The Deliberately Concealed Garments Project

Mid-18th century silk, linen and whalebone stomacher from the Nether Wallop cache found in 1978 © The Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton

The Deliberately Concealed Garments Project, from the Textile Centre at the University of Southampton is fascinating. Their website has a searchable database of garments which have been found after being deliberately hidden in buildings (usually for superstitious reasons):

"Builders, owners or residents appear to have hidden clothing and other objects in the fabric of buildings, intentionally sealing the space afterwards. Garments have been discovered at a later time when changes are being made to a building. They have been found most commonly near entrance and exit points in buildings, for example windows or chimneys. In some instances the hidden clothing has been found with other objects, concealed at the same or a later time, for example coins and documents.

Typically the garments that have been found are clothes that have been worn and used before they have been hidden. The tradition of concealing clothes can be related to the practice of concealing other objects such as dried cats, witch bottles and charms in buildings. These types of object have been discovered hidden in similar places. The concealing of these items including garments can be related to folklore and superstitious traditions relating to the ritual protection of a household and its inhabitants. Concealed garments are most often found with other objects in a cache."