How the iconoclasm affected Wenhaston church; and a 'Scandulous Minister'
In 1643 William Dowsing sent men to remove pictures in the windows and any other images that offended the Puritans. Dowsing himself did not come but some men went to Blythburgh and they may have been the same - Jessop, Edwards and Pretty.
Adding insult to injury it seems from the accounts we had to pay for the work - "Layde out to the men who came to breake done pictures in glass windows - five shillings. Layde out for removing the top of the font and organ - sixpence"!
However in 1644 our vicar, Thomas Ambler was taken before the Committee For Scandalous Ministers on a number of charges regarding conducting the services.
One of these charges concerned him drinking at Edmund Browne"s Inn in Halesworth. This was the White Hart. He was a Royalist which did not go down very well with the Puritans. He was ejected from his church. It was worth £25 a year. He and his wife and four children received £5 pension. I found out that he owned an estate at Eccles so perhaps he was well off.