgemoor (1905) shows frightened rebels sheltering in a barn after the battle, and John Pettie's The Duke of Monmouth's Interview with James II (c1882) shows the defeated leader vainly pleading for his life."The king was completely unmoved by his pleas for mercy and shortly thereafter he was beheaded at the Tower of London," said Mr Mayberry."It's important to remember those events, firstly from a purely historical point of view, because what happened then to West Country people was so terrible, but also it shows how quickly disagreements about religion and politics can descend into an utter fracture in society and how violently that fracture may find expression."We should also be aware of glamorous plausible leaders, who may be leading us to disaster," he added. Other items on display include an ostrich plume reputedly worn by the Duke of Monmouth on the battlefield, and 200 lead musket balls found recently at the site."I hope very much that it will draw anyone who has any sense that the Monmouth Rebellion might be something worth discovering," said Mr Mayberry. The exhibition, called After Sedgemoor: Remembering the Monmouth Rebellion, takes place from 29 March to 6 July at the Museum of Somerset. "There couldn't be a better setting for the exhibition than Taunton Castle, which still echoes with the events of 340 years ago," said Mr Astill.
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion remembered 340 years on in Somerset
A fresh look at an ill-fated 17th-century uprising that haunts the English West Country – and may hold lessons for the world today – is taking place close to the spot where many of the rebels were condemned to death. An exhibition at the Museum of Somerset tells the story of the Monmouth Rebellion, which ended with defeat for the rebels who fought alongside the charismatic Duke of Monmouth, with many condemned to death at the notorious Bloody Assizes led by George Jeffreys, the Lord Chancellor. Tom Mayberry, who co-curated the exhibition, said the 1685 revolt, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, may have been forgotten by many people in the UK but still had a deep resonance in Somerset. He said: 'The rebellion remains vividly imprinted on the minds of West Country people as a defining event in the history of the region. It made such an impact because the consequences of the rebellion were so cruel. The rebels were utterly motivated by principle and religion and were met with a tidal wave of violence.' The setting for the exhibition is poignant as the museum is housed in Taunton Castle, one of the sites of the Bloody Assizes, where rebels were told they were to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Jeffreys, the judge at the trials, is certainly not forgotten here. When two years ago an information board of Taunton's history was placed in the town, someone scratched out Jeffreys' eyes and inscribed the word 'bastard' next to the image. 'It showed that this defining event in West Country history has not been forgotten,' said Mayberry. 'In the light of modern events, one is forcibly reminded that some of the triggers to rebellion and to conflict 340 years ago are the very same ones which we are now rediscovering today – how charming and persuasive leaders can lead us to disaster, how societies divide according to religion and ideology, and how it's really the luck of the draw whether they find a way through to reconciliation.' The rebellion came 34 years after the end of the English civil war and three years before the Glorious Revolution. It was a failed attempt by dissident Protestants led by James Scott, the 1st Duke of Monmouth, to depose the Catholic king, James II. At the centre of the exhibition, called After Sedgemoor: Remembering the Monmouth Rebellion, are two paintings loaned by the Tate and Manchester Art Gallery. Edgar Bundy's The Morning of Sedgemoor (1905) shows rebels sheltering in a barn after the Battle of Sedgemoor, while John Pettie's The Duke of Monmouth's Interview with James II (c1882) captures the rebel leader vainly pleading for his life. Also on display is an ostrich plume reputedly worn by Monmouth at the battle and 200 musket balls recently found at the site. Documents being exhibited include an order by a royalist commander that a mound should be built over the dead who lay shallowly buried on the battlefield. Sam Astill, chief executive of South West Heritage Trust, which operates the Museum of Somerset, said: 'The rebellion has a fundamental place in the story of Somerset, and the events that followed it have never been forgotten. There couldn't be a better setting for the exhibition than Taunton Castle, which still echoes with the events of 340 years ago.' The exhibition runs from 29 March to 6 July 2025
