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LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseDisplay case, wood and glass
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Display case, wood and glass, containing Biddenden cakes and broadsheet, 1938-1950
The Biddenden maids, Elisa and Mary Chulkhurst (1100-1134) were conjoined twins named after their home town of Biddenden, in Kent, England. They lived for 34 years joined at their hips and shoulders until they died, six hours apart. The twins are said to have left land to the Church, the rental income from which was to be used to purchase food for the poor to be distributed on Easter Sunday. Souvenir cakes made from plaster and bearing their image were also distributed. Today, cakes are distributed to the elderly on Easter Monday.
Details
- Category:
- Ethnography and Folk Medicine
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A650881
- Materials:
- steel, cardboard, paper and mahogany (wood)
- Measurements:
-
overall: 485 mm x 435 mm 2.11kg
- type:
- display case
- credit:
- Wellcome Museum
