The Folklore Map
← Back to the map

Mystery · Norwich · Hidden

Sir Thomas Erpingham and the dead friar

A jealous knight strangled a friar. Getting rid of the body turned out to be the hard part.

Open on the map: directions, what's there today and read-aloud →

MysteryHidden

The Friar's Corpse

Passed from hand to hand, nobody wanted the dead friar.

See it clearly

What's there
Fifteenth-century carved gateway to Norwich Cathedral close
Legend from
Medieval fabliau; retold by Dutt (1901)
Best time
Daytime
Tone
Dark history
MonksPunishmentsMysteries

Before you go

check before you go

  • Erpingham Gate, Norwich
  • Near Tombland
  • The pin is approximate.

A knight killed a friar in Norwich, and then everyone in town was trying to get rid of the body.

Dutt tells an old Norwich story about Sir Thomas Erpingham, the knight who built the great gate into the cathedral close. Erpingham thought a friar named John had been courting his wife, so he strangled him in a fit of anger. Then, horrified, he propped the body up somewhere it would be found and blamed on someone else. Another man thought the corpse was a living rival, struck it, and believed he had killed it. The body passed from hand to hand in a grim farce until the truth came out.

One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.

Sources

  1. Highways and Byways in East Anglia, W.A. Dutt (1901) —

Legends nearby