Act of Commemoration

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Left: The Lock used to secure the chains on the monument before the plaque was unveiled, and the Cross used to unlock it, made out of iron recovered from the surrounding parkland once owned by Thomas Babington.

At 4.45pm on Sunday 25 March 2007 Rob Gladstone, Rothley's Vicar, called the assembled crowd together and used these words to mark the Bicentenary occasion.

"Welcome to this moment when we are going to reveal a new plaque commemorating the work done here at Rothley towards the passing of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade this day 200 years ago.

As we stand here to day, we do so, acknowledging the immense suffering of the African people caused by this evil trade and its enduring legacy to this day;

We stand in humility acknowledging that we are the descendants of those who profited from the barbaric trade of people.

We stand as those who recognise that despite the struggle to achieve emancipation more than 30 years later there is still much to be done today to rid the world of slavery.

But we stand here at Rothley Court also to pay tribute to the evangelical Christian faith that inspired the house’s owner, Thomas Babington, his brothers in law Thomas Gisborne and Zachary Macaulay, and his friend William Wilberforce. That faith which inspired them to make it their life’s work to challenge and overthrow the evil of slavery despite the opposition of the political, economic and religious establishment of the nation.

And so this key, made from Babington’s iron, in the shape of a cross to unlock these chains, is a symbol of the words of St. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”