Judges Cave, New Haven, Connecticut:
Atop West Rock Ridge State Park is a rock formation that once served as a hideout from the King of England. The story began during the year 1659 when 59 British judges sentenced King Charles I to death. With this regicidal act, the monarchy was dissolved and Oliver Cromwell assumed power. In 1660, King Charles II, the son of the beheaded king, restored the monarchy power, and the Crown sought revenge. A royal order was issued to execute each regicidal judge. Three of the judges, Edward Whalley, William Goffe and John Dixwell made their escape to America.
The judges were in New Haven when their arrest warrants were issued in the Colonies. Two of the judges, Whalley and Goffe, were hidden by settlers of New Haven Colony. They took shelter in a remote cave and stayed there for several weeks – surviving on food provided by locals. After a scary encounter with a mountain lion at the cave, Whalley and Goffe fled to Milford, Connecticut, for a few years. They took on pseudonyms and eventually moved to Hadley, Massachusetts, and remained there for life.
A plaque on the cave reads, “Here May Fifteenth 1661 and for some weeks thereafter Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe, members of the Parliament-General, officers in the army of the Commonwealth and signers of the death warrant of King Charles First, found shelter and concealment from the officers of the Crown after the Restoration. ‘Opposition to tyrants is obedience to God.’”
