Robert Cadman or Robert KidmanOxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Robert Cadman
/ref> (1711 – 2 February 1739) was an 18th-century steeplejack and ropeslider who between 1732 and 1739 performed feats of daring, ultimately by sliding or flying down a rope from St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury to the Gay Meadow across the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

. He had previously performed the stunt in other locations, for example an 1828 history of Dover (Batcheller) records that he "amused the people of

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, by flying across the harbour, from the highest point of the cliff, towards the lower extremity of Snargate-street .....Thousands were assembled from all parts to view this novel sight." ''A History of Lincoln'' (1815) notes that, in this period, he went from a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

tower "to the castle hill near the Black Boy Inn"" and another descent from ' Newark spire' in Nottinghamshire. Cadman walked some 250 metres up the rope that connected the 68-metre-high spire of St Mary's Church with an anchor in the ground in Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury. Climbing up the rope across the River Severn, he performed tricks on the way. When at the top, near the pinnacle of the spire, he donned a wooden breastplate with a central groove and hurtled to earth along the rope.Story of Cadman's last feat on ingenuity.org.uk
/ref> On 2 February 1739 he fell to his death when the rope broke. He was buried at St Mary's Church, where a commemorative plaque in his memory may still be found by the west entrance. It reads:

References

1711 births 1739 deaths Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in England British male entertainers British stunt performers Steeplejacks {{UK-entertainer-stub