F.R. Buckley presents the tale of the Stanfield Hall murders, during which James Bloomfield Rush murdered the Recorder of Norwich, Isaac Jermy, Esq., along with his son, and critically wounded Mrs Jermy and her chambermaid, all on a dark winter's night in November 1848. Filmed in many of the key locations, this film uses dramatic reconstructions to illustrate the long and complicated story of one of Victorian Norfolk's darkest events. Tracing the life of Rush, from his mysterious, fatherless birth, to a life spent with his stepfather Mr John Rush and his mother, both of whom died under strange circumstances, the film explores his relationship with petulant landowner and rector Rev. George Preston, and his confrontations with Preston's son, Isaac Jermy, one of his eventual victims. Tales of unpaid mortgages and falsified documents lead to a climactic recreation of the fateful night when Rush embarked on his murderous rampage, followed by his subsequent arrest and trial, the delivery of a guilty verdict at Norwich Assizes and his execution by hanging outside Norwich Castle.
