Of that town little is known before the conquest. Sometime previous to that event, and in the early part of the same century (the 11th) it is said to have been given to the Convent of Ely (along with other large and important possessions in the different counties of Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk) by Oswy and Leoflede, the parents of Alwyn, afterwards bishop of Elmham, upon his admission into the said convent. As the property of a convent, or monastery, it may be presumed to have been of old a very religious town; which character it seems still in no small degree to retain, though in a different way.

Of its Castle, however, no traces are known to exist before the arrival of the Norman, with his conquering array of Frenchmen. In 1071, five years subsequent to that event, the conqueror, it is said, built here a stone Castle, the governor of which was dignified with the title of constable, and the walls and moat were ordered to be kept in repair by the proprietors of certain lands in West Walton, who held their estates by a tenure to that effect. This fortress is supposed to have been afterwards dismantled in the reign of Henry II, but upon what occasion we are not informed. Nor have we any account of another such edifice at Wisbeach till the reign of Henry VII, when a new Castle of brick appears to have been built on the site of the former, between the years 1478 and 1483, by bishop Morton, already mentioned as an eminent benefactor to the adjacent country. This new edifice became the said bishop’s palace, in which he and several of his successors afterwards resided.

In Mary’s time the place seems to have undergone some change, but whether so as to cease being an episcopal residence, or not, does not appear. But we find that some part of it, at least, was then appropriated for the confinement of heretics, that is, of protestants. The names of two of these, who were inhabitants of the town, are still upon record. One of them was William Woolsey, and the other Robert Pygot. They were for sometime confined in this Castle, and afterwards removed to Ely, where they were both burnt, and along with them a great heap of books, which seems to imply, that one of them at least was a scholar, or considerable reader, and that, probably, was Woolsey; for it appears that Pygot was by trade a painter, and therefore not very likely to be possessed of many books. He is spoken of as remarkably meek and modest, whereas Woolsey was a person of uncommon courage and boldness, viewing the impending danger without dismay, and setting his unfeeling persecutors, and even death itself at defiance. He was, it seems, somewhat fearful lest the gentleness of his fellow-sufferer should give his enemies advantage over him and occasion his recanting; but it did not prove so: Pygot stood firm to his principles; and when the commissioners presented a paper for him to sign, he said, “No, that is your faith, and not mine.” They suffered, towards the latter part of the year 1555. [91]

In the reign of Elizabeth, the then bishop, or bishops, it seems, relinquished this castle for the use and accommodation of the civil power; and it was then converted into a state prison for the papists, who were charged with conspiring against her majesty’s government. Great numbers therefore of these people suffered here a long and rigorous imprisonment, and not a few of them miserably perished in its dreary dungeons. That queen amply retaliated upon the papists what her sister Mary had before inflicted upon the protestants. It is hard to say which of these crowned sisters was the most bloody. Fox has largely described the cruelties and atrocities of Mary’s government. Certain popish, as well as protestant nonconformist historians have done the same in regard to that of Elizabeth: and if the intolerance, iniquity, and cruelty of the latter reign did not exceed those of the former, it seems pretty clear that they fell not short of them. As to the number of victims, or sufferers, the preponderance is evidently on the side of Elizabeth. There was a difference, indeed, in the process or mode of immolation: Mary had her victims burnt at the stake; whereas her protestant sister had hers hanged, cut down alive, emboweled, and quartered. Which of the two modes is the most humane and defensible—or rather, which of them is the most barbarous and brutal, the present writer will not attempt to determine. Nor will he pretend to say which of the two is attended with the greatest degree of animal pain, as that may depend upon circumstances. But if burning be the most cruel of all executions, as a very able living writer has observed, it argues a defect in our laws, which appoints this to be the punishment of petty treason, whilst the Catholic sufferers underwent that annexed to high treason. He also observes with respect to the greater part of those victims,—

