Why an archbishop's severed head is stored in a church cubbyhole

Simon of Sudbury's mummified skull is kept in a cubbyhole at St Gregory's Church in Sudbury

More than 600 years ago, Simon of Sudbury, a medieval politician and former Archbishop of Canterbury, met a violent end when he was brutally murdered by a mob of unhappy peasants in 1381.

Centuries later the story of his savage death has been kept alive by St Gregory's Church, Sudbury, Suffolk, where his mummified head is on display.

But how did the skull of the high-profile cleric end up in a small, covered cubbyhole in a church vestry 67 miles away from Tower Hill in London, where it was severed?

Who was Simon Sudbury?

Simon Theobald, as he was originally known, was born in Sudbury in and around 1316 before going on to study at the University of Paris.

He became a chaplain under Pope Innocent VI in 1352, before taking on roles including the Chancellor of Salisbury and the Bishop of London and served King Edward III.

Sudbury became the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1375 and Lord Chancellor of England in 1380 – two significant roles he would fulfil until his death.

Why was he killed?

Sudbury was murdered during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, when he was ambushed at the Tower of London and beheaded by rebels unhappy with his role in introducing the third poll tax.

Along with the Lord High Treasurer, Sir Robert Hales, Sudbury was dragged to the chopping block by one of the revolt's leaders, Johanna Ferrour, after guards granted the peasants access to the building.

After being killed, his severed head was impaled onto a pole and placed on London Bridge for the public to see.

Sudbury's body was taken to Canterbury Cathedral where it remains to this day.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury helped build part of St Gregory's Church in Sudbury

After six days of being on display in London, Sudbury's decapitated head was removed by the Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth.

It was taken to his birthplace of Sudbury and reportedly identified by his brother, John of Chertsey, with whom he had founded a college in the town.

The head was given to St Gregory's Church, which Sudbury had helped partly rebuild.

Today it is positioned behind a clear screen and a wooden flap in the wall.

The Reverend Andrew Doarks told the BBC he got quite the surprise when he took on the church three years ago.

"It wasn't something that was on the job description and it's not something that comes up on the parish profile as it is known," he said.

"It's something you don't get at theological college... how to manage severed heads.

"I sometimes lose sleep and think, 'What if somebody was to run away with him?'"

Mandy Turner told the BBC she finds Simon of Sudbury's skull "quite friendly"

Mandy Turner, the treasurer at the church, said: "[Simon's head] is nicely hidden away and not obvious to anyone who walks by.

"We have been very lucky that we haven't had to do anything to it since it was put into the cubby in the wall – it has not deteriorated at all and is very well mummified.

"In fact, we had some mobile dentists working here and they were looking at the teeth and saying he is not bad for his age."

Simon of Sudbury's skull is on display to the public by appointment only.

"We get many visitors that come here to see the head, but others are taken by surprise, and they are not sure if they want to see the head or not," added Ms Turner.

"Some come because they believe they have a relationship with the Theobald family and others come just out of fascination.

"There's local people here who have never quite plucked up the courage to come and see it. But it is quite worth seeing and I actually find him quite friendly."

Has the head ever been removed from the wall?

Visitors flock from far and wide to view Sudbury's decapitated head at the church

The only time the skull has been removed from the wall was in 2011, when it was taken to West Suffolk Hospital for a CT scan so a lifelike bronze bust of Sudbury could be made.

Anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson, who oversaw the project, said at the time: "The unusual thing was seeing the head in the hole in the wall in the church.

"I was expecting the bone to be a little bit more fragile, maybe a little bit crumbly, because this has been in the wall of a church for 600 years, but actually the bone is very sturdy.

"It doesn't look as if there's been too much damage."

Mr Doarks said: "People call it a head because he has got a bit of vertebrate on the neck, an ear, and there are bits of skin still on him, so we call him Simon's head."

Experts at West Suffolk Hospital carried out a scan of the skull so a lifelike bronze bust of Sudbury's head could be created

The rest of Sudbury's body is buried in a tomb at Canterbury Cathedral, along with a cannon ball which is used in place of his head, as per a request in his will.

According to Ms Turner, the cathedral has asked "several times" for the head but St Gregory's Church "feel the head belongs" there.

"To us he has become what he was, a man of Sudbury, and that's why we particularly want to keep the head here," she said.

"The rioters of the Peasants' Revolt brought him back here to his brother, and he has been here ever since, so we feel this is actually where he belongs."

Canon Andrew Dodd, the canon treasurer at Canterbury Cathedral, does not believe reuniting the body at this stage would be possible.

He said: "It would be a very complicated thing to organise because the tomb is sealed and there is no intention of reopening the tomb at this stage.

"We're not quite sure why the head is [in Sudbury] and we have the body - it's a real mystery," he added.

Revered Andrew Doarks (left) and Canon Andrew Dodd do not think the head and body can be reunited