Shropshire Routes to Roots

3b. Murderous Mapp: Selection from the original trial evidence

The Day after the Murder
Monday, 23rd December, 1867

The next day, John Mapp was spreading manure on some fields down Long Lane. A boy called Aston was working with him. Aston stopped for lunch, and soon after Mapp also sat...

Testimony of Aston Transcription of this source

Where did Aston find the straw hat? What was on the straw hat? What was the last thing Mapp said to Aston?

Aston left the hat by a gate. Later that afternoon, Mary Hartshorn was walking down the lane where the pair were working. She saw the hat and picked it up. She recognised it as being the same as the one Catherine Lewis had worn to church the previous evening. She took the hat to Edward Lewis.

Testimony of Edward Lewis Transcription of this source

What did he do when he saw the hat?

Edward Lewis arrived at the holly bush where the hat had been found. This is what happened next:

Testimony of Edward Lewis Transcription of this source

What did Edward Lewis see outside the hovel? What did he find inside?

Edward Lewis fetched the police, and returned to the hovel:

Testimony of Edward Lewis Transcription of this source

• What did Caswell rake off the ground?
• What had Mapp been doing to the fields earlier in the day?

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