human hand

On the morning of October 9th 1600 Sir Joh Heydon and Sir Robert Mansell met outside Ber Street Gates in Norwich for a pre arranged duel. The exact reason for the duel is not clear, it has been suggested that they had differences in their views regarding the monarchy or the Sir Robert had applied to stand for Parliament representing Norfolk and was seen by the local Sir John as an interloper. The two combatants rode down Bracondale Hill before battle began in a more secluded part of the woods. Both were injured early in the battle but Sir John’s injuries were more severe and he eventually laid down his weapons. Sir John’s left hand was so badly severerd that it was later removed . So who collected the hand and kept it safe? One tale is that it was kept and pickled by his daughter. There are contemporary records that Sir John had a prosthetic hand made of iron; the whereabouts of this are unknown, we can only imagine that it was buried with him. Whoever saved the hand, it travelled further than Norfolk ending up in collections at Canterbury Museum, however it was transferred back to Norfolk into the collections of Norwich Castle Museum in 1951.