Latest news with #Moyse'sHallMuseum
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Time of India
This book is made from the skin of a murderer behind one of England's most infamous crimes
History is full of artifacts that have been discovered over time, some of these are displayed in a museum for public display, others might be in the possession of the archaeological authorities, while some of these artifacts give the most valuable information, others just gain the public attention for all the eerie reasons. One such strange piece from history has gained limelight in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, which is a book not made of some paper, but it is bound in the actual skin of William Corder , the man hanged in 1828 for the infamous Red Barn Murder , is now back on display at Moyse's Hall Museum . Surprisingly, a long-forgotten second book was recently found on a shelf in the museum's office and these books tell about how justice, punishment, and memory were handled in 19th-century Britain. William Corder was convicted of the murder of Maria Marten , a case that captivated public attention in 1827. After his execution in 1828, parts of his body were used for anatomical study, and his skin was tanned to bind books detailing his trial. One such book has been part of the museum's collection since the 1930s. The second book, believed to have been donated around 20 years ago, was recently found on a bookshelf in the museum's office, and shockingly, it was not kept in storage. Dan Clarke, heritage officer at Moyse's Hall Museum, defended the display, saying that the books have "incredibly important" historical value and that he had never had a complaint about the first being on display. He emphasized that the museum does not treat these items as mere curiosities but as tools for historical reflection. "We see human remains in every museum across the country," Clarke noted. He further explained that the items are placed to help the discussion about the "Bloody Code," the harsh legal system of the time, and the practice of anatomizing executed criminals, as reported by the Guardian. Some authors criticise this! However, not everyone agrees with this approach. Terry Deary, author of Horrible Histories, criticized the display as "sickening artefacts," likening them to a "freak show." He argued that Corder was "misunderstood" and convicted on circumstantial evidence, suggesting that the display forwards a disrespectful story. Deary, who portrayed Corder in a theatrical production, expressed his discomfort by stating, "These are two books I'd like to burn." Despite his objections, Deary is releasing a novel inspired by his portrayal of Corder next year, further contributing to the ongoing reexamination of the case. What is this eerie practice of making books from skin? The practice of binding books in human skin, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy , was not uncommon in the 19th century. Such books were often created as mementos by doctors or as a form of punishment for executed criminals. The discovery of the second book at Moyse's Hall Museum adds to the collection of artefacts related to the Red Barn Murder, including Corder's death mask and scalp, which have been subjects of public fascination and scholarly interest. What is the Red Barn murder? The Red Barn Murder is one of the most haunting true crime stories from 19th-century England. In 1827, William Corder lured his lover, Maria Marten, to the Red Barn in Suffolk under the promise of eloping. Instead, he murdered her and buried her body beneath the barn floor. Her remains were discovered nearly a year later after Maria's stepmother claimed to have visions revealing the crime. Corder was caught, tried, and publicly hanged. The case became a media sensation, inspiring books, plays, and songs and it still grips imaginations today with its eerie mix of love, betrayal, and justice.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Who was the murderer whose skin binds a book?
