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.
Medieval Torture and Punishment
I have shared this post on a couple of social media sites so I thought I would share it here.
Often over the years I have looked to medieval forms of punishment and torture to inspire my horror writing. Some of it is truly horrific in every sense. I often end up getting so absorbed in the history and folklore that I waste hours just reading and shaking my head in amazement when I should be writing! Did you ever see Wire in the Blood, based on the books of the same name by Val McDermid? Some of those scenes were medieval or inspired by the same. An excellent series in my view. Anyway, do you ever delve into the horror of the past? True horror, that exists in the history books because it really took place? The say truth is stranger than fiction. It's often crueller than fiction, too.
If there is anyone out there, if this blog does not exist in some lonely, unique vacuum populated by lost posts and drifting authors, please leave a comment. Thanks!
The Penniless Porch
I found this intriguing. The Penniless Porch, in Wells. As the plaque tells us, it was built to shelter the poor as they begged for alms, presumably from the Cathedral and perhaps from the Bishop himself. While we know that social welfare, for want of a better phrase, was not the best back in the day, isn't it interesting that in circa 1450 a place was built specifically to allow the neediest in society to plea for help?
Meanwhile, in modern Britain, some benches are made deliberately 'anti-homeless' so the poor souls in those areas don't even have a place to rest. In researching this little post I discovered that 'anti-homeless architecture' is a thing. Wow.
Just goes to prove that there is potential to learn from the past, in my view. I know modern problems are bigger, wider and perhaps more difficult to address, but when did society lose its compassion? Makes me sad.
Anyway, on an entirely different note, this is making me think that there might be a story here, somewhere...
Penniless Porch photos are mine (I know they are not very good!)
Spiked bench image: Image: Kent Williams / Flickr
Want to know more about anti-homeless architecture? Anti-Homeless Architecture
The Penniless Porch, Wells Cathedral
Built by Bishop Bekynton circa 1450
The modern way of helping the most vulnerable and needy in our society