Rowland Taylor - Hadleigh's Martyr
In 1544 Rowland Taylor became Rector of Hadleigh where the new Protestant reforms of Edward VI's reign were adopted. However, in 1553, Mary Tudor became Queen and reinstated the Roman Catholic religion, but Taylor, and others, refused to give up the Protestant changes and beliefs. His arrest was ordered in March 1554 and in January 1555 he was excommunicated and sentenced to be burnt at the stake. He was returned to Hadleigh and on February 9th 1555 burnt at the stake on Aldham Common. Some history: On 16 April 1544, he was presented to the living of Hadleigh, Suffolk, thus becoming their spiritual leader and rector. Then, on 15 August 1547, he became canon of Rochester, the same year during which King Henry VIII had died in January. In 1548, Taylor was further appointed archdeacon of Bury St Edmunds, followed 3 years later, in 1551, being made archdeacon of Exeter in the diocese of Exeter Other positions he was appointed to include being one of the Six Preachers of Canterbury C