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J is for… John Bunyan
We couldn’t do an A-Z of Bedfordshire without featuring Bedford’s most famous former resident.
John Bunyan is the writer most closely associated with Bedfordshire. ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ was first published in 1678 and has never been out of print. This is Bunyan’s most enduring work, a story which uses allegory to explain his vision of the Christian journey through life. Bunyan was imprisoned for his non-conformist beliefs and became a popular local preacher. Before this he was an itinerant tinker, mending pans and other metal utensils, and would have been familiar with many of Bedfordshire’s paths and byways.
John Bunyan: a timeline
1628 Born in Elstow. In March 2015 a public vote selected John Bunyan’s birthday, 28th November, as Bedfordshire Day.
1630s Attended local school before following in his father’s trade and becoming an itinerant tinker.
1644 Joined the Parliamentary forces and is garrisoned at Newport Pagnell.
1647 Left the army and returned to Elstow.
1648 Married for the first time. His wife’s name is not known but they had four children, the first of whom, Mary, was born blind.
1653 After a three-year period of spiritual crisis, he joined John Gifford’s congregation in Bedford, becoming a full member in 1655.
1655 Moved to Bedford and begins to preach, first to the Bedford church and then more widely in the area.
1656 First published work, ‘Some Gospel Truths Opened’.
1658 First wife died.
1659 Married for the second time to Elizabeth. They had three children. Continues to publish theological works.
1660 Arrested for preaching illegally, as only ordained priests were allowed to preach, and held in custody.
1661 Tried in Bedford and sentenced to three months in prison. However, he persistently refused to agree to stop preaching and so spent 12 years in jail. Elizabeth appealed to the assizes to try and get him released but with no success. Whilst in prison, he supported his family by making shoelaces and continuing to write.
1662 Published an attack on the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The Act of Uniformity required conformity with its use and led to over 1,000 members of the clergy being ejected from the Church of England.
1666 Published ‘Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners’, his spiritual autobiography.
1672 Released from prison and licensed to preach. He also became pastor of the independent congregation in Bedford. Continued to publish.
1677 Imprisoned for a second time.
1678 Published ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. He continued to write and publish up to his death.
1688 Dies in London after contracting a fever while riding from Reading to London in heavy rain. He is buried in Bunhill Fields, a non-conformist burial ground in Finsbury.
Bedfordshire’s long-distance path
The John Bunyan Trail is a long-distance walk of around 86 miles which takes in places connected with his life and works. It was devised in the 1990s as part of the Ramblers’ Association 60th anniversary celebrations. The Trail takes in Bedfordshire’s varied landscapes, as well as some of its towns and villages. The guide (see links below for a PDF copy) helpfully divides the walk into ten shorter sections of between 5 and 11 miles each. Maps and places of interest are included.
Landscapes
The chalk escarpments of the Chilterns including the Sundon Hills, Sharpenhoe Clappers, Barton Hills and Dunstable Downs were probably the inspiration for Bunyan’s “Delectable Mountains”. The Great Ouse plain to the east of Bedford was the likely inspiration for the Plain of Ease in ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’.
Museums
The John Bunyan Museum in Bedford is the perfect place to learn more about Bunyan, his life and works. It joins on to the Bunyan Meeting Free Church, which is still an active church. It’s also worth a visit as you can see some stained glass windows and bronze entrance doors which depict scenes from ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’. There is a sundial with a Bunyan memorial plaque in the garden.
The Moot Hall in Elstow was built as a market house and is now a museum of seventeenth century rural life. It brings the wider world of John Bunyan to life through displays of furniture and exhibits about the everyday life and traditions of the period.
Historic sites
Houghton House today is the shell of a 17th-century mansion. It is reputedly the inspiration for the ‘House Beautiful’ in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. It was built by Countess of Pembroke as a hunting lodge and venue for social gatherings. The house was three storeys high – the family would have occupied the grand apartments on the first floor, overlooking the gardens and hunting park, while the servants would have slept in the garret rooms on the second floor. The service wing (now demolished) contained the kitchen, brew-house, stillroom and scullery, and was attached to the east of the house.
The thirteenth century Stevington Cross is believed to have inspired a scene in ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ and John Bunyan may also have preached in the village. The Independent Church in Stevington faced persecution during the seventeenth century, the current building is of a later date and was erected in 1720. The Holy Well at Stevington Church may also have inspired a scene in ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’.
Plaques and statues
Bedford’s John Bunyan statue stands at the north end of the High Street, at the corner of St Peter’s Green. It was sculpted by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm and erected in 1874. It was commissioned by the Duke of Bedford and presented by him to the town. He also commissioned the bronze doors at the Bunyan Meeting. The unveiling of the statue was a major event attended by people from across the country. The day was treated as a holiday by the nearby villages, local Sunday School children were invited and treated to cake, there were sermons, speeches, fireworks, bellringing, a lecture and an exhibition.
There are a number of plaques around Bedford which commemorate Bunyan. In St Cuthbert’s Street one shows where John Bunyan and his family lived after their move from Elstow, others show the sites of the old prison and of his baptism in the river Great Ouse. A plaque on a stone in Harrowden marks his birthplace and one in Elstow commemorates ‘Bunyan’s Cottage’. There is also a plaque on the Manor House in Harlington. More information about the locations of all of these can be found in the guide to the John Bunyan Trail.
Exploring Bunyan’s Bedfordshire
2028 will mark the 400th anniversary of his birth and the 350th anniversary of the publication of ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ – find out what’s being planned.
