MysteryLegendary
The Coffin in the Rafters
A grocer so feared body snatchers he had his coffin hoisted into the roof.
See it clearly
- What's there
- A plaque on the High Street; the barn is private
- Legend from
- 1724
- Tone
- Curious
On the High Street ahead, a grocer who feared grave robbers had his coffin hoisted into the rafters of his barn, and it's said to be up there still.
Henry Trigg, a prosperous Stevenage grocer and churchwarden, is said to have once watched body snatchers at work in the churchyard and vowed it would never happen to him. His will of 1724 ordered his body to be laid on a floor built on the purlins at the west end of his barn, trusting he would rise again at the Resurrection, and his estate depended on the instruction being obeyed. His brother, a clergyman, complied, and the coffin was hoisted into the rafters. When the house became the Old Castle Inn, landlords showed it to curious travellers. The empty coffin reportedly remains in the roof, and a blue plaque tells the tale.