'Cromwell Arresting the High Sheriff in St Albans Market'

Social History (Museum of St Albans)

Monochrome photographic transparency of a half tone illustration from an original drawing by Frederick Kitton, signed bottom left, dated 1894. Illustration of the arrest of the High Sherrif of Hertfordshire by Oliver Cromwell at Market Cross in St Albans in 1643 during the English Civil War. The High Sherrif had entered the Market Place with his troops and read a proclamation on the steps of the Eleanor Cross, calling on the men of St Albans to join the King's forces. However they were attacked by Oliver Cromwell and his troops and a skirmish ensued in High Street. The Parliamentarians won a resounding victory and the High Sherrif was sent to the Tower of London. St Albans remained in Parliamentary hands for the rest of the war. The Eleanor Cross was one of a series of monuments erected near the resting places of Queen Eleanor's body on its journey from Lincoln to London in 1291. The Eleanor Cross in St Albans was torn down in 1703, having fallen into a state of severe neglect. It was replaced by a public water pump.

1894

Amy Cooke

22/10/2007