Oliver Cromwell`s Head

Fickle people these English! Oliver Cromwell was the Lord Protector of England after the beheading of Charles the First. Indeed it was on Parliament`s instruction via Cromwell himself that the monarch was thus despatched!! The common folk of England had long been disgruntled with the monarchy and Charles I excesses were just a bit too much.Time was rife to get rid of the monarch and the English Civil war ensued. Oliver Cromwell and his supporters gathered together a strong militia to rout the Royalist supporters. Families were split asunder as they chose sides.Many men simply chose Cromwell`s Roundhead army for the money. Mercenaries were the rule of the day.There were no real regular forces even on the monarchie`s side.

The organisation of the Roundhead army was soon to be victorious. After several battles across the land the Royalists simply acceded to Cromwell`s rule. Parliament was suspended as it was a mere puppet show of the King and all his excesses. Charles 1st was executed and the monarchy came to an end for the next 12 years. For this brief period in history England, Ireland and Scotland were a commonwealth Republic under the rule of self styled dictator Oliver Cromwell and later his son Richard.. After 12 years of rule and austerity under Cromwell`s iron fist the people were again disgruntled. Many people were still loyal to the former monarchy. After the death of Oliver Cromwell it was only a short time till royalist support in the country was strong enough to take back power. However after Cromwell`s death the people of London thronged the streets in homage to the man in a lavish (£20000 to £100000 some estimated) state funeral. Something that Cromwell himself when alive , did not want. His body was interred in Westminster Abbey as befitted all rulers of England.

His son succeded him as Lord Protector of England and the commonwealth but only for a few short years. Shortly after the abdication of Richard the monarchy was restored, this time with the intention of Charles 2nd to be a loyal and just ruler. Once the monarchy was restored Cromwell`s body as well as some of his protagonists, was recovered from Westminster Abbey and the body was publicly hanged and put on display at Tyburn. The same people that stood in homage to Cromwell a few short years ago now cheered as his rotting corpse swung on the gallows. Fickle people indeed or was it out of fear of the new Royalist rulers? Who knows? The body was subsequently cut down and the body was dismembered with the head being severed.The head was then stuck on a spike (probably after being soaked in tar as was the custom) atop the walls of Westminster Hall (here was the execution of Charles 1st some 12 years earlier) for all to see.The head stood perched on its stake for many years until one stormy evening the rotten stake it was stuck to finally gave up to the ravages of time and the head tumbled to the ground within the confines of the tower. Apparently one of the soldiers on duty found the head and took it back to his home. When a few days later it was realised the head was missing the soldier panicked and hid the head up his chimney.There the head remained for many years until his death.

The head turned up some years later and changed hands a few more times being on exhibition and then in a private collection. In the 1930s it ended up in the Wilkinson family and was the subject of a scientific study to establish its authenticity.The conclusion was that it was genuine, being the head of a 60 year old male, an indentation where the famous wart would have been and the evidence of the neck being severed by several blows. The head was offered to Sidney College Sussex , Cromwells former College.I t had previously been refused buy in 1860 it was buried within the gtounds of the ante chapel being unmarked so it may rest in peace.So some 300 years passed since its removal from Westminster Abbey.