The Dartford Martyrs: Protestants Christopher Wade and Margaret Polley Burned for Heresy
On July 17, 1555, during the reign of Queen Mary I of England, Protestant believers Christopher Wade (Waid) of Dartford and Margaret Polley of Tunbridge were executed by burning for heresy. Their deaths took place amid the Marian Persecutions, a campaign against religious reformers who rejected the restoration of Roman Catholic authority in England.
Christopher Wade was a linen-weaver from Dartford, while Margaret Polley was from Tunbridge. Both had embraced Protestant beliefs and refused to abandon their faith when questioned by church authorities. Their steadfastness led to their condemnation and execution, making them among the many English Protestants remembered as martyrs of the Reformation era.
The executions of Wade and Polley reflected the intense religious struggles of 16th-century England, when the country repeatedly shifted between Catholicism and Protestantism under different monarchs. Their deaths became part of the wider history of those who suffered during Mary I’s reign, later known as the “Marian Martyrs.”
