87/20

A leather pouch folded in half found on the chancel arch of West Ogwell Church, Devon. Possibly a charm or curse of some kind, dated 17th C..
A circular leather pouch folded in half, with the remains of stitching all around the edge and containing the remains of pages of writing. It was found on the chancel arch of West Ogwell Church in Devon. It may have been a charm or a curse of some kind, and may date from as early as the seventeenth century.

1 leather pouch: poor condition

MERL ‘Handwritten accession’ form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Standard museum name: LEATHER-POUCH // Accession number: 87/20 // … // Recorder: JMB // Date: 7.9.87 // Description: Circular leather pouch folded in half. Inside there are the remains of pages of writing. It was once stitched all round the edge. // Dimensions: Width: Approx: 11.0 cm. // Associated information: This pouch was found on the Chancel Arch wall of West Ogwell Church, near Newton Abbot, Devon. It could be a charm or curse. // References: see attached correspondence.’, Letter, MERL to donor, 23 April 1987 – ‘Thank you for your letter and the unusual leather pouch. I will put it in our collections together with other strange items that come under the heading of Superstitions. // It is extremely difficult to date the writing from the little that remains. It could be 17th century but if, as you say, some major work was done on the Church in 1832 then it could just as easily originate from after that date. The odd mouse would soon make short work of any paper that was once in the pouch. // One can only guess at the reason why these pages of writing should have been so carefully stitched into a leather pouch and left on the Church wall in this way. It could have been a request or prayer for anything, either good or evil. I have certainly not come across anything quite like it before. // Thank you for sending it to us.’