Hope 1593 was a cool year!

[Redroger]

Yesterday while researching Luffman in Maperton at the Somerset Heritage Centre I discovered this gem in the burial records:
John Wattes parson of maperton died XXVII(27) August and was buried the 8 September 1593. I hope it was a cool summer or that the village had an ice house.

[KGarrad]

That's only 12 days!!
You hang meat longer than that!

[GR2]

Can be tricky. I am a descendant of William the Conqueror and he exploded at his own funeral  .

Graham.

[Redroger]

Can be tricky. I am a descendant of William the Conqueror and he exploded at his own funeral  .

Graham.

I thought that was because the hole they had dug was too small for him. I believe it was Henry VIII who exploded, left for 14 days and no one dare go near him.
Perhaps the vicar of Maperton is the origin of the legend of the green man?

[GR2]

Yes, you're right. William's body burst when they tried to fit it into the stone coffin and the priests then raced throught the rest of the service to reduce exposure to the stench. Happy days.

Graham.

[Redroger]

As William was almost 6 feet tall, and his Queen a little over 4 feet, I wonder if the providers of the stone coffin had mistakenly been informed it was for her, and then had a problem when his body was provided for burial? By the hurried service seems as though the clothes peg must have not yet been invented!