At Tower Hill, June 8th 1658. Etching from the time. Hewitt and Slingsby were caught up in the machinations of politics at the time and were plotting for the restoration of the monarchy. Hewitt was well known for his preaching and had been chaplain to the Royalist Earl of Lindsay as well as marrying his sister. Slingsby had fought with distinction in the war and the shirt he wore on the day pictured below is available to view in Knaresborough Castle Museum (don’t miss the tunnel tour if you go). Sadly for the good Doctor and Sir Henry, they don’t seem to have pulled much of a crowd, though Dr Hewitt’s speech and the account of his trial were both popular publications in the days that followed.
The executioner is wearing a coat and breeches and some kind of cap and the soldiers and the three or four onlookers surrounding the scaffold are dressed similarly though with brimmed hats and the odd cloak. It must have been a cold June in 1658.
The 1640s Picturebook 