The Putney Debates

The Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the New Model Army – a number of the participants being Levellers – concerning the makeup of a new constitution for England.

After seizing the City of London from Presbyterian opponents in August 1647, the New Model Army had set up its headquarters at Putney. The debates began at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Putney, in the county of Surrey starting on 28 October 1647 but moved to Quartermaster General of Foot Thomas Grosvenor's lodgings on 29 October. The debates lasted until 11 November.

The debates were transcribed by secretary William Clarke and a team of stenographers. From 2 November however, all recording ceased. The debates were not reported and Clarke's minutes were not published at the time. They were lost until 1890 when they were rediscovered at the library of Worcester College, Oxford, and subsequently published as part of the Clarke Papers.