Shell life: is this the world's oldest pet tortoise?
by Henry Nicholls from on (#1AWAZ)
It's not the longest-lived of tortoises, but with a provenance that stretches back over 400 years, the pet tortoise of Archbishop William Laud has got to be one of the most venerable
Name: The Archbishop's tortoise
Species: Testudo graeca
Dates: c1570-1753
Claim to fame: Archbishop's pet
Where now: Lambeth Palace, London
Arthur Benson was rummaging through storage rooms at Lambeth Palace - the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury - when he came across a tortoise.
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