Murder mystery... Sir Geoffery Dutton 1194-1248

[Gail Peterson]

I was watching an episode of Bone Detectives (season 1; episode 8) outlining a dig that took place at Norton Priory in Cheshire when the crew mentioned the name Dutton and my ears perked up as I have plenty of Duttons in my tree.

Excavations at Norton Priory in the 1970s uncovered over 140 burials, including one that lay in the eastern end of the center of the nave under a grave lid carved with a cross within a roundel, the shaft of which is flanked by two shields, the one on the right sitting a little lower on the shaft, and the flank terminating in a calvary. Historian Andrew Abram, who has worked extensively on the records of Norton Priory, suggests that this was the body of Geoffrey of Dutton, Crusader Knight and Lord of Rocksavage.

My research determined the Duttons had been benefactors since the priory's foundation in 1134, and from the 13th to the 15th centuries they became the principal benefactors. Geoffrey Dutton followed the Earl of Cheshire on the 5th Crusade and upon his return, Dutton gifted a portion of the True Cross to the canons at Norton Priory thus earning him a favored burial spot in the nave.

An evaluation of Geoffrey's bones done for the television series revealed that he had died from a savage sword blow to the thorasic back area that completely severed several vertebrae; very likely while he was knealing in prayer (based on the positioning of the wound). It was noted by an osteoarcheologist during that same series Geoffrey also suffered from severe Padget's disease of the bone as was evidenced by thickened bone growth of the skull, long bones, and pelvis. This condition likely caused him to be deaf due to the amount of bone growth pushing against his crainial nerves, so he would not have heard his approaching assailant.

So, who was this unknown murderer of Sir Geoffery Dutton?

~gkp