Martyrs' Cottage

TOLPUDDLE DORCHESTER ROAD SY 7994 (North SIde)

15/170 Martyrs' Cottage (formerly listed as 26.1.56 Martyrs' Cottages)

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Detached cottage, formerly 2 cottages. Probably C18. Walls part plastered cob, part brick, colourwashed. Double Roman tile roof with crested ridge. Brick end stacks. 2 storeys. One part-glazed oak door, and one stable door. Ground floor has 2 casements with glazing bars and one C20 casement. First floor has 2 sashes with vertical glazing bars, one casement with commemorating house as meeting place of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. At right end one C20 casement with glazing bars. At left end a single storey range with gabled roof and one C20 casement. It was the cottage of Thomas Standfield, one of the six agricultural workers who in 1834 were transported to the Australian convict settlements for taking an oath illegaly under the Mutiny Act of 1797 which had been designed to prevent mutinies in the navy. They were pardoned in 1837 and returned to England in 1838. The public outcry raised by the case was critical to the early strengthening of the Trade Union movement. Graded for its historical importance as the meeting place of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. Source' The story of Tolpuddle Martyrs TUC Publications 1984.

Listing NGR: SY7949394415