A plaque in a church has come under heavy scrutiny for commemorating the actions of a key figure in colonial history.

The plaque, displayed on the north wall of St Peter’s Church in Dorchester, commemorates the actions of plantation owner John Gordon in the suppression of a slave revolt in Jamaica in 1760.

The rebellion, known as Tacky’s Revolt, lead to one of the most brutal suppressions of its time and resulted in the deaths of just under 500 enslaved people.

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought memorials which celebrate colonial Britain into the public eye, with Dorset-based groups Stand Up To Racism Dorset and South West Dorset Multi-Cultural Network bringing the issue to light locally.

Val Potter, Churchwarden at St Peter’s Church said: "We are very grateful to the Black Lives Matter campaign for raising the urgency of this issue, we've been thinking about what to do about it for some time.

"The only negative comments we get in our visitors box are about this memorial, so we've been wondering what to do about it for a number of years. We're grateful to the movement as it has raised its priority.

"It is commemorating putting down a slave rebellion, whilst we believe these stories still need to be told but not celebrated.

"The attitudes these people had and the actions they took were utterly terrible.

"We are taking this very seriously and are discussing different options we could take.

"One suggestion was to putting up a memorial to commemorate all the enslaved people who died in the revolt."

The church has now added a notice next to the plaque, which reads: "This memorial is of its time. Using language and commemorating actions which are totally unacceptable to us today. Its future is under active consideration."

Speaking before the notice was added, David Rhodes, member of Stand Up to Racism Dorset and attendee of St Peter’s Church, said: "The plaque is quite prominently displayed, directly opposite you as you enter the church.

"I understand there has been discussion about this within the church for a while but nothing has actually been done about it.

“This plaque specifically commemorates this man as a slave owner and the biggest portion of the plaque is celebrating him putting down the slave rebellion.

“The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted the racist nature of our history and this plaque commemorates, in approving terms, one of the most horrible events in our colonial history.

"It glorifies racism and it shouldn't be there on display."