The Maids of Biddenden: The heart-warming and inspirational story of 12th-century Kent's conjoined twins.

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It's the story of two real-life conjoined twins, Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, born in 12th century England, in the town of Biddenden in Kent to a wealthy farmer who could afford to keep them cared for in an abbey for their first half a dozen years of their life. When the girls, joined at the hip by birth, have to be taken from the abbey to live with their father, trouble ensues. First, it's their two-faced stepmother not having their best interest at heart as she pretends, and then it's the townspeople, who, urged on by the town priest, are initially hostile and superstitiously believe the girls are either a punishment from God or a product of the Devil. It takes a while, and lots of work and coordination between the few people able to see Mary and Eliza for what they are, just two unfortunate children not responsible for their condition instead of demonic work, for the girls to get accepted and thrive. Bondeson, Jan (April 1992), "The Biddenden Maids: a curious chapter in the history of conjoined twins", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, London: Royal Society of Medicine Press, 85 (4): 217–221, doi: 10.1177/014107689208500413, PMC 1294728, PMID 1433064 It is significant to note that the context of how the images was originally used in the earlier days as an image of the twins shows the current ethos of the day (as a reminder of charity work done on Easter, a "cure" for stomach ache, even as a curio) have been transformed over time with different ends and purposes (as postcards, a wooden craftwork). Today, the image of the Biddenden maids are renown in medical literature as an earliest example of conjoined twins (Bondeson 2000), they are also prominent example of a 'rare curiosity' in some publications, and an inspiration to poetry and philosophy. Here, it is important to note the examples of imaging of the Biddenden maids brings attention to the way how 'human and object histories informs each other' through the various contexts and the resulting representation in such instance. Further Reading While there are many sources of all the story of the Biddenden maids, briefly, this is the likely form. Two sisters, Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst came from the town and are supposed to be one of the earlier known sets of conjoined twins. They gave about 20 acres of land near to the church in Biddenden for a charity to be managed by the church wardens. The rent paid for this land by farmers was to be used to give a dole of bread and cheese to the poorest of the village. However, according to Mrs. Prue Stokes, the local historian and chairman of the Biddenden Historical Society, Heaton, J. D. (17 April 1869), "United Twins", British Medical Journal, London: British Medical Association, 1869 (1): 363, PMC 2259775

there has been no proof that the two sisters were conjoined - they might well have been normal twins; the chances of their survival in early times, if joined, seem slim. A Swedish doctor has suggested they could have survived." The Different Images of the Biddenden Maids: From Biscuits to Visual Markers The point about the style of dress depicted on the cakes being that of the 16th, not the 12th, century had previously been made by an anonymous contributor to Notes and Queries in 1856. [4]Clinch believed that the evidence pointed to the twins having existed but that they had lived in the 16th century, rather than the early 12th century as generally claimed. They are not, however, mentioned in any journals or books from the period. [35] This points against their having lived in the 16th century; the case of Lazarus and Joannes Baptista Colloredo (1617– after1646) had prompted great interest in conjoined twins, and conjoined sisters surviving to adulthood in south-east England would have been widely noted. [36] The place name of Biddenden is derived from the Kentish dialect of Old English, meaning "Bidda's woodland pasture". It is associated with a man called Bida, was originally Biddingden (c993) Bida + ing + denn, eventually evolving into the current spelling. [2] [3] History [ edit ] Bondeson, J. 2000. "The Biddenden Maids," The Two Headed Boy, and Other Medical Marvels. Cornell University Press, pp. 141-159.

A sad and heartbreaking story that is also beautiful because the characters are beautiful souls that have to face the hate and prejudice of those unable to see past their exterior. Bondeson, Jan (2006), Freaks: The Pig-Faced Lady of Manchester Square & Other Medical Marvels, Stroud: Tempus Publishing, ISBN 0-7524-3662-7This is the heart-warming and inspirational story of two remarkable women leading one joint life, challenging adversity to become the best they can be. A broadsheet on the Biddenden Maids was printed in 1808 and sold outside the church during Easter. ... In the 1820s, a 'new and enlarged' account of the Maids was printed ...' Kopytoff, I. 1986. The Cultural Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as a Process. In The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective edited by A. Appadurai. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Their popularity took off in the 18th and 19th century, when circus sideshows began touring around the country. Human and animal conjoined twins were often the highlight of any show and commonly faked. Most of the mythos surrounding the Chulkhurst sisters comes from an 1808 broadsheet sold outside the church on Easter, and the earliest biscuit molds date to around 1790. Sylvanus Urban ( Edward Cave), ed. (August 1770), "Of Biddenden in Kent", The Gentleman's Magazine, London: D. Henry, 40