“that the sentence of the law was strictly and literally executed upon them. After being hanged up, they were cut down alive, dismembered, ripped up, and their bowels literally burnt before their faces, after which they were beheaded and quartered. The time employed in this butchery was very considerable, and, in one instance, lasted above half an hour.—Great numbers also of these sufferers, (he adds) as well as other Catholics, who did not endure capital punishment, were racked in the most severe and wanton manner, in order to extort proofs against themselves or their brethren. It appears, (he further observes) from the account of one of these sufferers, that the following tortures were in use against the Catholics in the Tower: [and probably also in the Castle of Wisbeach:] 1. The common rack, in which the limbs were stretched by levers. 2. The scavenger’s daughter, so called, being a hoop, in which the body was bent until the head and feet met together. 3. The chamber, called Little-Ease, being a hole so small that a person could neither stand, sit, or lie straight in it. 4. The Iron Gauntlets. In some instances needles were thrust under the prisoner’s nails.—Sir Owen Hopton, lieutenant of the Tower, was commonly the immediate instrument in these cruelties there; but sometimes Elmer [ Aylmer] bishop of London directed them.” [93]

How far the bishop of Ely was concerned with similar proceedings at the Castle of Wisbeach, we are not informed; but whether he was concerned or not, we may presume that similar measures were pursued there. The Wisbeach prisoners were distinguished, not only for their numbers, amounting to some scores, at least, but also for their rank and eminence, being mostly priests and scholars, who had been educated either at Oxford and Cambridge, or at some of the foreign universities. Hence when their more illiterate, or uneducated brethren, in other prisons, were called to defend their tenets against the attacks or arguments of the clergy, they would be expressing their wishes that some of their more learned friends, from Wisbeach Castle, would be allowed to take their part: and when the judge, at the trial of Barkworth, at the Old Baily, sneeringly proposed his being tried by a jury of priests, “That is right,” replied the prisoner; “Your lordship knows that a complete jury of them may be found at Wisbeach Castle.” [94a] In short, many of these catholic sufferers under Elizabeth, appear to have been no less sincere and devout, and even, no less unjustly treated, than those protestants, whose cruel sufferings have rendered Mary’s reign so deservedly detestable.

For a good while after the accession of James I, Wisbeach Castle was still used for the same purpose as above described: but between the years 1609 and 1619, it is said to have been repaired by bishop Andrews, [94b] who probably occupied it himself for some time after. On the abolition of the hierarchy, after the death of Charles I, it was purchased by the memorable secretary Thurloe, who rebuilt it in its present form, from a design of the celebrated Inigo Jones: but though still called The Castle, it no longer retained any appearance of a fortress. At the restoration it reverted to the see of Ely, but does not appear to have been ever afterwards an episcopal residence. It was from that period usually granted on lease to some one or other of the principal families of the town; the Southwells, in particular had it a long while, and resided there. Of late it has been sold, under an act of parliament, by the late bishop, to Joseph Medworth, Esq. The detached buildings have been since removed, and some rows of elegant houses have been erected. The plan of a large Circus has also been laid out, about one half of which is already built: when the design is completed it will add greatly to the pleasantness and beauty of the town. The Castle is still standing, and likely to stand, with what may be called fair play, as long as any of the new buildings, although it has been built now above 150 years, and was, at the time of the sale, stated (even by his lordship, it seems) to be in a decayed and ruinous condition.

The parish church of Wisbeach, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is a spacious handsome fabric, though of a very singular construction, being furnished with two naves and two aisles. The naves are lofty and separated from each other by a row of light slender pillars, with pointed arches. The aisles are the most ancient, being divided from their respective naves by low massy pillars, and semicircular saxon arches. The tower is deemed very beautiful, and has been thought ancient, but its claim to antiquity is said to be fully refuted by existing records, which prove its erection to have been posterior to the 10th of March 1520.—On the west side of the north entrance is a small chapel or chantry dedicated to St. Martin, and originally endowed with lands for the maintenance of a priest, to say masses for the soul of the founder. The church is a vicarage, said to be heretofore worth 500l. a year, but now, it seems, more than double that sum, in consequence of a late litigation, which terminated in favour of the vicar, and the complete discomfiture of his opponents. This is said to have occasioned not a little ill blood between the good pastor and some of his flock; but however that may affect them, so large an addition of income will probably prevent his laying it very deeply to heart. It may, however, perhaps be somewhat doubtful, if the present extraordinary juncture, and most eventful period, be altogether the most safe or proper for the clergy to promote or engage in these unconciliatory and offensive litigations.

