A plaque on the side of Fye Bridge claims that it is the site of an "old cucking stool" and that from 1562 to 1597 "strumpets and common scolds were subject to the punishment of ducking in this river." A common scold was a woman who talked too much and a strumpet was a young girl found in bed with somebody else's husband. Usually found by the husband's wife the young girl would be dragged downstairs and placed into what was known as a hurdle, a small cart, and pulled around the city by a donkey until a crowd of people had gathered behind it. She would then be taken to Fye Bridge and ducked in the river a number of times to teach her a lesson.

Underneath Fye Bridge - a view normally seen only by witches.

But the ducking stool had a far more sinister use, it's also where we used to try our witches. It used to be believed that a witch wouldn't drown, so if a woman was accused of witchcraft she would be brought down to the local ducking stool and ducked in the river for a certain period of time. If when she came out she was dead, she was deemed to be innocent, if on the other hand she was still alive, then she would be pronounced guilty as charged. Either way the poor woman was going to die.

It was very easy to accuse a woman of witchcraft; all you had to do was claim you had seen her talking to her "familiar," usually a small black creature such as a cat, rat, bird or hedgehog and then a few moments later you would experience an unexplained pain brought on no doubt, by a spell the witch had cast. Very often, following the accusation, the poor woman would be brought to the ducking stool, and she would die. Either she would drown in the river, or if she survived that, she would be taken to the local pits to be hanged or burnt at the stake.

Bishopsgate - watch out for the ghost of the witch carrying a bundle of sticks!

Furthermore it is believed that if a particularly attractive young girl was accused of witchcraft when there were visiting dignitaries to the City, the young girl would be ducked in the river for a very short period of time to ensure that when she came out she was still alive. Hard to believe, but 350 years ago it was looked upon as quite an honour to burn a pretty young woman to death for the pleasure of your visiting dignitaries.

Having been found guilty of witchcraft, the poor woman would be taken back to the Bishop's Palace where she would be condemned to the stake. Sometimes she would be kept overnight in the dungeon of Cow Tower and begin her walk to death the following morning.

Her final trail would be along Bishopsgate and over Bishops bridge to the pits following in the footsteps of the local lollards. Some years later the burnings would be transferred to the castle ditches where the last public burning of a witch took place in 1659. Legend claims that the ghost of a witch still wanders up and down Bishopsgate carrying the bundle of wooden sticks used to set her alight. It is said that should you ever see her and help her with her sticks, you will die in a fire within six months!

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This ghostly tale has kindly been provided by Ghostly Dave - visit his Norwich Ghost Walk website here.