The artefacts recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) can help illuminate all sorts of mysteries from the past – including long forgotten traditions and strange superstitions which were once a part of ordinary domestic life. Sometimes these finds can turn up in situations more commonly dealt with by other heritage specialists – such as those concerned with the built environment, which is (by definition) rarely an area dealt with by the county Finds Liaison Officer.

A recent example of this comes from a number of strange objects found during work being overseen by the Historic Buildings Officers of the Surrey Historic Environment Planning team, which had been intentionally walled up in a 16th century grade II listed building in Nutfield, Surrey. These objects included a child’s boot or shoe (SUR-C78410) which had been hidden along with a small wooden whipping-top toy (SUR-C7C19E). The shoe has a stacked heel, front lacing tabs to the ankles with copper alloy eyelets and a nailed sole. It is of UK child size 10 which suggests that the owner would have been around 5 years of age. Both these objects are probably of the same early 19^th century date and it is tempting to speculate that they both belonged to the same child.

These were not the only finds that the building has produced however. A wooden stick with carved numerals or notches (SUR-C7FF15) which represents a simple type of tally or mnemonic device was also found inside an exterior wall next to a window. A comparable example of an unsplit tally with the same X and I style notching is pictured on p225 of Gertrude Jekyll’s “Old West Surrey” from 1904, where it is described as a notched hazel stick “bill” used to keep accounts by illiterate local farmers in Surrey prior to the middle of the 19th century. The reason for its intentional concealment remains unclear – perhaps it may have represented a symbolic discharge or binding to the household of a debt or obligation?

Other parts of the building and the garden around the house have produced more common types of domestic finds including clay pipe bowls which date from between the early 17^th and late 18^th centuries and demonstrate the length of occupation of the house. These were likely made in London, Guildford, Horsham and Reigate and are typical of this area during the period (David Higgins, pers com).

Although strange, these discoveries are far from unique. A comparable local example of concealed shoes in old buildings is recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database as a result of work by Surrey County Archaeological Unit (SCAU) in 2017 during the redevelopment of a 17^th century grade II listed building in Ockley, Surrey. Here a child’s front lacing boot (SUR-B4C651) was found within a wall adjacent to a chimney and a second, possibly earlier, latchet fastening shoe (SUR-B4CD73) was discovered in the roof. Unlike the finds from Nutfield however, these shoes were not found in apparent association with other types of objects.

So what is going on with these finds? It seems that they demonstrate the use of shoes as talismans to ward off evil or bad luck as part of an old practice, going back well into the medieval period and which apparently survived well into the 19^th and even early 20th century in many parts of the country. Typically these finds are well-worn single shoes, often from a child and hidden near to an access point or portal to the building – such as a doorway, chimney or a window. By doing this, perhaps it was thought that the “essence” of the individual would be incorporated into the fabric of the house which would bring luck or ward off evil from the family.

Other manifestations of this sort of idea can be seen in the use of hidden “witch bottles”, as well as horseshoes and apotropaic marks over doorways and windows. Such talismans were widely used as a diversion or deterrent to deflect the attentions of evil spirits and prevent witches or demons from entering and harming anyone in the house. The Surrey Historic Environment Record (HER) can demonstrate a range of other examples of this practice from around the county, including a late 17^th century witch bottle from Reigate (21519 – MSE21519) as well as further examples of hidden objects (16927 – MSE16927) and apotropaic marks around fireplaces in old houses (15871 – MSE15871).

Whatever magical or spiritual power they embodied, the use of objects in this way was widespread across the country; Northampton Museum has an entire Hidden Shoe Index, set up in the 1950s, with thousands of instances known across the country. Most are of single, well-worn shoes, around half of which belonged to children and around half of which date to the 19^th century, as with these examples from Surrey. The inclusion of other types of objects with hidden shoes is known from examples from other parts of the country (eg DEV-867707) where groups of finds such as fragments of clay pipe, bone, shell, glass and stone and whole items such as stoneware vessels are known components of “witch” or “concealed” deposits. In the case of the example from Nutfield, the toy forms an unusual addition and certainly adds poignancy to the little shoe.

The tradition of concealing artefacts in buildings clearly seems to have been a widely accepted and practiced tradition in this country. Although we no longer have a precise understanding of the beliefs and superstitions which led to it being a part of the psychological landscape of rural life, through recording and preserving the examples that we find, either on the PAS database or county HER, we can help to shed a little light on this fascinating set of practices which undoubtedly shaped family life in rural households during previous centuries.

Originally published in Bulletin of the Surrey Archaeological Society, Dec 2019.