The 365th Anniversary of the King's execution took place on Thursday 30th January from 2 pm for 2:30 pm in the King Charles I Room, Kidderminster Town Hall, hosted by President Charlie Combes.
A visit to the Town Hall for the Annual Wreath-laying underneath the portrait of King Charles I is always a memorable event for the twenty or so Old Carolians that attend. This year was extra special, as we had attended the funeral of Martin Humphries at Wyre Forest Crematorium in the morning and he would have appreciated the significance of this day. The crematorium had been full with approximately 120 mourners celebrating the life of someone particularly special to all of us, an ex-President, Association Secretary for twelve years, and a former Chair of Governors at the School.
The Town Hall is also an extremely interesting building for those who are infrequent visitors. Not only does it have the King Charles Room, together with the imposing and sweeping staircase, the large portraits of former Mayors of the Town, and the cosy Mayor's Parlour with its Husum twin town memorabilia and other artefacts from Kidderminster's history, but also there are the twin rooms that no one visits much these days: the Council Chamber and the Magistrates' Court. It seems such a pity that these magnificent rooms are redundant today, just memories of times past. Another item of huge interest for me was the tiny case on the wall in the Mayor's Parlour. This contained an original Penny Black stamp, presented to the town by John Longmore, a distinguished Old Carolian and Life Member.
It was a bitterly cold day outside the Town Hall, but, inside, there was a warm welcome from the Mayor, Cllr John Campion, with refreshments of wine, orange juice and slices of cake. We moved through to the King Charles Room at the appointed time and were addressed by the Rev Rose Lawley, who has been covering the parochial duties of our old friend Canon Owain Bell. First, she passed on to us Owain's very best wishes. Then, in her discussion of King Charles, she said that he undoubtedly had qualities of greatness, despite the criticisms. She said that it was not invalid to compare Charles to two other great men in terms of their lives as beacons of hope – Oscar Romero, the assassinated South American archbishop, and Pope Benedict XVI, who had recently abdicated.
Charles, a man of prayer, as well as a husband and father, had made some terrible mistakes. Despite these, his confidence in God, his grace and humility had, indeed, a special kind of greatness. Rose then quoted from 'An Horatian Ode', a poem written by Andrew Marvel, a prominent Parliamentarian and opponent of Charles. Even he and many like-minded people in the 17th century recognised Charles' finest qualities and his bravery facing the scaffold.
'He nothing common did or mean
Upon that memorable scene
But with his keener eye
The axe's edge did try.
Nor called the gods, with vulgar spite,
To vindicate his helpless right;
But bowed his comely head
Down, as upon a bed.
This was that memorable hour.'
President Charlie Combes spoke of Charles as someone who was a much maligned enigma. History had been hard on him, but he had possessed many talents. He had inherited a hornets' nest of problems left to him by his father, James I. People rejoiced at James' death, but Charles had to pick up the pieces of a shattered country. He did not endear himself to his subjects in his attempts to cope with the economics of the mess, and he faced several inherited problems from the Church throughout his reign. As in a game of chess, troublesome bishops had contributed to his decline and to the Civil War. He had found it impossible to satisfy his opponents, and, at the same time, he had himself been unwilling to compromise. Despite all this, we should remember Charles as a hugely educated man and one of England's most dedicated patrons of the arts, especially the works of Rubens and Van Dyke.
Following Charlie's address, he placed the wreath underneath Charles' portrait and the afternoon ended with the usual photographs and prayers.
'Captain' Peter Vaughan, World Affairs Correspondent