Besides the parish church, there are at Wisbeach six other different places of worship; one belonging to the friends, commonly called Quakers, one to the Independents, or Culymites, one to the Wesleyan Methodists, and three to those of the baptist denomination. Between the latter, though they all go under the same name, there yet exist some strong shades of difference, so that very little of any thing like good understanding or christian harmony is discoverable. Yet they all lie, more or less, under the imputation of heterodoxy, from the great or main body of their brethren, who are usually termed particular baptists,—as well as from the rest of the right orthodox clans. Of these three societies one belongs to a certain order or description of arminian or general baptists, who are pretty numerous about Leicestershire and the adjacent counties, and also in some other parts. Except on the point of baptism, they agree very much with the Wesleyans, and may, perhaps, without much impropriety, be called Wesleyan baptists.—Another of these three societies belongs to a small party of baptists, sometimes called Johnsonians, from the late John Johnson of Liverpool, to whose peculiar tenets and spirit they are very much attached; and they have, seemingly, but little charity or forbearance towards any thing that does not come up to, or accord with that standard; which may be said to be the worst trait in their character. They are otherwise respectable, and so are the members of the society before mentioned. Less bigotry would make both more amiable and more respectable. The people who constitute the other baptist society assume the name of Unitarians, and belong to a notable class of that denomination which is said to be now much on the increase in different parts of the kingdom. The leaders of this new religious class profess to have for their main object to restore Christianity to its original purity: they adopt a popular strain of preaching, and are by some people looked upon as highly evangelical; so that, as we have had for some time evangelical trinitarians, both in the church and out of it, we are now, it seems, to have likewise evangelical unitarians. Some zealots among the orthodox will probably nibble at this, and even pronounce it absolutely impossible; but the pastor of the said society, at Wisbeach, is said to be ready to maintain, against the very best man among his opponents, not only that those of his connection are really no less evangelical, but even much more so than any of those on whom it has been the fashion of late years to bestow that honourable appellation. Nothing further needs here be said on the subject: the public will have an opportunity to judge for themselves, if any one will enter the lists, or step forward to discuss the point with the said pastor.

To have among its inhabitants so many different religious societies or sects, can be no real reproach to Wisbeach. The exercise of free enquiry, and unrestrained judgement and decision in matters of religion, must be the undoubted and unalienable birthright of every rational being, or moral agent: nor can a diversity of religious sentiments or persuasions be any way detrimental to the welfare of the community, provided all parties were earnestly to concur in promoting general harmony and goodwill among their fellow citizens. It is, however, much to be regretted that this has been hitherto but very imperfectly learnt and practised by most of our religious fraternities, both in the establishment and out of it. It is too generally the case, that the leaders of the respective parties promote among their adherents a hostile, and not unfrequently a most rancorous spirit towards their differing neighbours: and the higher men are placed on the scale of orthodoxy and evangelicalism, the more apt are they in general to run into this enormity. It would seem as if they had taken their ideas, not from Jesus Christ, but rather from those over-zealous and mistaken disciples who would fain have confined the name and profession, as well as the propagation of Christianity to those, forsooth, who would follow them. Wherever real liberty exists, a diversity of religious opinions and denominations must be expected; but that would furnish no just cause of complaint, were the above evil sufficiently guarded against by all parties. Acts of uniformity in religion, attended with national creeds, tests, and articles of faith, may suit the piety of popes, or the crooked policy of despotism, but they can never accord with the rights of man, or the true principles of freedom: they will never be admitted in a land of liberty, and can belong only to those hateful regions inhabited by slaves and governed by tyrants.