In 1848, a man named James Blomfield Rush turned the quiet manor of Stanfield Hall into a bloodbath. In the aftermath of Rush's hanging, his exploits were the subject of murder ballads, plays, a waxwork in the chamber of horrors and numerous books. One hundred years later it even inspired a film, Blanche Fury starring Valerie Hobson (Bride of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London), Stewart Granger (The Prisoner of Zenda) and Michael Gough (Batman, Dracula, The Legend of Hell House).
Blanche Fury kept the bones of the story, but threw on an extra helping of Victorian melodrama and a subplot about the ghost of a Barbary ape to keep things spicy.
Before this will be a rare chance to see The Stanfield Horror, a BBC east short film exhumed from the East Anglia Film Archive's vaults. A great chance to see vintage shots of locations like Parish Church of St. Lawrence in Beeston, The Lodge Farm in Felmingham, Stanfield Hall, The Bridewell, and Norwich Castle.
The whole evening will be introduced by the man who literally wrote the book on the Stanfield Horror, Frank Meeres. as well as his book on the murders (Death Pay Me A Visit), Frank Meeres is also the author of The Story of Norwich, The Story of the Fens, and Suffragettes: How Britain's Women Fought and Died for the Right to Vote.
Free wine to all who attend to stave off the Winter chill.
Supported by the UEA and the EAFA.
Reserve your free ticket here.