Event    From 1536  To 1541

dissolution of the monasteries

In 1534, for reasons not only to do with his marital situation, Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Pope and the Catholic Church. At the time the Catholic monasteries (and abbeys, priories, convents and friaries) owned over a quarter of all the cultivated land in England. Henry declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and as such he had the authority to do what he wanted with all this church estate. He started with the extremely valuable shrines, closing them and taking possession of their assets. On 17 December 1538 the Pope retaliated by excommunicating Henry. Henry continued his plunder and pillage, breaking up over 850 monasteries in total.

Plaques commemorating monasteries often don't mention how they were destroyed but here is a list of those that we have found so far in London: Holy Trinity Priory, Greyfriars Monastery, Hospital of St Anthony, Bermondsey Abbey, Blackfriars Priory, Charterhouse, Holywell Priory, Austin Friars, Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Chapel of St James in the Wall, Order of St John, Clerkenwell, St Mary's, Willesden, Augustinian Priory of St. Mary, Spitalfields, and Hounslow Priory.

The other, less well-known story is that some survived. To quote Dan Cruickshank at Spitalfields Life: "Elsewhere, the Lord Mayor and Corporation were successful in their campaigns to save the former monastic establishments that became St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, St. Thomas’s Hospital and Bedlam. The fact that these medieval institutions survived the Reformations to continue their useful functions is one of the more pleasing tales of sixteenth century London."

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
dissolution of the monasteries

Commemorated ati

All Hallows tower and Lambe's Chapel

This is visually just a modern information board but the information is more ...

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Glaziers Hall

The Glaziers Hall The land in this area formed part of the site of the cloist...

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Kipling House

The wording on the plaque could have been clearer. The first half is giving t...

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Our Lady of Willesden - shrine

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, while not named on the memorial, is allud...

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Other Subjects

A. E. Penney

A. E. Penney

Councillor on the Committee for the 1901 Shoreditch Town Hall Extension.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

Imprisoned by Elizabeth I for plotting to take Mary Queen of Scots as his fourth wife. His pro-Catholic activities led to his beheading on Tower Hill, just like his Dad, Henry Howard.  Father of Ad...

Person, Execution, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
T. M. McGiff

T. M. McGiff

On the committee of the Stratford Co-operative and Industrial Society in 1919.  Probably the same person as the Councillor T. M. McGiff, J.P. who was on the East Ham Corporation Public Health Commi...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
William Holmes

William Holmes

Church warden in the Aldwych area in 1807.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Frederick Lockyear

Frederick Lockyear

Worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. Was on the building committee for the Abbey Wood branch in 1912.

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration

1 memorial