East Horndon - Legends

Legends

Two legends persist about the church. One tells of Sir James Tyrell who went to slay a dragon and died. It appears that he had been asked to kill a serpent-type animal which escaped from a ship in the Thames and roamed the woods round the manor of Herongate and the church, terrifying the people. He managed to slay it, chopping of its head, but he died from his exertions. His son, looking for him, trod on a bone of the animal and, gangrene setting in, he lost his leg. The is a glass window at Heron depicting a one-legged man. The legend has recently been reworked in comic book form in London Falling.

The second legend is that Queen Anne Boleyn's head or heart is buried there.

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