It is great to have another contribution to the blog from one of the Salisbury Museum Research Volunteers….
Salisbury had been no stranger to conflict between the religious and secular authorities since its inception, but with Henry VIII’s Reformation, and the ongoing distrust of Roman Catholicism, in the early 17th century disputes about religious practices widened in the city as well as the country as a whole. These, and their consequences, eventually led to Civil War.
The Puritans were a religious reform movement within the newly formed Church of England, that arose in the late 16th century. These believers felt that the practices of the Church of England itself were too close to Catholicism, and that any ceremony or practice not mentioned in the Bible should be abolished: not only that, they felt they had a direct covenant with God to enact such reforms. In 1629 one Puritan in Salisbury was the city’s Recorder, Henry Sherfield, and it was his actions that led to a famous religious quarrel with national as well as local repercussions.
In 1567 Bishop Jewel had ordered all stained-glass in Salisbury’s churches to be removed and replaced by plain glass: coloured glass was, he felt, ‘idolatrous’. For some reason, a single window in St. Edmund’s church showing the Creation survived the purge. True to his Puritan beliefs, early in 1629 Henry Sherfield obtained the permission of the Vestry to remove the window at his own expense. The matter was, however, referred to the High Anglican Bishop of Salisbury, Dr John Davenant, who promptly vetoed it.
To say Sherfield was unhappy was probably an understatement. He had sat opposite the window and apparently been disturbed by it for 20 years, so he persuaded the sexton’s wife to let him into the church, and promptly attacked the window with a pikestaff – history does not record what the sexton’s wife made of the pikestaff, though the phrase ‘as plain as a pikestaff’ has been known since the mid-1500s.
At this point, things descended into farce. The staff broke, and Sherfield fell 4’ into a pew. He injured himself so badly it was a while before he could summon a horse and be taken home to his bed – where he remained for the next month. The window was left damaged but still in place. Sherfield’s literal interpretation of the Bible meant he objected to the fact that the window had got the days of creation in the wrong order, as well as showing Eve arising from Adam’s body instead of being made from a rib, and that there were seven figures representing God, instead of one.
The subsequent legal uproar reflected the religious divisions of the time. In 1632 Sherfield was summoned to the Star Chamber in London by the Attorney-General, and required to explain himself to 22 Privy Councillors, of whom 18 gave separate judgements. A whole range of suitable punishments were proposed, the severity of which seemed to reflect the religious sensitivities of the people concerned. The Chancellor of the Exchequer wanted Sherfield to be removed from office and fined £1000: others proposed a fine only whilst yet others wanted no fine at all. In the end a compromise fine of £500 was imposed. This, however, was never paid: Henry Sherfield died the next year. In a final act of irony, only 10 years later in 1653 the church tower itself collapsed – luckily not during a Sunday service – and took the window with it.
Thank you Megan. It seems Henry Sherfield was a feisty character! You can read more about him here.