The cover of a book held at a Suffolk museum was recently found to be made from the skin of a man hanged for a notorious murder almost 200 years ago. William Corder was convicted of killing a woman in 1827, which shocked Georgian Britain and became known as the Red Barn Murder. Curators at Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds realised the book, which was on a bookshelf in an office, had been overlooked but it has now gone on display. It had been donated decades ago by a family with close connections to the surgeon who anatomised Corder's body. So what do we know of William Corder and the murder, which fascinates to this day? William was from a middle-class family of tenant farmers in the village of Polstead, between Ipswich and Sudbury, at the turn of the 19th Century. At the age of 22, when he and Maria Marten became lovers, he was the head of the Corder family and had a reputation as a ladies' man. Maria, who was 24 and lived at home with her mole-catcher father, a stepmother, sister, and her young son, may have seen young William as a means of escape. In 1827, William came up with a plan to elope, telling Maria to meet him at the Red Barn on the Corder's farm, then run off to Ipswich to get the banns for their wedding. Maria was not seen again and William disappeared. William eventually left Suffolk and wrote to the Marten family to say he had eloped with Maria to the Isle of Wight. In reality, he was holed up just outside London and Maria was buried at the lovers' rendezvous, having been shot in the neck. Almost a year later, legend states, Ann Marten had a dream her stepdaughter was dead and at the Red Barn. Maria's father dug with his "mole spud" spade and found his daughter's remains. As a manhunt ensued, a newspaper editor flagged that he knew of a William Corder. "He is effectively on the run, and the theory is he is lonely, and puts an advert in the newspaper asking for a new wife," says Dan Clarke, a heritage officer at Moyse's Hall Museum. It holds many Red Barn Murder artefacts, including two books covered in Corder's skin. The authorities traced Corder, who denied any knowledge of Maria, but had a letter from Polstead telling him her body had been found. Corder was brought to Bury St Edmunds on 10 counts of murder, each based on a different theory about Maria's demise and to strengthen the chance of a conviction. In his defence he claimed Maria had killed herself, thereby accusing the dead woman of a capital crime. He was found guilty after a two-day trial, and in a final confession said he had accidentally shot Maria during an argument. It is estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people came to see him hanged outside the prison at the stroke of noon on 11 August 1828. Later that day, people queued to file past his body at the town's Shire Hall. "There were so many people, the story goes they couldn't get him outside the prison, so they had to hit a hole in the side of the building and create a temporary scaffold," said Mr Clarke. "There would have been singing and dancing, you would have been able to buy a section of the rope afterwards." Polstead became a tourist attraction, the Red Barn and even Maria's gravestone chipped away by souvenir-hunters. Public intrigue in the Red Barn Murder sparked books, plays and music, and it permeates the true crime culture to this day. At a distance of two centuries, it has become a ripping yarn, the true story clouded in legend. It is probably fuelled, in part, by being able to stand face-to-face with Corder's image, his eyes shut and his nostrils flared. His death mask is held at Moyse Hall and Norwich Castle. For many years, until it eventually began to fall apart, his skeleton was used to teach medical students at West Suffolk Hospital. Disturbingly, two books were covered in his skin and part of the man's scalp, with ear included, was kept as a gruesome ornament. All are at Moyse Hall. Terry Deary, who created Horrible Histories, believes Corder has been "maligned" with Maria incorrectly portrayed as an innocent young maiden. Moyse's Hall said it would redress the focus on Corder with a future exhibition which will shine a light on woman victims in Suffolk history, including Maria. Heritage assistant Abbie Smith said 80% of its visitors were "desperate" to know about the Red Barn Murder. "How it ended is a big factor, it was such a spectacle and people are going to be drawn to it. "It's a gory, grotty one, so people seem to like that - rather worryingly." The first book of the two books is about the trial. It was written by the journalist Jay Curtis and the title on the spine is "Trial of W Corder". There is an annotation inside written by the surgeon who performed William Corder's dissection, George Creed, which states that it was the surgeon himself who tanned the skin and bound the book in the year 1838. The second book is thought to be the same edition, but the spine reads "Polstead – William Corder". This book was donated to the museum by a family which has close ties to George Creed, who he left a number of his possessions to. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Book bound in human skin found in museum office The Suffolk books bound in human skin
Ammon
22-04-2025
- Ammon
Book bound in human skin found in museum office
