John Locke

 John Locke is regarded as possibly the most influential English language philosopher and political theorist. His works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism.  His ideas had an influence on the development of many important psychological concepts and provided inspiration for the European Age of Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States.

John Locke was born in the village of Wrington on 29th August 1632 and baptised the same day in All Saints Church.  He probably spent his childhood in the hamlet of Belluton near Pensford. Locke attended Westminster School and Christ Church College, Oxford where he studied, among other things, medicine and later became a tutor at the University.  In 1666 he met Anthony Ashley-Cooper, later the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who became his friend and patron. Locke became Shaftesbury’s aide and personal physician.  In 1675 Locke travelled to France for health reasons and because his personal safety was threatened, as Shaftesbury had lost favour with King Charles II.  He lived in France until 1679.  While he was there he studied the work of various French philosophers. 

After trying unsuccessfully to exclude the Catholic James II from becoming king after Charles II, Shaftesbury fled to exile in the Netherlands in 1682 where he died the following year.  Locke travelled to the Netherlands in 1683 and stayed there until after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when King James II was overthrown in favour of the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary.  When Locke returned to England in 1689 he made his home with the family of his close friend Damaris Masham at High Laver in Essex and lived there until his death on 28th October 1704.  He is buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church, High Laver.

John Locke’s major works were Letters concerning Toleration (1689, 1690 and 1692), Two Treatises of Government (1689), An Essay concerning Human Understanding (1690); Some Thoughts concerning Education (1693) and The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695).

Bust of John Locke in the south porch of  All Saints Church, Wrington

Stone in Wrington Churchyard marking the site where the house in which John Locke was born, once stood.  It was demolished in the 19th century.

John Locke wrote his own obituary, which was originally located above his grave, but was later moved inside High Laver Church to preserve it.

Plaque at High Laver Church explaining why John Locke's obituary was moved

John Locke’s grave at All Saints Church, High Laver, Essex

Plaque above John Locke’s grave acknowledging his contribution to the Constitution of the United States of America

Monk's Steps, Kewstoke

Monk’s Steps or St Kew’s Steps, as they are also known, run from Woodspring Avenue near the top of the northern slope of Worlebury Hill in a north westerly direction for about 150 metres down a natural gully to join the bottom end of Monks Hill in Kewstoke.

The origin and original purpose of the steps, which are made of roughly worked stone, is uncertain but they may date back to the early medieval period.  At this time there was an Augustinian Priory called Woodspring a mile and a half north at Middle Hope. St Paul’s Church at Kewstoke, which is located at the bottom of Monk’s Steps, was linked to Woodspring Priory for a while during the medieval period, so that may be how they acquired the name.  

The freehold of Monk’s Steps was acquired by the National Trust from R.H.C. Butt on 7th July 1936.  The grid reference for the top of the steps is ST 337 632 and for the bottom it is ST 336 633.

Bottom of Monk's Steps

Looking up Monk's Steps from Monks Hill

Top of Monk's Steps