Even if a felon was successfully hanged, matters did not necessarily end when he or she dangled at the end of the rope. We read of gallows that collapsed and ropes that snapped, and also of people, apparently dead, who recovered when their bodies were taken down. It was reported at the 1286 Norfolk eyre, for instance, that on 12 February 1285 one Walter Eghe had been convicted of theft and sentenced to hang in Norwich city leet, 'and they hanged him, and when he was cut down from the gallows and taken to St. George's church to be buried, he was found to be alive'. Walter stayed in that church for fifteen days, and then escaped to Holy Trinity church, where he remained until he received a royal pardon.