Plaque

The Great Rising / Peasants' Revolt

Erection date: 15/7/2015

Inscription

{On the central panel two texts are interleaved on alternate lines:}
{In lowercase:}
At this place on 15th June 1381 Wat Tyler, John Ball and other representatives of the Great Rising met King Richard II to finalise terms for ending the Rebellion. The King had agreed to all the political reforms aimed at alleviating the plight of the people.  However he and his advisors later reneged on that agreement, after killing Tyler in the process near this spot.  John Ball and many others of the Revolt were also later executed.

{In uppercase:}
Things cannot go on go on {sic} well in England nor ever will until everything shall be in common when there shall be neither vassal nor Lord, and all distinctions levelled.   John Ball

{On a brass plaque to the left:}
This memorial commemorating The Great Rising of 1381 was commissioned by Matthew Bell, carved by Emily Hoffnung and unveiled by Ken Loach on 15th July 2015.

'If the Barons merited a monument to be erected at Runnymede, Tyler merited one in Smithfield.' Thomas Paine, 1791

Matthew Bell realised that The Great Rising lacked a proper memorial and that this bay was ready and waiting. It took some effort, and a blog.

The panel to the left shows sharp farm implements; that to the right: spears, battle axes, glaive-guisarmes and a chain mace. We had to research to find the names of these nasty weapons and are depressed by the number of websites gleefully cataloguing them.

The Thomas Paine quote refers to a memorial at Runnymede - in 1791, so not the one erected by the American Bar Association in 1957. The quote comes from 'The Rights of Man, Part 2' published in 1792 and surely indicates that Paine knew of a memorial at Runnymede. We've not found such an ancient memorial there so we went searching on-line and think we've resolved this puzzle. Our page for Magna Carta is now very long - see the last two paragraphs if you want to follow this trail.

Site: St Bart's Hospital: Wallace & Marian Martyrs & Peasants' Revolt (4 memorials)

EC1, West Smithfield, St Bartholomew's Hospital

The front elevation of this building is very odd, especially at the roof-line. To end up like this it must have an interesting history. The frieze inscription above the pillars must have been installed when the building was enlarged. At ground floor level there are 3 blanked-off window bays, just perfect for memorials, left to right: Peasants' Revolt, Wallace, Marian Martyrs.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
The Great Rising / Peasants' Revolt

Subjects commemorated i

Peasants' Revolt

The revolt grew out of the increasing severity of the poll taxes imposed on t...

Read More

John Ball

Born St Albans.  As a priest he followed the Lollard doctrine which advocated...

Read More

King Richard II

Became king aged 10, following the deaths of first his elder brother, then hi...

Read More

Wat Tyler

Leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Killed at Smithfield by the Mayor of ...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
The Great Rising / Peasants' Revolt

Created by i

Matthew Bell

Psychotherapist who works locally and is interested in local history.   He fe...

Read More

Emily Hoffnung

Designed and carved the Great Rising memorial.  Has a studio in West London. ...

Read More

Ken Loach

Born Warwickshire.  Socialist film director.  Work includes: Z-Cars (TV), Kes...

Read More

Thomas Paine

Revolutionary. Born Thetford, Norfolk. Emigrated to the British American colo...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
The Great Rising / Peasants' Revolt

Also at this site i

St Bartholomew's Hospital - Marian Martyrs

St Bartholomew's Hospital - Marian Martyrs

Being just outside the city walls this was considered a suitable spot for exe...

Read More

St Bartholomew's Hospital - Sir William Wallace

St Bartholomew's Hospital - Sir William Wallace

2019: Scott Kelly informed us of the work he and his colleagues do, looking a...

Read More

St Bartholomew's Hospital - Victorian extension

St Bartholomew's Hospital - Victorian extension

{On the frieze above the pillars:} Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, Founded by...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Surbiton war memorial - WW2 civilians

Surbiton war memorial - WW2 civilians

KT6, Ewell Road

The Belcher plaque is on the stone in the foreground of our photo, and the St Mark's cairn and WW2 memorials behind it.

3 subjects commemorated
Co-op bank - Monoploy

Co-op bank - Monoploy

N1, Islington High Street, 1, Co-op Bank

Victor and Marjorie came to London from Leeds specifically to select names for the board. Having been out on a name-gathering 'morning ta...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Oliver Goldsmith - SE5

Oliver Goldsmith - SE5

SE5, Peckham Road, Oliver Goldsmith Primary School

The plaque fails to explain why it is here, or why this school has this name, which is probably the same thing.  Trying to answer this qu...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Roman numerals at Christies

Roman numerals at Christies

SW1, King Street, 5

Having been walked on for many decades the plaque is very worn but with David Hopkins' help we believe we now have it transcribed correct...

1 subject commemorated
Lockerbie bench - 17 - Skabo

Lockerbie bench - 17 - Skabo

TW9, Kew Gardens

We have numbered these 17 plaques, anti-clockwise, starting from the plaque for the whole crew which faces the water. Oddly, the last two...

2 subjects commemorated