Formerly known as Bishop Hoopers’ Lodgings, the Folk of Gloucester is a must-see attraction for visitors to Gloucester. Occupying numbers 99 to 103 on Westgate Street, the oldest parts date back to Tudor times, c. 1509.
Who was Bishop John Hooper?
Born in Somerset in 1495, John Hooper was influenced in his early days by protestant preachers at Oxford University, and his strong views against the established church caused him to flee to the continent. In 1547, Henry VIII died and the Duke of Somerset, a strong advocate of religious reform, became Regent to the 9-year-old King Edward.
John Hooper returned from the continent and became the Duke’s Chaplain and preached against the Catholic Church. King Edward offered Hooper the position of Bishop of Gloucester in 1551. Hooper initially declined so the King put him in prison.
Two weeks later Hooper changed his mind and agreed to become the second Bishop of Gloucester. When King Edward died in 1553, the Catholic queen ‘Bloody Mary’ came to the throne and had 300 protestant ‘heretics’ put to death. Bishop Hooper was offered a pardon if he denounced Protestant doctrine. He declined. Subsequently, he was falsely accused of stealing church funds and sentenced to death by fire. He is commemorated with a monument in Gloucester’s St Mary’s Square.
The Folk of Gloucester
The site itself, accessed through the door at no 101, offers examples of roof timbers, spiral staircases, original chimneys, and fireplaces that reflect the artisanry of the Tudor era. The buildings have since been used as a temperance bar, a sweet shop, then a cobblers and later a fishmongers. They are now managed by the Gloucester Civic Trust. The Folk includes a courtyard, cider press, Victorian schoolroom, and the Ed Shed, which serves as an education centre and event space.
Inside the rooms, you’ll find many fascinating artefacts, including a truckle or trundle bed. These have a main bed on which the residents slept and a lower bed which could be pulled out for servants, children, or guests. There was not much privacy in those days! The necessity of tightening the ropes that held up the mattress of the truckle bed is said to be the source of the phrase “Sleep tight”.
There’s also a witch’s bottle, which was found under the hearth in front of the fireplace in the office, the only original fireplace still remaining. The story goes that in 1702 a neighbour accused Jane Wenham of witchcraft, saying she had seen her flying.
Jane appeared before the magistrate Jon Powell who asked her, “Is it true that you can fly?”. She replied that, yes, she could fly. The judge responded: “Flying is not illegal. Case dismissed.”
The Siege of Gloucester
The Siege of Gloucester (1643) during the English Civil War is commemorated with displays of weapons and artifacts. During the Civil War the Royalists, having taken Bristol in three days, next surrounded Gloucester and demanded the city surrender.
The merchants were keen to accept so they could continue their businesses but the Parliamentarians, led by 23-year-old Colonel Massey, refused and the Siege of Gloucester began on 10 August 1643. It lasted 26 days.
Both sides were short of military supplies so while the Royalists attacked the city regularly there were long periods when the Parliamentarians could walk out of the city gates and attack the Royalist camps outside the walls. The Royalists brought in siege machines to attack the city defences; however they became useless when they fell over and got stuck in the soggy city ditch. The Siege of Gloucester is commemorated in the nursery rhyme:
“Humpty Dumpty got stuck in a beck,
With all his sinews around his neck,
Forty surgeons and forty knights.
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty to rights.”
Death by fire
Perhaps the most macabre item on display at the Folk is the charred stump of Bishop Hooper’s stake. It was found during the 1862 excavations for Bishop Hooper’s Memorial in St Mary’s Square.
People believed that Bishop Hooper spent his last night before being burnt at the stake in the Turret room of No.103, which belonged to Robert Ingram. However, it is more likely he was imprisoned further up Westgate Street since the Turret room was not added until the 1700s. Shopkeepers over the years have been keen to keep the myth alive as it helped increase their trade.
What we do know is that on 9 February 1555 at 9 am, Bishop Hooper was bound to a stake by an iron hoop and several times called out “For the love of God, friends, give me more fire”.
He died 45 minutes later; a Protestant martyr whose coat of arms was the Lamb in the Burning Bush.
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