The Biddenden maids biscuit has been described as a memorial food item. The museum has three of these Biddenden cakes, 1884.56.100, given by Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers in 1884 and obtained in 1875, 1902.60.4 donated by Henry Balfour, and 1917.53.684 given by Anna Tylor, owned previously by her husband Edward Burnett Tylor who was given the object by Mrs. Elton. There is also a printed account, 1884.56.100.2, given by Pitt Rivers, which sounds similar to the broad sheets mentioned by Bondeson (1992:17): Gosden, C. and Marshall, Y. 1999. "The Cultural Biography of Objects," World Archaeology 31(2): 169-178. Many characters are met along the way and the reader observes the everyday lives, the beliefs, superstitions, and fears of 12 th Century folk, which G D Harper has portrayed with an authentic feel alongside his excellent descriptions of setting and character, vividly bringing a less-unknown era alive for me. It is an evidently well researched piece of fiction. The pacing remains steady throughout, and I found the ending perfectly written. The narrative voice switches occasionally from third-person to first-person, with these first-person viewpoints from Eliza and Mary. This narrative voice from the Maids as children was the only thing that did not work for me personally; while it does give an immediate connection to the two sisters, allowing an intimate insight into their thoughts, hopes and understandings, the language and understanding they related was not age appropriate for the two young children who are portrayed to have been deprived from the outside world and from education. Later on, as adults, this narrative voice worked far more effectively, especially in portraying their thoughts and feeling towards each other.

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Cheese Charity Resumed". News in Brief. The Times. No.51959. London. 27 March 1951. col C, p.2. (subscription required) But no matter when (or if) they lived, there is no denying that Eliza and Mary Chulkhurt are a beloved part of local lore and a symbol of sisterly love. According to one story when Mary passed before her sister, a local surgeon wanted to separate them to potentially save Eliza’s life. She refused, reportedly saying, “as we came together, we will also go together.” The story is based on the real-life “Maids of Biddenden”, a pair of conjoined twins who are supposed to have lived during the 11th-12th century. An important cottage industry has developed to the west, where numerous vineyards and orchards produce varietal wines, ciders and juices. Biddenden is also the trading name of Biddenden's Cider. Biddenden's Cider is made by Biddenden Vineyards Ltd. [7] whose premises are close to the clustered village centre.

The reader will observe by the plate of them, that they lived together in the above state Thirty-four years, at the expiration of which time one of them was taken ill and in a short time died; the surviving one was advised to be separated from the body of her deceased Sister by dissection, but she absolutely refused the separation by saying these words—"As we came together we will also go together,"—and in the space of about Six Hours after her Sister's decease she was taken ill and died also. Joined at the hip, the sisters overcome fear and hostility to grow into gifted and much-loved women – one a talented musician and song-writer and the other a caring healer and grower of medicinal plants. Entangled in the struggles for power and influence of the great Kent nobles of the time, they achieve much in their lifetimes and leave behind a legacy in Biddenden that survives to this day. The Pitt Rivers Museum claims that Biddenden church at one time featured a stained glass window depicting the Biddenham Maids, citing a purported poem found in "old charity documents" as evidence, which supposedly read The moon on the east side oriel shone/ Through slender shafts of shapely stone/ The silver light, so pale and faint/ Shewed the twin sisters and many a saint/ Whose images on the glass were dyed/ Mysterious maidens side by side/ The moon beam kissed the holy pane/ And threw on the pavement a mystic stain. [10] This is in fact an extract from Walter Scott's 1805 The Lay of the Last Minstrel, describing Melrose Abbey; the line given as "Shewed the twin sisters and many a saint" reads Show'd many a prophet and many a saint in the original. [11]

Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum

For instance, one of the earliest visual representations of the Biddenden maids, after their image appeared in a broadsheet in 1808, is a printed postcard postmarked August 4, 1939 by Young and Cooper in Maidstone, Kent. The Biddenden maids are elegantly dressed in the costume of the time of Mary I. Here, while the writer notes that "the charity in charge of the dole no longer persist," the postcard is created as a substitute to commemorate this particular event. The postcard being accessibly possessed as souvenir in printed form. While current postcards are mostly views of Biddenden, an item which includes the original image of the Biddenden twins as part of the charity's history is sold at the Biddenden Church. Although later writers have stated that Chambers accepted Hasted's arguments and dismissed the legend of the conjoined twins out of hand, [25] unlike Hasted, Chambers accepted that the legend was potentially true. [24] He concluded that in the absence of any evidence for the sisters having existed, on the balance of probabilities the figures on the Biddenden cake were more likely to represent "the general objects of a charitable benefaction" and that the story of the twins was likely to be a folk myth created to explain the unusual design of the cakes. [24]