Boot, ankle boot

Pair of man's elastic sided boots, hobnailed and very much worn, found in the roof of the vestry of the Savoy Chapel. Tucked into the boots is a scrap of wallpaper inscribed in pencil with the message ‘William Chapman/ B (presumably = born) 3d July 1828/ this was don in 1876’.
The chapel was repaired in 1864 and it was previously thought that no repairs had been done after that time. The sooty wallpaper scrap carries a registered design stamp dating it to between 1868 and 1883.

The practice of deliberately concealing shoes and other articles of clothing or household goods in the walls of buildings during construction or repair work has a long tradition. It is thought the items carry protection and good luck, especially items which are hollow, like boots and 'witch' bottles. Footwear carries the imprint of the wearer's feet and may represent a living thing.

Northampton Boot and Shoe Museum records all deliberately concealed shoes found in Britain. For more information see the Deliberately Concealed Garments project at http://www.concealedgarments.org/. For more information specifically on shoes see June Swann, 'Shoes concealed in buildings' in Costume: The Journal of the Costume Society, volume 30, 1996.