The witch bottle is one of the most recognisable magical objects found among the repertoire of items intentionally concealed in ancient buildings. Its squat, anthropomorphic form, accentuated by the fearsome bearded face (or mask) decoration gives the bulbous, salt-glazed jug an almost human appearance. One of the most famous artefacts of this type was the Greenwich Witch Bottle which was discovered still sealed with its contents intact, which allowed for full scientific analysis.

Witch bottles often contain human urine and nail cuttings - combined with bent pins and nails – which has all the hallmarks of a non-Christian, even heretical ‘ritual’ act. Their association with the ritual protection of the house is clear, but were they intended to act as a decoy to divert evil influences, to function as a spirit trap or to work as a counter-witchcraft measure, designed to fend off the possibility of psychic attack or bewitchment?

This illustrated talk will act as both an introduction to the current understanding of the use of witch bottles, as well as outlining a number of different ways in which they were deployed over time.

Tickets £12 including a Victorian punch and a 20% donation to a host of restoration projects at Kensal Green Cemetery. Please click here to purchase.

WAYNE PERKINS
Wayne Perkins, is an archaeologist with over twenty two years of experience working as a Field Archaeologist with Oxford Archaeology before working on excavations at Rom and at Prisse-la-Charriere, Niort and France's premier scientific organization, I.N.R.A.P. s well as for a number of companies He now undertakes Historic Building Surveys and supervise urban excavations in the City of London as well as overseeing rural excavations in surrounding Sussex, Surrey & Kent and is currently researching medieval & historic graffiti found in the buildings of England and France.