Please join us on 19th September 2022 for an early morning visit to the Somerset County Museum in Taunton to honour the ancestors connected to the Battle of Sedgemoor and the Bloody Assizes of 1685.

These events marked one of the darkest chapters in English history.

“Of more than 500 prisoners brought before the court on 18th and 19th September, 144 were hanged and their remains displayed around the county.”

The Zoyland Heritage Centre poses a haunting question:

“Perhaps one of your ancestors was among the thousands of ‘rebels’ who were killed, one of the 320 who were executed, or one of the 800 transported as bonded slaves?”

Related Ancestral Work

• 2nd September 2022 – Battle Site, Sedgemoor
  Conducted psychopomp and ceremonial work to honour and release those who perished during the uprising.

• 25th August 2022 – Winchester
  Visited the site where the Bloody Assizes began on 25th August 1685, and paid tribute to Dame Alice Lyle, who was beheaded for offering refuge to fugitives of the rebellion.

• 9th September 2022 – Burnham-on-Sea and Thorngrove
  Visited the home of my 5th great-grandmother and great-grandfather, whose lives were likely shaped by the intergenerational trauma left in the wake of the battle and the brutal aftermath of the Assizes.

Ancestral Reflections

An excerpt from my research reads:

“She could not spot a Chapman, Aldridge, Coward, Farnham, Clinton or Terrett among the names of those who sailed on the Jamaica Merchant or were condemned to hang by Judge Jeffreys. But there were other family surnames. Robert Jones was hanged at Minehead, and John, William, and Jonas Browne, along with Michael Powell, were transported to the Caribbean. There were Allens—John, Richard, and Thomas—who sailed on the Happy Return to Barbados, and another group aboard the Ship John (destination unknown). Henry Allen was fined and whipped at Dorchester, and Robert Allen was convicted to be hanged in Somerton.”

Through this work, we acknowledge the pain and resilience woven through these ancestral lines. The remembrance of those who suffered and those who survived becomes an act of healing—restoring voice, dignity, and connection across generations.