During the 15th and 16th centuries, people were burned here for their religious beliefs. Though the number of people executed here is not known, there are three mentioned in 1428, half a dozen during the first half of the 16th century and up to 50 burned during the reign of Queen “Bloody” Mary.
The Lollards were a somewhat rebellious movement which preached anticlerical and biblically-centered reforms. The Lollard movement was a precursor to the Protestant Reformation.