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THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
Cordial votes of thanks were passed to all who had assisted during the day, and
particularly to Mr. and Mrs. Tuke, Mrs. Gibson, Mr. Joshua Clarke, Mr. Joseph
Clarke, Mr. Maynard, Mr. Charlesworth, Dr. Sweete, Rev. F. A. Smith, Rev. T.
Stevens, and Mr. W. White, who, as Secretary to the Field Meetings Committee,
had arranged the meeting.
Mr. Fitch exhibited a specimen of Deilephila galii, bred from a larva taken
on Osey Island, in the Blackwater estuary in September last (see Essex
Naturalist, vol. ii, pp. 188 and 242).
Mr. White exhibited drawings of abnormal forms of Lilium and Fuchsia
flowers, and also a small collection of Hymenoptera from the neighbourhood of
Colchester.
The following paper was read by the author :—
Human Skin Nailed upon Church Doors at Hadstock, Copford,
and elsewhere.
By G. N. Maynard.
It is now over forty years since a distinguished antiquary, Mr. Albert Way first
directed attention in the "Archaeological Journal,"9 to the matter traditional or
folk-lore of human skins being nailed upon Church doors. Probably some of the
members of the Club are already acquainted with the facts relating to the subject,
but the length of time which has elapsed since Mr. Way's essay appeared may
have put them beyond the memory of many I now address. It has, therefore,
occurred to me that a short summary of what has been ascertained with reference
to the subject, together with a few additional details, would be of some interest,
upon the occasion of our visit to Hadstock Church, which is distinguished as one
of the churches formerly adorned in this manner. Tradition says that the relic in
this case came from "a Danish pirate who had committed sacrilege by robbing
the church, and while yet alive, his skin was taken from him, and nailed upon the
door of the Church!" I exhibit from the Saffron Walden Museum a portion of
skin alluded to taken from the door of Hadstock Church in the year 1791, together
with a piece of the iron scroll work, and a drawing of the door itself.
Mr. Way, writing in 1848, says :—"Few years have elapsed since the curious
traveller who visited the secluded spot of Hadstock was wont to be directed to
the north door of this little church, regarded by some as of Saxon date, to seek
beneath the massive clamps and hinges for a relic of the pirate Northman whose
skin had been attached to the door in ghostly memorial of ecclesiastical vengeance,
and a warning to all who might approach the church with like unhallowed inten-
tions." Being desirous of knowing whether certain specimens of what appeared
to be skin, and stated to have been taken from persons who had committed sacrilege,
and which had been attached for centuries to the doors of churches, were un-
equivocally human, Mr. Way procured specimens of the same, undeniably
authenticated, and submitted them to Mr. John Quekett, Assistant Conservator to
the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. Mr. Quekett thus reported :—
"I have carefully examined the portion of skin which you forwarded to me for my
inspection, and beg to inform you that I am perfectly satisfied that it is human
skin, taken from some part of the body of a light-haired person where little hair
grows. A section of the specimen, when examined with a power of one-hundred
9 "Some Notes on the Tradition of Flaying inflicted in Punishment of Sacrilege ; the Skin of
the Offender being affixed to the Church Doors.'' By Albert Way. "Archaeological Journal,"
vol. v (1848).