Curse
King John's bedbug
The king never forgot the bite.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Norman church with a bug-shaped weathervane
- Legend from
- Local legend
- Tone
- Light-hearted
A sleepless king and the bedbug he put on a church tower.
On the tower of St Mary's Church in Kingsclere is an odd weathervane known locally as the Bedbug. Legend says King John was stopped by fog from reaching his hunting lodge at Freemantle Park on Cottington's Hill and had to spend the night at an inn in the village. Bedbugs kept him awake. He ordered the church to put the creature on its tower and maintain it forever. John did stay at Freemantle in 1204. But the Kingsclere Local History Association says the inn story is false, since the Swan was only built in the 15th century.