Judge Jeffreys was known as the ‘Hanging Judge’ during the reign of King Charles II in the 17th century, sentencing up to 700 men to death for treason.

The Old Cock Inn, in Friar Street, was the scene of one of his ‘bloody assizes’. A carving above the entrance is said to represent the hated judge, with a frog in his mouth. 

The pub’s unusual frontage incorporates a window and a stone head from a church in the street that was destroyed by Parliamentarians during the Civil War.