2018-05 - The Peasants are Revolting! (London, UK)

At our hotel in London (Rathbone) there was a city guide of activities. It had a nice summary of all the different museums around town, events happening in May and a list of activities that included guided walks by Bee Midtown. Expecting something a bit touristy and high-end, I was pleasantly surprised to find their May brochure listed several interesting looking walks, all free. While the Sweeney Todd walk and the Samuel Pepys walk looked especially interesting, the only one that fit our limited time in London was "The Peasants are Revolting!".

THE PEASANTS ARE REVOLTING NEW

Thursday 3 May

5.30pm. Farringdon Station

For this tour we go back to 1381 and visit places in Farringdon and Clerkenwell from Wat Tyler’s Peasants’ Revolt.

Duration: 75 minutes.

Farringdon Station -- the beginning of our tour

This was a great tour of English history that I'd never even heard of. First, though, I had to make it all the way to Farringdon Station, outside of touristy London. The metro got me safely there, and on time. Outside the station, we gathered around a gentleman in an orange Bee Midtown t-shirt. Interestingly, tourists were the minority in the group. Most of the people were locals. As the tour progressed, it became clear that the locals had been on most of the tours in the brochure.

Following the locals

The tour guide set the scene for us. In the 14th century, the Black Death had killed roughly a third of the population. The King at the time had set a maximum wage, meaning no one could earn more than that wage. Plus, England was at war with France; and, the King had instituted a poll tax, which was a tax that had to be paid just for being alive. Needless to say, the common people were fed up with their government.

Memorial to the Peasants' Revolt, carved by Emily Hoffnung

Wat Tyler and Jack Straw are credited what became known as the Peasants' Revolt, although it wasn't just peasants revolting. John Ball, a priest of the Lollard denomination also took part. King Richard II came out to meet the leaders at Smithfield. Actually, that was where we were standing on the tour, in Smithfield. Everything seemed to have been settled, with the King listening and agreeing to demands. However, after that, everything went haywire, Wat Tyler was killed; and, the Peasants' Revolt ended only a few days after beginning. In 2015, a memorial went up commemorating what had happened so long ago (1381).

Smithfield Market. Jousting site, meat market and execution site of our hero.
Still in use today as a food market.

We were moving down little streets now at a clip, me trying to keep up and get photos of the buildings of interest. Unfortunately, my notes are few and far between at this point. We did stop for a quick photo of the St. Bartholomew church, which was built in 1123. Although, now looking at google maps, I realize that we saw both the churches St Bartholomew the Less and St Bartholomew the Great. Plus, to add even more confusion, there is a very visually appealing gatehouse into St Bartholomew the Great that was built centuries later (it's near the memorial to the Peasants' Revolt).

St. Bartholomew the Great

The final big stop on our tour was the Museum of the Order of St. John, which, you guessed it, was a church. However, this church (the Clerkenwell Priory) was set up by Crusaders from Jerusalem back in 1144. It looks like a very interesting building from the outside. I wished that I had time to come back during the day for a visit of the interior. (The TripAdvisor reviews look pretty good, too!)

Museum of the Order of St. John