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From witch-bottles to concealed shoes, this workshop will explore the variety of objects hidden in historic homes - some of which are currently exhibited in the Portico. Drawing on archaeology and folklore, Dr Ceri Houlbrook will consider the beliefs around luck, protection from the supernatural, and magical-medicine that may have motivated people in the past to hide these peculiar objects up their chimneys, under their hearths, or within their walls. 

Biography 

Dr Ceri Houlbrook is a Senior Lecturer in Folklore and History at the University of Hertfordshire, and Programme Leader of the Folklore Studies MA. Her primary research interests include the material culture of ritual practices and popular beliefs, and contemporary adaptations of historic customs and folklore. She has published monographs on ritual “litter”, love-locks, coin-trees, and concealed objects.