Ammon News - A book bound in the skin of one of the UK's most notorious murderers is to go on display after being found in a museum's work is understood to be made using the skin of William Corder, the man convicted of killing Maria Marten in the Red Barn Murder in 1827, and will go on display alongside a similar item at Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds, Clarke, heritage officer, said the books had an "incredibly important" historical value and that he had never had a complaint about the first being on Terry Deary, author of Horrible Histories, described them as "sickening artefacts", adding: "These are two books I'd like to burn."The story of the 1827 murder in Polstead, Suffolk, shocked Georgian then, it has been the subject of many films, books, plays and folk most commonly told version is that Corder had been having an affair with Miss told her to meet him at the Red Barn, a local landmark, saying they would run away to Ipswich to get Corder shot and killed Miss Marten, burying her in the was eventually caught and publicly executed on 11 August body was dissected and part of his skin was used to bind a book telling the story of his book was put on display at the museum in recently curators were looking through the museum's catalogue and realised there was a second book that had been had been donated decades ago by a family with close connections to the surgeon who anatomised Corder's book was located, not in the museum stores, but on a bookshelf in the office, next to other books bound in more traditional Clarke said: "We get things called museum losses, and it tends to be from the last century - things that have not been seen for a couple of decades."This would be considered a museum loss which has been found."Unlike the first Corder book, the skin is only on the book's binding and books in human skin is known as anthropodermic were often created in the 19th Century to punish executed prisoners or by doctors who wanted a whose Horrible Histories series have sold millions around the world and been turned into a TV franchise, said Corder had been convicted on circumstantial evidence and suffered terribly as a the museum items, he said: "I know you're not supposed to burn books but quite honestly these are such sickening artefacts."What was worse than the hanging was the thought that their body would be dissected after death, and this is an extension of that."In March 2024, Harvard University removed the skin binding from a 19th Century book in its library "due to the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins and subsequent history".But staff at Moyse's Hall said that would not happen to either of its books, which are now on display Clarke said: "We see human remains in every museum across the country."In his 11 years at the museum, he said, there had not been a single complaint about the first book, but there had been concerns raised about mummified cats being displayed as part of a witchcraft assistant Abbie Smith got to hold the books on her first day in the job and said they felt "like a real book"."If you did not tell people it was bound in human skin, I do not really think you would realise," she said."It is also rather humbling to have something like that in the collection." BBC
BBC News
22-04-2025
- BBC News
Who was the Suffolk Red Barn murderer Willam Corder?
The cover of a book held at a Suffolk museum was recently found to be made from the skin of a man hanged for a notorious murder almost 200 years ago. So what do we know of William Corder and the Red Barn Murder, which fascinates to this day? Who were William and his victim Maria? William was from a middle-class family of tenant farmers in the village of Polstead, between Ipswich and Sudbury, at the turn of the 19th Century. At the age of 22, when he and Maria Marten became lovers, he was the head of the Corder family and had a reputation as a ladies' man. Maria, who was 24 and lived at home with her mole-catcher father, a stepmother, sister, and her young son, may have seen young William as a means of 1827, William came up with a plan to elope, telling Maria to meet him at the Red Barn on the Corder's farm, then run off to Ipswich to get the banns for their wedding. Maria was not seen again and William disappeared. What happened next? William eventually left Suffolk and wrote to the Marten family to say he had eloped with Maria to the Isle of reality, he was holed up just outside London and Maria was buried at the lovers' rendezvous, having been shot in the a year later, legend states, Ann Marten had a dream her stepdaughter was dead and at the Red Barn. Maria's father dug with his "mole spud" spade and found his daughter's a manhunt ensued, a newspaper editor flagged that he knew of a William Corder."He is effectively on the run, and the theory is he's lonely, and puts an advert in the newspaper asking for a new wife," says Dan Clarke, a heritage officer at Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds. It holds many Red Barn Murder artefacts, including two books covered in Corder's authorities traced Corder, who denies any knowledge of Maria, but has a letter from Polstead telling him her body has been found. The trial and public hanging Corder was brought to Bury St Edmunds on 10 counts of murder, each based on a different theory about Maria's demise and to strengthen the chance of a his defence he claimed Maria had killed herself, thereby accusing the dead woman of a capital crime. He was found guilty after a two-day trial, and in a final confession said he had accidentally shot Maria during an is estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people came to see him hanged outside the prison at the stroke of noon on 11 August 1828. Later that day, people queued to file past his body at the town's Shire Hall. "There were so many people, the story goes they couldn't get him outside the prison, so they had to hit a hole in the side of the building and create a temporary scaffold," said Mr Clarke."There would have been singing and dancing, you would have been able to buy a section of the rope afterwards."Polstead became a tourist attraction, the Red Barn and even Maria's gravestone chipped away by souvenir-hunters. Corder's legacy Public intrigue in the Red Barn Murder sparked books, plays and music, and it permeates the true crime culture to this a distance of two centuries, it has become a ripping yarn, the true story clouded in is probably fuelled, in part, by being able to stand face-to-face with Corder's image, his eyes shut and his nostrils flared. His death mask is held at Moyse Hall and Norwich many years, until it eventually began to fall apart, his skeleton was used to teach medical students at West Suffolk two books were covered in his skin and part of the man's scalp, with ear included, was kept as a gruesome ornament. All are at Moyse Deary, who created Horrible Histories, believes Corder has been "maligned" with Maria incorrectly portrayed as an innocent young Hall said it would redress the focus on Corder with a future exhibition which will shine a light on woman victims in Suffolk history, including Maria. Heritage assistant Abbie Smith said 80% of its visitors were "desperate" to know about the Red Barn Murder."How it ended is a big factor, it was such a spectacle and people are going to be drawn to it."It's a gory, grotty one, so people seem to like that - rather worryingly." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Euronews
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Lost book bound in skin of notorious murderer on display at UK museum
ADVERTISEMENT Talk about a morbid read... A book bound in the skin of one of the UK's most notorious murderers is about to go on display at Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK. The tome, reportedly made using the skin of William Corder, who was convicted of killing Maria Marten in the Red Barn Murder in 1827, was found on a bookshelf in the museum's office. Unlike the previously known copy of the book, "An Authentic and Faithful History of the Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten" by James Curtis, which was completely covered in human skin, the new find only has skin inserts on the spine and corners. The first book was put on display at Moyse's Hall Museum in 1933 and it wasn't until recently that curators realised, after looking through the museum's catalogue, that there was a second book that had been overlooked... Scene of the Red Barn Murder Public Domain - For those of you not familiar with the bleak tale, Maria Marten was shot dead by William Corder. Her body was discovered in a local landmark, the Red Barn, after her stepmother Ann Marten reported disturbing dreams pointing to the burial site. It is believed that Corder and Maria Marten were lovers and that he lured her to the Red Barn, saying they would run away to Ipswich to get married. Corder was arrested in London, tried in Bury St Edmunds, and publicly hanged in 1828. After the execution, the criminal's body was anatomized, and his skin was used to bind the report of the murder and the story of his trial. The Red Barn Murder has provoked numerous songs, plays and TV series. Most recently, a 1971 song recorded by folk singer Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band was performed by Florence Pugh in the (brilliant) 2018 TV adaptation of John Le Carré's spy novel 'The Little Drummer Girl'. The two books Moyse's Hall Museum 'The murder continues to be interpreted and reinterpreted in popular culture to this day,' said Daniel Clarke, heritage officer at West Suffolk council. 'Do we think all books bound in skin should be on display? That would be debated on a case-by-case basis,' said Clarke. 'In this instance, it is a stark and emotive set of artefacts that give us the chance to discuss the anatomising of the criminal corpse. Uncomfortable history, yes, but if we are to learn from history we must first face it with honesty and openness.' Clarke added that the museum does not 'deal with this as a salacious artefact but as a window into the past'. An Authentic and Faithful History of the Mysterious Murder of Maria Marten Facebook - Moyse's Hall Museum The rather gruesome book binding practice was a common procedure in the 19th century, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy. Famous examples of anthropodermic bibliopegy include editions of Holbein's 'Dance of Death' and the French book 'La pluralité des mondes habités' by astronomer Camille Flammarion. Legend has it that a female admirer of Flammarion bequeathed her skin to bind his book – which is stamped 'reliure en peau humaine, 1880 ('human skin binding, 1880'). Due to containing human remains, books bound in human skin are considered by many to be problematic. ADVERTISEMENT Last year, Harvard University removed the human skin, stolen post-mortem off an unidentified female hospital patient, from 'Des destinées de l'âme," due to 'the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins and subsequent history".
