Oliver Cromwell Statue, Warrington

I was delighted to inspect another statue of Oliver Cromwell last year, in the town of Warrington. Having seen the ones at Westminster and Wythenshawe, I began to wonder if only places beginning with that letter had such statues, until I recalled St Ives.

Warrington’s stands outside the town’s old Academy, where dissenters were educated, they being excluded from grammar schools and universities. He is shown without his hat, though he holds a sword and Bible, keeping a watchful eye on the Mersey and the busy roads which take cars here and there. Still in military buff coat and bucket top boots, he seems to be gesturing downwards, inviting his critics to assess again his legacy. His was a time when government was godly and the persecuted people of God were given eleven years’ respite from their enemies.

Christians often suffer for their faith, though sometimes, God affords them deliverers before their homecoming.