People who carve their names on buildings, or on tree trunks, do so, I suppose, in a bid to obtain some sort of immortality; to have their brief lives remembered long after they die. One such person certainly achieved that objective. He was someone called Anthony Sedley, who carved his name on the font in Burford Church 360 years ago next month, and has been remembered annually by hundreds.

Mr Sedley carved on the font: “ANTHONY SEDLEY 1649 PRISNER” [sic].

He was one of the 340 so-called Levellers captured by Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax on May 13 that year — three months after the execution of King Charles I — who were locked up in the church for three nights.

He escaped with his life. Others were not so lucky. On May 17, he would have been among the captives herded up on to the church roof to watch three of his fellows — Cornet Thompson, Corporal Church, and Private Perkins — put against the churchyard wall and shot. They were deemed by a court martial to have been ringleaders.

But ringleaders of what? Who were the Levellers and in what were they doing in Burford? They were members of the cavalry of Cromwell’s New Model Army, victors of the English Civil War.

Some say that it was the King Charles himself who coined the name Leveller as a term of abuse, meaning people who wanted to “level men’s estates, destroy property or make all things common”, but, however that may be, their presence in Burford on that fateful May day 360 years ago was purely fortuitous.

Thirteen days earlier, on May Day, these Burford Levellers had been in Salisbury, on their way to Ireland (where Cromwell’s troops committed horrendous cruelties). On that day they mutinied and refused to continue on their journey for a variety of reasons, foremost of which was that they were owed a lot of money in back-wages. Their officers left them and they appointed their own new officers though there was no single leader. Then they marched north in the hopes of picking up support along the way.

Arriving in Burford, they only appointed a few sentries because they had been led to believe that no action would be taken against them until their grievances had been discussed.

But during the night Fairfax attacked from one direction and Cromwell from another. About 800 of the New Model Army mutineers escaped — and one man on each side was killed in the skirmish — and the rest were locked in the church.

Some of the mutineers were also protesting against what they saw as a broken promise from Oliver Cromwell. Back in 1647, another year in which there had been a spot of bother in the New Model Army, Cromwell had said that he would call a General Council of the Army to discuss the future. This would have consisted of two officers and two men from each regiment.

An excellent leaflet for sale in Burford Church suggests that had such a council been called, it would have discussed something called “The Agreement of the People” which proposed, among other things, a single-chamber parliament, and freedom of accused persons to refuse to answer incriminating questions (as in the Fifth amendment of the US Constitution).

Another anniversary this year, by coincidence, is the 300th of the Quakers’ meeting House in Burford. They, too, could be considered levellers since early, much-persecuted, Quakers believed in taking their hat off to no one and questioning all authority. The 35th Levellers Day will be held on Saturday, May 16. Further information: www.levellers.org.uk