Viva Lewes April 2015 Issue #103

inside left
antidisestablishmentarianism
We are delighted to be writing an article which allows us to introduce one of our favourite words: antidisestablishmentarianism,
which is the subject of this protest. This Reeves photograph was printed in the
Sussex Express, 25 July 1913, under the headline ‘Monster Demonstration at Lewes’. What we can see is a
protest against the Welsh Church Bill, held in the ‘Grammar School field’, ie the Paddock, early evening
on Wednesday 23 July. A crowd of some 5,000 people are listening to the Bishop of St Asaph speaking.
Also on the platform are the Revd DA Griffiths (curate of St Anne’s), Canon Southwell (Archdeacon
of Lewes), and Mr Campion (MP for Lewes). The handpainted banner, with splendid lettering which
clearly inspired The Goodies, says in Welsh ‘Duw Gadwo Hen Eglwys Cymru’, which translates as God
Save The Old Welsh Church. This was one of many demonstrations protesting against the proposed Bill
to disestablish and disendow the Church of England in Wales. Welsh Nonconformists were fighting for
this, because they were unhappy with paying tithes to the Church of England (£260,000 annually, according
to this article). The established church in England were vehemently against it; the article quotes
the Bishop of St Asaph comparing it to a person saying “I will cut your leg off but you will not be any the
worse for it”. This ‘splendidly organised’ demonstration was the culmination of a massed ‘protest procession’
march of about 2,000 people, with bands, clergy and choristers, who had come from ‘services of
intercession’ held in local churches (including All Saints). The Express report suggests there were only a
few ‘nonconformist dissidents’ in the crowd. Despite the protests, the Welsh Church Act was passed the
following year. Many thanks to Senior Archivist Christopher Whittick from The Keep for help sourcing this
information, and to Edward Reeves Photography for permission to use this photograph.
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