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."

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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Other Subjects

T. C. Cooper

T. C. Cooper

A commissioner of Limehouse Library in 1900.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Mercy Umeh

Mercy Umeh

Councillor and Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham in September 2014.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
W. H. Cutler

W. H. Cutler

Churchwarden at St Marys Church Putney in 1886. 

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Sir Thomas Bazley

Sir Thomas Bazley

One of the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition, 1851. First baronet. Manufacturer in cotton spinning industry and politician. Born Gilnow, hear Bolton, Lancashire. Died at his summer home, Riv...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Lord Holland, Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland

Lord Holland, Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland

Whig politician. Grandson of the first Baron, and nephew of Charles James Fox. Born Wiltshire and orphaned by the age of 5. Owned 401 slaves. Express Informer provides "‘By the unexpected death of...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues

1 memorial