| Horsham St Faith lies four miles north of
Norwich. After the Norman
invasion Horsham and Newton St Faith were given to
William the Conqueror's armourer. His grandson, Robert
Fitzwater built St. Faith's Priory in 1106. The parish
church, which replaced the Saxon church, dates back to
the 13th century. The poet Robert
Southwell was born in the priory in c.1561. He was
educated as a Jesuit priest in Douai and Rome and then,
on his return to England in 1586, took Roman orders.
Robert Southwell
Horsham St Faith
Village Sign In 1589 he became the
chaplain to the Countess of Arundel and was arrested in
1592 while going to mass. He was imprisoned and
repeatedly tortured before being hanged at Tyburn in
1595.
His main work was St Peter's
Complaint (1595) - but he is probably best known for
The Burning Babe - a poem which was praised by
Ben Jonson. He was beatified in 1929 and canonized in
1970.
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