John Bunyan wrote 65 books but is most famous for his Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come” and more usually known as “The Pilgrim’s Progress”.

Bunyan portrays himself in ''Grace Abounding'' as having had a
youthful life filled with impious thoughts and profanity. He may well
have been no worse than others from a similar background but he
was especially troubled by his profanity, dancing and bell-ringing.

For the most part, he was concerned by a supposition that he had already committed an unpardonable sin and was continually tortured mentally by fearful visions. After many spiritual struggles he became
a passionate and self-assured believer and was baptised in the River Great Ouse in Bedford in 1653.

John Bunyan lived in Elstow, just down the road from Bedford, until
the death of his first wife in 1655 when he moved to live in Bedford where he remarried in 1659.  

Becoming a deacon in 1655 he started to preach with outstanding success. However, during 1658 he
was indicted for preaching without a licence but was not imprisoned till November 1660 when he was incarcerated in the Silver Street county jail in Bedford.

However, the king, Charles II repealed the Declaration of Religious Indulgence and Bunyan was again imprisoned for preaching but this time for only six months. After his release he continued to preach unhindered until his death in 1688.
                                                                                                                                                  
Bunyan commenced The Pilgrim’s Progress in his first period of imprisonment and may have
completed the work during his second term in jail. Although the first part was published in 1678 the
two parts, combined into a single volume, were not published together until 1728.

Many of John Bunyan's personal possessions still remain in Bedford and can be viewed at the Bunyan Meeting House and Museum.
Stained glass windows illustrating scenes from The Pilgrim's Progress make a visit to the Meeting House an inspirational experience.

This illustration is one of four panels on the bronze statue
of John Bunyan which stands in St Peter's Street, Bedford.