Hero · Chertsey
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The bell must not ring. So she held it.
See it clearly
Statue in a small garden near Chertsey Bridge; Chertsey Museum is in Windsor Street. Check before you go.
When the curfew bell rings, he dies. So Blanche climbed the tower and held the clapper still.
Chertsey tells the story of Blanche Heriot, set in the Wars of the Roses. Her lover, Neville Audley, had been sentenced to death, and he was to be executed when the curfew bell rang. A pardon was on its way. To buy time, Blanche climbed the church tower and clung to the bell's clapper so that the bell could not sound, and the reprieve arrived in time. The tale was popularised by Albert Smith's 1840s play and story. A bronze statue of Blanche on the bell stands near Chertsey Bridge, and the curfew is still rung on winter weeknights.