Place Name
Thomas Cromwell (sometime around 1485 – July 28, 1540) 1st Earl of Essex, the statesman who led the Reformation, Henry VIII’s land grab against the Roman Catholic Church which not only ensured his divorce but secured more power for the monarch in the bargain. After trading successfully abroad, Cromwell, who had been born in Putney, became a financial adviser to nobles. He quickly found favour with Cardinal Wolsey and was catapulted into the House of Commons by the early 1530s. From 1534, as the king’s secretary, he masterminded Henry’s Reformation Acts and ruthlessly carried out the dissolution of the monasteries, confiscating much of the land for the crown. In return Henry rewarded him with a barony and the positions of Lord Privy Seal, Vicar General, and Deputy Head of the English Church. He was also granted the manor of Mortlake, taken from the archbishops of Canterbury, in 1536 and rebuilt the manor house which was sited on the north east corner of Watney’s Sports Ground. Cromwell did not get to enjoy his success for long however. He soon fell out with the king after arranging the king’s marriage to the Protestant German Anne of Cleves. Although ostensibly a political marriage (Henry’s fourth), Cromwell hoped that it would secure the support of the German protestants, he had exaggerated her beauty to appease the king. When Henry eventually met his bride-to-be “the Flander mare” he complained that she was plain – so plain in fact that he failed to consummate the marriage. Cromwell was made Earl of Essex but within a few months was beheaded for heresy and treason. Mortlake was then given to Catherine Parr, who left it fall into ruin. The original Cromwell House was demolished sometime in the mid-19thCentury. The name served as an inspiration for a later development, Cromwell Place, overlooking Mortlake Green.
