William Dowsing

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William Dowsing (1596 - 1668), was an English iconoclast who operated at the time of the English Civil War. Dowsing was a puritan who was born in Laxfield, Suffolk. He was commissioned by the Earl of Manchester to carry out a Parliamentary Ordinance of the 28th of August 1643 which stated that "all Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry should be removed and abolished".

Dowsing carried out his work by visiting over 250 churches in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, removing or defacing items that he thought fitted the requirements outlined in the Ordinance. Where he was unable to perform the work himself he left instructions for the work to be carried out.

Dowsing is unique amongst those who committed iconoclasm during this period because he left a journal recording much of what he did.

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