Concealed shoe

Women's shoe, late eighteenth century, found concealed in the roof space of Old Mill at Murrays' Mills, Ancoats during the archaeological survey of the site.

This women's shoe was likely deliberately hidden in the roof space of Murrays' Mills during its construction, following a folk-law belief that concealed shoes protected a building's occupiers from evil spirits and brought good luck. Murrays’ Mills is one of the oldest surviving steam-powered cotton spinning mill complexes. First established in Ancoats in 1797, it became, along with neighbouring McConnel and Kennedy mills, one of the largest industrial complexes of its time, reflecting Ancoats’ development into the first industrial suburb.