On June 18/19 there was a Sealed Knot re-enactment in Thame, the Thame History Fair and a wreath-laying for John Hampden.
Dr Beth Rogers prepared a short speech at the wreath-laying:
"379 years ago, as re-enacted by the Sealed Knot this weekend, local gentleman John Hampden, a colonel in the Parliamentary Army, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chalgrove.
"This plaque is on the site of the building where he passed away a few days later.
"We are laying this wreath to remember him.
"Modern historians observe that John Hampden was pragmatic in his idealism and a strategist, someone who brought colleagues together to achieve common cause and long-term aims. A fellow MP said that “Never Kingdom received a greater loss in one subject”. He was said to be “a gallant man, an honest man, and an able man”. But it was not just because of the loss of his skills that the nation mourned. He was loved and admired; he was popular. His loss was personal. A Royalist opponent noted that a wave of grief struck the land.
"On behalf of the John Hampden Society, I would like to thank everyone for attending this morning, and I would like to thank members of the Sealed Knot for their wonderful guard of honour for this wreath-laying in memory of our great Patriot."
