The Wildman in Norwich mixes some of the best cocktails in town. But do you know how the forest-inspired pub got its name?

In 1751 Bridewell Gaol (now the Museum of Norwich) was engulfed by the smoke of a street fire. Among the hastily released prisoners, one man stood out. Hirsute, strong, and unable to use words, he’d been arrested for ‘strolling about the streets’. Yet astonishingly, this poor vagrant had once lived in Kensington Palace under the King’s protection. Peter The Wild Boy had been found. In Norwich.

His story began in Hamelin, Germany in 1725. A naked boy of about 12 was discovered alone in the forest; a feral child, scampering on all fours, surviving on plants. Fascinated, King George I brought him to the English court and called him Peter. The wild boy was a sensation. He caught the imagination of writers like Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift and there was fevered speculation he’d been raised by wolves or bears. Eventually, the court paid for a Hertfordshire farmer to care for Peter, who seemed happiest in the countryside. But in summer 1751, aged 39, Peter vanished. Despite press advertisements, he couldn’t be traced. Until he turned up in Norwich.

He was taken home and looked after in Hertfordshire for the rest of his days. But Norwich people never forgot the famous Wild Boy who’d mysteriously turned up in their city. The Wildman Pub on Bedford Street is named in his honour, with a commemorative plaque nearby.