Place Name
Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 – March 21, 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and former Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, (for a short time) Mary I. Harrow manor had been held off and on by the archbishops since at least AD825 when on December 30, 1545, Cranmer was forced to hand it over to Henry VIII. Six days later, the king sold it to Sir Edward (later Lord) North, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations and a court favourite. It remained in his family’s ownership until 1630. Meanwhile, Cranmer, who had helped build the case for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and wrote and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, found his life cut short during Queen Mary’s reign. He was brought to trial for treason and heresy, found guilty, and condemned to death by being burned at the stake. Even then, it was hoped he would recant his ways, as a dramatic account of his execution explained, with Roman Catholic priests and scholars doing their best to get him to recant even as he was tied to the stake. This is one of several roads named after archbishops of Canterbury, the others include: Augustine Road, Bancroft Road, Courtenay Avenue, Juxon Close, Secker Crescent, Theobald Crescent and Tillotson Road among others.
