Beast · Wormingford
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A king's crocodile escaped the Tower and found its way to Essex.
Stand where it happened
St Andrew's is on Church Road. Opening hours were not confirmed (the National Churches Trust page gave none), so check before you go if you want to see the window.
Wormingford: the dragon in this village's name, they say, was a crocodile escaped from the Tower.
Wormingford's name, recorded from 1254, was taken to contain 'worm', meaning dragon, and three dragon tales grew from it. In one, a crocodile escaped from Richard I's menagerie at the Tower of London. It ravaged the parish until a knight, Sir George Marney, killed it, and a stained-glass window in St Andrew's church shows the story. In another, the chronicler John of Trokelowe recorded that in 1405 a dragon threatened Richard Waldegrave's land near Sudbury and fled into the Mere when chased. A third claims St George slew his dragon here and that a local mound covers its body. The county history calls the crocodile tale unsubstantiated.