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A Potted History of Sawtry 3

Information in this section is used by permission and is taken from "A Glimpse Into Sawtry's Past", by H. Milford, published by CARESCO, 1998

Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon in 1509. By 1527 things were not going well. Henry was worried because Catherine had borne no male heir. Henry convinced himself that God was displeased and with the marriage and that this was the reason. He ordered his chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey, to ask the Pope for an annulment. Complications arose with Rome and it was not until 1533 that England broke with the Church of Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury granted the divorce. 

The then divorced Queen Catherine was imprisoned in Kimbolton Castle, a few miles West of Sawtry. When she died in 1536, her coffin was carried in a procession and rested overnight in Sawtry Abbey, where the Monks kept an all night vigil for her. In the morning Catherine's body continued on its way to the Cathedral at Peterborough Abbey where her tomb can still be seen today. [In 1986 a commemoration of that procession was held with a large celebration at the College, in period costume, of the events.]

OLIVER CROMWELL

Oliver Cromwell was one of the most important figures in British history, a great general, and Lord protector of the Commonwealth, or republic, of England, Scotland, and Ireland for five years. He was born at Huntingdon on 25th April 1599. He was elected the Member for Huntingdon in 1628 and during the next 12 years he was prominent in local affairs in Eastern England. He was instrumental in the Civil War and in the execution of King Charles 1.

To the north east of All Saints Church, on Tort Hill, near to the Al(M) is the position of a Cromwellian Gun Platform. Tort Hill is on "high" ground, (fifty feet or so above sea level counts as high), and was sited to control the approach of Royalist forces coming from the North during the Civil War. The most likely type of cannon used there would have been a 'Culvenne' with a calibre of five inches [126mm], the cannon ball weighing l5lbs [6.8kg], and a charge of l5lbs of black gunpowder would have fired the ball to a distance of just under a mile.

SAWTRY CHURCHES

St Andrew Church stood on the East side of the old Great North Road. The old church, and the original All Saints Church were both demolished in 1879 and the present All Saints Church was constructed from the best material from the original buildings.

SAWTRY PARISH COUNCIL

The very first Parish Council meeting was held on January 7th 1885 in the Board of Education School Hall, Church Street [later to become the All Saints Church Hall, now offices for Makers Ltd.]. The council was made up from the Manors of All Saints and St Andrews to form one Parish Council. At this first meeting a Parish Rate was set and they voted to exclude the Public! St Judith's Parish did not join the combined Parish Council until 1935. Before this they had their own Parish meetings.