11 Sept 2022

John Dyke at Holy Cross Church Bearsted

I stumbled on this grave of John Dyke whilst visiting the grounds of the Holy Cross Church. I immediately had to Google “rick burning” which was a phrase used to describe the destruction of threshing machines and cattle maiming during the Swing Riots of 1830.

His Find A Grave entry mentions that years after his execution there was a death bed confession from another man. The execution was the last to take place at nearby (2.9 miles) Penenden Heath which historically was an execution site from Anglo-Saxon times to the 19th Century and a site where suspected witches being burned at the stake between the 12th and 17th centuries. 

Expanded account of events here

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