At the early age of fifteen Chatterton wrote a collection of poems that he claimed had been written by a medieval priest named Rowley, a chaplain of William Canynges. His forgery was soon discovered and though his work was brilliant, he was discredited and shunned. He took his own life at the age of seventeen, yet his work is credited by many as being the impetus behind the Romantic Movement that later characterised the Victorian period.
The tragic life of Thomas Chatterton has attracted to his beloved church many poets such as Shelley and Wordsworth, to see where the boy poet found his inspiration. Coleridge married Sarah Fricker and Southey married her sister Elizabeth at St Mary Redcliffe in 1795. Samuel Johnson, compiler of the first complete English dictionary, on one visit is reputed to have become stuck half way up the spiral stairs to the Chatterton Room above the north porch
(A fascinating historical article about Thomas Chatterton is now available. Click here to link to it. )
Thomas Chatterton (1752-70) is increasingly recognised for his contribution to poetry. This statue of him can be found in Bristol's Millenium Square
