A well preserved rat was found within the walls of Broxbourne’s second oldest building,  The Old Mustard Pot and donated to the museum by bemused excavators in 1983. With parts of the building dating back to the time of Henry VIII the rodent’s history was no doubt an interesting one and its size even indicates that it could have been a black rat, the breed which wiped out an estimated 75 million people between 1348 and 1350.

The notorious “Black Death” struck terror throughout the world during the 1300`s and reared its deadly head on numerous occasions in the years that followed. England’s last major outbreak was in London during 1665-6, wiping out an estimated 100,000 of the cities inhabitants. Even today there are reports of the plague striking again, although unlike the unfortunate souls of the middle ages medical advancements will hopefully keep it at bay.

Rats, most probably the same breed as the one found at The Old Mustard Pot gained an awful reputation in the wake of the Black Death. Fleas which are believed to have carried the lethal illness thrived in the fur of the rats and were easily spread in the overpopulated, unsanitary conditions of many British cities and towns. Three main types of plague could be contracted during the outbreak, the bubonic, the pneumonic and the septicemic. All were deadly with symptoms including painful boils, fever and sickness. For all three illnesses the general outcome was death, usually within days.