Cromwell's Head and its Curious History
Cromwell died of natural causes in 1658, and was buried with great ceremony, but was not left to rest in peace.
The desecration of Cromwell's corpse three years later, and the separation of the head from the body, has led to its curious history.
Nearly 350 years after his death Cromwell and his remains continue to fascinate - what did happen to Cromwell's head?
Cromwell's death and funeral
Cromwell died at Whitehall in the afternoon of 3rd September 1658; he was 59 years old. As the head of state, the Lord Protector, Cromwell was honoured with an elaborate and regal funeral. It was based on the ceremonies that had taken place at the death of King James I in 1625. There were three phases spread over eleven weeks.
The post-mortem
The most likely cause of Cromwell's death was septicaemia following a urinary infection. His system was physically weakened by the 'tertian ague', European malaria, and perhaps mentally by the death of his daughter Betty, a month earlier.
His body was examined by George Bate, his physician who had also served Charles I and went on to serve Charles II. He published the results in 1663.
The funeral effigy depicted Cromwell as a King, a title which he had refused in his lifetime. His lying in state took place at Somerset House, and was in two phases. Initially the effigy was seen reclining on a bed, which was richly decorated and adorned with heraldic devices, and secondly it was moved to an upright position, to stand in state.
Lying in State
It was traditional that great men should have life like effigies made of them at their death. In Cromwell's case it is known that a wooden effigy was made, possibly two, which were used for a formal period of lying in state. The head of the effigy was modelled in wax and based on a death mask taken from the corpse. Cromwell's actual remains were buried quietly on 10 November, whilst the funeral preparations were made, for which the effigies would be the centrepiece.
Cromwell's coffin had a plate attached to it, which had been requested by the Privy Council. Their instruction had been for a gold plate although the plate retrieved later was of brass. The inscription describes Cromwell as the Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, his birth date, his inauguration date as Lord Protector, and the date of his death.
The Funeral
The grand state funeral took place on 23rd November and was enormously expensive, with estimates of its cost ranging from £20,000 - £100,000. The funeral procession took seven hours to pass from Somerset House to Westminster Abbey, where the effigy was laid under an impressive catafalque.
Restoration and desecration
The Restoration of King Charles II in May 1660 was at the invitation of Parliament, and followed the abdication of Richard Cromwell. It led to the desecration of Oliver Cromwell's body.
The decision to remove Cromwell's remains from Westminster Abbey, along with those of two others implicated in the execution of the King, was taken by Parliament in December 1660. After a macabre hanging their heads were placed on poles on Westminster Hall as a warning to others.
The treatment of the corpses
Cromwell's corpse had been embalmed and wrapped in cloth after the post - mortem. It was dug up along with those of his son in law Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw, who had been the judge at the trial of King Charles. The bodies were removed from Westminster Abbey on 26th January 1661. Four days later, on the anniversary of the execution of Charles I they were dragged to Tyburn. They were hung from the gallows all day before being taken down and having the heads severed from the bodies. It took more than one blow to remove Cromwell's head.
Eyewitness accounts
There are several descriptions of the events of 30th January 1661. A merchant, Samuel Sainthill wrote...
"they were hanged by the neck from morning. Cromwell in a green seare cloth, very fresh embalmed; Ireton....hung like a dried rat"
From warning to curiosity
Cromwell's head is known to have been on display for over twenty years. The last account of it on Westminster Hall was in 1684. At some point after that it disappeared, and there are alternative theories as to its whereabouts for most of the eighteenth century.
So what do we know?
At some point soon after 1684 the head either fell or was taken down. There is a strong tradition that it was blown off in a gale, retrieved by a sentry, and hidden for many years.
There is some evidence that it was in a private museum in London as early as 1710, but how it arrived there, and how it later passed to its next owner is uncertain. He was a hard up actor manager, Samuel Russell, who had the head by the early 1770's at the latest. Russell tried to sell the head to Cromwell's old college Sidney Sussex, but it was refused.
On display
It is possible that Russell may have put the head on display, in Butchers' Row just off the Strand, and charged for admission. He did find a buyer in 1787, when James Cox, who had at one time also owned a private museum of curiosities, bought it for £118.
Cox in turn sold the head to three brothers named Hughes for £230, almost doubling his investment. They did put the head on exhibition at Mead Court off Bond Street in 1799. A pamphlet was commissioned from a man called Cranch, who also painted the head.
The exhibition failed. There is some evidence that it was later exhibited in other commercial museums, until its sale to Josiah Henry Wilkinson in 1814. In 1822 it was noted that "Mr Wilkinson its present owner doats upon it".
The Wilkinson head - and its scientific study
The Wilkinson Family continued to own the head into the twentieth century. Its owner, Canon Horace Wilkinson, agreed in the early 1930's to allow two scientists full access to the head, to make a study of it and try to determine whether or not it was authentic. They published their results in 1935 in a very full report extending to over 100 pages of text, and over 100 illustrations. Their conclusion was that the head was that of Oliver Cromwell.
The study by Pearson and Morant is the most detailed appraisal of the head ever made. As access to the head is no longer possible it will always remain the definitive study.
The report discusses in detail the processes of a 17th century post mortem, and what is known to have happened to Cromwell's body. No inconsistencies with the physical evidence were found. Similarly they compared the treatment of the corpse in 1661 with the head, and no reason could be found to doubt its authenticity.
Using a variety of measurements they also set out to compare the head with known life studies of Cromwell, which confirmed the relationship. The report, which is neither the most pleasant or lightweight to read, led them to conclude that the head was that of Oliver Cromwell.
The final resting place
Following the death of Canon Wilkinson a suitable home was sought for the head. After some debate the Master and Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge accepted the head, where it was buried on the 25th March 1960.
Canon Wilkinson kept the head in a wooden box. Prior to the Pearson and Morant study he had allowed it to be examined by the Royal Archaeological Institute in 1911, but had formally objected to the publication of a report. Although he refused permission for the BBC to film the head in 1954 he was known to show the head to local children!
On his death it was stored in a bank vault in Woodbridge whilst a suitable home were found. It was offered to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge on 12th February 1960, and accepted by the College Council. The head was finally re- buried almost 300 years after it had been dug up from Westminster Abbey. It now rests somewhere within the ante-chapel at the College, the precise spot unmarked to ensure that it is left in peace.
What happened to the rest of the body?
There has been a lot of speculation and wild rumour about what happened to the rest of Cromwell's body. Suggestions include:
It was buried in a 'quiet spot' in Holborn.
The remains were taken to be buried in Huntingdon.
It was buried deep beneath the battlefield at Naseby.
Cromwell's daughter Mary spirited the body away to Newburgh Priory in Yorkshire. This claim is enhanced by the presence of a Cromwell vault, but it has never been allowed to be opened and the remains examined.
The most likely explanation is that the body was left in the burial pit at Tyburn, close to the site of Marble Arch at the West End of Oxford Street, London.