Colchester: Filming starts on documentary about Blessed John Beche

May 28th, 2015

The Abbey Gatehouse

Filming has started on a new documentary on the life and martyrdom of one of the few abbots who stood up to Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Blessed John Beche was hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason after he refused to surrender the keys of the Benedictine Abbey of St John the Baptist in Colchester, Essex, to the King's commissioners. Buckfast Abbey Media Studios, in association with St Gabriel News and Media, is now making a documentary about the abbot.

The first day of filming coincided with commemorations of the 900th anniversary of the opening of the abbey in Colchester.

Among those interviewed in the film is Philip Wise, the collections and curatorial manager of Colchester and Ipswich Museums, who described how Blessed John was taken from Colchester Castle on the morning of December 1, 1539, and executed probably on the green outside the gatehouse of his abbey.

Bishop Alan Williams also contributed to the film, telling the team that he was "delighted that we are revisiting Blessed John's life and his death".

Blessed John became Abbot in Colchester - one of the largest abbey's in England - in 1530 after serving for years as the 26th Abbot of the Abbey of St Werburgh, Chester, now the Anglican Cathedral.

He objected that the King's seizures of the monasteries during the Protestant Reformation were both immoral and illegal and was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Under interrogation, he wavered and signed a document accepting Henry's claims to royal supremacy over the Church. But he pleaded guilty at his trial to the original charges and reiterated his original opinion that the seizure of his monastery was a sin against God, prompting one of the judges to write complaining about him to Sir Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief minister and a major architect of the Dissolution.

Blessed John was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and questions were raised at the time about whether his wavering would be an obstacle to eventual canonisation.

But Bishop Williams compared the doubts experienced by Blessed John to those of some of the Apostles. He said: "In the long trials over some years faced by Blessed John a question was, 'well, was he constant, did he waver sometimes, did he find things difficult?'.

"We should always remember that the discipleship of Christ is seldom an on-off button for life. It's something we go up or go down with. We think, for example, of St Peter and St Paul. They also had some moments of doubt and uncertainty but nevertheless the grace of God wins through. Very clearly, I think in the case of Blessed John Beche, he gave his life as a martyr and showed the greatness of Christ, the love of Christ, in spite of everything that happened."

The ornate pectoral cross worn by Blessed John belongs to Lord Clifford of Chudleigh and is in the custody of the Benedictine monks at Buckfast Abbey, Devon, until such time as a new abbey at Colchester is re-established.

Buckfast Abbey, which was rebuilt in the early 20th century, has commissioned the film as part of its preparations for the celebration of its millennium year in 2018.

Colchester Abbey was founded about 100 years after Buckfast Abbey was first built, and was constructed between 1095 and 1115 by Eudo Dapifer, William the Conqueror's High Steward and Constable of Colchester Castle. It made a major contribution to the development of medieval Colchester. The gatehouse was added around 1400 and is the only building from the monastery that has survived. St John's Abbey Gatehouse is in the care of English Heritage and is managed by Colchester Borough Council.

A plaque recording the death of Blessed John Beche was unveiled by Bishop Williams outside the gatehouse, on November 30 last year, the eve of Blessed John's feast day. The plaque is the work of the Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service and was erected at the instigation of English Heritage.

The gatehouse, with its flushwork lilies, a symbol of the Virgin Mary, is currently being renovated after recent vandalism and will be used for religious services in the future. Colchester Catholic Heritage Group has been instrumental in the process of fundraising and gaining the permissions necessary for its use.

The documentary is expected to be ready for release by the end of the year.