Suffragette suffragettes chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to post box contents, smashing windows and eventually detonating bombs. Some radical techniques used by the suffragettes were learned from Russian exiles from tsarism who had escaped to England. In 1914, at least seven churches were bombed or set on fire across the United Kingdom, including Westminster Abbey, where an explosion aimed at destroying the 700-year-old Coronation Chair, only caused minor damage. One suffragette, Emily Davison, died under the King's horse, Anmer, at The Derby on 4 June 1913. It is debated whether she was trying to pull down the horse, attach a
Emily Davison contained a heavy socialist presence in appreciation of her support for the cause. In 1968 a one-act play written by Joice Worters, "Emily", was staged in Northumberland, focusing on the use of violence against the women's campaign. Davison is the subject of an opera, "Emily" (2013), by the British composer Tim Benjamin, and of "Emily Davison", a song by the American rock singer Greg Kihn. Davison also appears as a supporting character in the 2015 film "Suffragette", in which she is portrayed by Natalie Press. Her death and funeral form the climax of the film. In January 2018 the cantata