A Grim Almanac of Norfolk

Did you know... In one of the last executions in Norwich Castle Gaol in 1885 an event so horrible occurred that a shadow was cast on the nation’s Public Executioner for the rest of his career? And Matthew Hopkins, ‘The Witchfinder General’, found witches in King’s Lynn, Norwich and Great Yarmouth in the mid-seventeenth century? Have you ever wondered about the darker history of Norfolk? If you have then enquire within. This almanac explores dreadful deeds, macabre deaths, strange occurrences and grim tales from the shadier side of the county’s past. Jostling for position in this cornucopia of the criminal and curious are diverse tales of highwaymen, smugglers, murderers, bodysnatchers, duellists, footpads, poachers, rioters and rebels. This sordid cast of characters is deservedly accompanied by accounts of lock-ups, prisons, bridewells and punishments, as well as a liberal smattering of bizarre funerals, disasters and peculiar medicine. If it’s horrible, if it’s ghastly, if it’s strange, it’s here — and if you have the stomach for it, then read on...