William Dowsing

Who was William Dowsing?

William Dowsing was an English iconoclast who operated at the time of the English Civil War. Dowsing was a puritan soldier who was born in Laxfield, Suffolk. He was Provost-Marshall of the armies of the Eastern Association, responsible for supplies and administration.

In 1643 he was appointed by their Captain-General, the Earl of Manchester as "Commissioner for the destruction of monuments of idolatry and superstition" to carry out a Parliamentary Ordinance of 28 August 1643 which stated that "all Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry should be removed and abolished", specifying: "fixed altars, altar rails, chancel steps, crucifixes, crosses, images of the Virgin Mary and pictures of saints or superstitious inscriptions." In May 1644 the scope of the Ordinance was widened to include representations of angels, rood lofts, holy water stoups, and images in stone, wood and glass and on plate.

Dowsing carried out his work in 1643-4 by visiting over 250 churches in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, removing or defacing items that he thought fitted the requirements outlined in the Ordinance. He recruited assistants, apparently among his friends and family, and where they were unable to perform the work themselves he left instructions for the work to be carried out. Sometimes the local inhabitants assisted his work, but often he was met by resistance or non-co-operation. His commission, backed up by the ability to call on military force if necessary, meant that he usually got his way. He charged each church a noble for his services.