The Hauntingly Excellent Range
Joan Waste
In 1556, during the reign of Queen Mary I, Joan Waste, a blind woman from Derby, was executed for her Protestant beliefs.
Born around 1534, Joan was devoutly religious and would often pay the townsfolk of Derby to read passages from the Bible aloud to her.
When Mary restored Catholicism, Joan refused to return to the old faith or accept the Latin Mass. Arrested for heresy, she was tried at All Saints Church (now Derby Cathedral) and condemned to death.
On August 1st, 1556, she was burned at the stake at Windmill Hill Pit, the site of today’s Lime Avenue, off Burton Road. She faced her death calmly, praying aloud as the flames rose — remembered ever since as Derby’s blind martyr and a symbol of quiet religious courage.
Joan’s ghost is said to haunt Derby Cathedral.
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: Derby Cathedral, 18-19 Iron Gate, Derby DE1 3GP
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CONNECTION: Though Joan was put on trial at what is now Derby Cathedral, only the tower, rebuilt between 1510 and 1530, remains from that period. The main body of the church was demolished under the orders of the then vicar Dr Michael Hutchinson in 1723. Thinking the church was in a ruinous state he organised its demolition without any local approval. He was ultimately placed in charge of fundraising the rebuild which was completed in 1725.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: Lime Avenue, Derby
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CONNECTION: Lime Avenue in Derby stands where Joan's execution took place in 1556 - though this wasn't the only instance of people being executed for their faith in Derby in the 1500s. in 1588, three Roman Catholic priests were hanged, drawn and quartered for their Catholic faith, as Queen Elizabeth I was now on the throne and had reverted our national faith back to Protestantism.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
