Shropshire Routes to Roots

1. The trial opens

Headline taken from the Shrewsbury Chronicle, 23rd March, 1868

The scene

The year is 1867. Five miles south of Shrewsbury is a small village called Longden. It is a quiet farming village where nothing particularly unusual happens.

Then, three days before Christmas Day in 1867, a young girl who lived there was murdered. She was just nine years old. Suspicion fell on a man called John Mapp. On 24th of December he was arrested. He has been in prison for the last three months, waiting for his trial to start. Now it has begun.

You have been called to be on the jury. You will discover the evidence against John Mapp. You will decide whether John Mapp is guilty or innocent.

Questions to answer

John Mapp faces a severe sentence if he is convicted. Therefore, you must only convict John Mapp if you are certain that he committed the crime.

To decide whether John Mapp is guilty, you will need to answer the following questions:

• What happened on the night of the murder?
• Did John Mapp behave suspiciously the day after the murder?
• Is there any evidence which links him to the crime?

Good Luck!

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