The Scavenger’s Daughter
Just back from a short weekend break to Wookey Hole and Wells, Somerset. Called into the City Arms for a drink and found this very interesting piece of history there. The City Arms used to be Wells’ Jail, and has some very interesting stories to tell. I found this one fascinating.
The article is written by Hilary M. Cannock and can be viewed on display in the City Arms pub, Wells.
The Scavenger’s Daughter as described by a 17th century Jesuit monk, Matthew Tanner.
Source: article by Hilary M. Cannock.
‘The chief sort of English torture next to the rack, is the Scavenger’s Daughter. In all respects the opposite of the rack, for while that drags apart the joints of the feet and hands this, on the contrary, constricts and bends the body into a ball. This holds the body in a threefold manner, the lower legs pressed to the thighs, the thighs to the belly and thus both are locked with two cramp irons, which are pressed against each other in a circular form. The body of the victim is almost broken in the compression. By the cruel torture, more dreadful and more complete than the rack, by the cruelty of which the whole body is so bent that with some blood exudes from the tips of the hands and feet, with others the box of the chest being burst, a quantity of blood is expelled from the mouth and nostrils.”
The Scavenger’s Daughter
In the right hands, this device could cause severe harm and great pain to the unfortunate prisoner subjected to it.
The article as displayed inside the City Arms, Wells.
I don’t know if this is made from an original prison door, but I liked it! Note the old, rusty candle holder on the left. I would love to make something like this for my own home.