Joan Waste or Wast (1534 – 1 August 1556) was a blind woman who was burned in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

for refusing to renounce her

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

faith.The History of the County of Derby
Stephen Glover, Thomas Noble, 1829, accessed 23 February 2009
, 1563, republished 2006, accessed February 2009

Biography

Waste was born blind in 1534, with her twin brother Roger, to a Derby barber, William Waste and his wife, Joan. By the age of twelve she had learned to

knit Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

as well as how to make ropes (her father was also a ropemaker). In 1553,

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

came to the throne and in January 1555 it was made illegal by Parliament to hold Protestant views. At least 284 people were condemned for heresy during Mary's reign. Some were famous, the bishops

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the s ...

, and Nicholas Ridley among them, but many executed between spring 1555 and the queen's death in November 1558 were from "the lower orders". St Peters Church Derby

Waste was called before the Catholic

Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

, Ralph Baines' chancellor,

Anthony Draycot Anthony Draycot (died 1571 in Draycott in the Moors) was an English Roman Catholic churchman and lawyer. During the reign of Queen Mary he held a diocesan position as chancellor; his role in condemning numerous Protestants to death is detailed i ...

, to defend her views; and for these she was condemned. She had objected to the services now being read in Latin. She was sentenced for buying a

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

which she asked friends to read to her for a penny a time.A Martyr in the Parish
, St Peters Derby, accessed February 2009 She also denied the doctrine of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of th ...

and held that the bread and wine were only that. Windmill Hill Pit

Her trial took place at what was then All Saints Parish Church. This building has been rebuilt, but the tower dates from 1530 and the building is now known as

Derby Cathedral The Cathedral Church of All Saints Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status, to a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of Derby, w ...

. On the day of her death she was reported to have held hands with her twin brother as she walked to her death. Waste was accompanied to church by Anthony Draycot who gave a final sermon, Thomas Powthread, Sir John Port, Henry Vernon and Master

John Dethick John Dethick (died 1671) was Lord Mayor of London in 1656 during the Protectorate. Biography John Dethick was the son of John Dethick of West Newington, Norfolk, and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Methwold. He was a member of the Worshipful Compan ...

of Newhall. The public execution took place at Windmill Pit on the Burton Road in Derby. Windmill Hill Pit is on Lime Avenue which is just off Burton Road in Derby. She was hanged over the fire with a rope and she fell into the fire when the rope burned through. Waste was expected to suffer for her beliefs for eternity. Draycot it is said went home to his meal that day.Gordon Goodwin, ‘Draycot, Anthony (d. 1571)’, rev. Andrew A. Chibi, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 28 Feb 2009
/ref> There is a memorial to her in

Birchover Birchover is a village and civil parish in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England, five miles north-west of Matlock. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 362. Eagle Tor is a small hamlet on the north western edge of the p ...

church. The place where Waste was executed is now the site of a Roman Catholic church.
A History of the Life, Trial, & Execution of Joan Waste, who was burnt in Windmill Pit near Derby in the year 1556
'', Foxes Book of Martyrs, 1563 Ralph Baines, the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield was deprived of his bishopric (21 June 1559) on the accession of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

and committed to the imprisonment of

Edmund Grindal Edmund Grindal ( 15196 July 1583) was Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. Though born far from the centres of political and religious power, he had risen rapidly in the church durin ...

, the Protestant

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. Draycot was sent to be a prisoner of the

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...

and died after being released in 1571. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

commemorating the site of Waste's execution was erected in Lime Avenue by Derby Civic Society in February 2017.

Biography

References

Further reading