Writing a New Chapter

Hi there! Welcome to Hidden Within These Walls…

This is a brand new adventure for my writing, a new chapter if you will, where my research will not just lie hidden only for my eyes to look at waiting for the day it will be pushed together as one whole book or piece of work that is then presented for everyone to see in its completion. This is a journal, a notebook that I have left on my desk for everyone else to peruse as I continue researching and writing in my own time, sharing my ideas and hopefully for everyone else to share theirs.

Hidden Within These Walls is a newsletter updating you on my journey of research into a lesser known part of history: deliberately concealed garments. As a writer, my research has naturally taken the shape of telling others of people's stories; their emotional lives informed by social and cultural perspectives, embodied now through physical practices that live on through clothing; pieces that have stories of their own to tell from production, to wear, to concealment and even in discovery and conservation. These are stories passed down from the crafting of hands: hands that have spun yarn and woven fabrics, that measured and cut, sewed together and started the process again. These are hands that have touched and adjusted and kept clothing close to the body, have repaired and remade, and then folded away - hidden like a secret - behind a newly built fireplace, under a floorboard, or within a cavity of a wall. And then hands have found them again, brought them back into the daylight for new eyes and hands to see and touch and smell; to listen to and the stories that can be interpreted through their materiality.

What are Deliberately Concealed Garments?

These are pieces of clothing – anything from a hat to a shoe, a bodice to a pocket – that have been found deliberately concealed within the walls, floors, or fireplaces of a historical building. The practice of concealing objects in the foundations and walls of houses has been around for a long time, and so with every object that has been discovered, there comes along with it a rich emotional history of the possession and its possessor, the house they both inhabited, and the greater world of spirits and demons beyond that threatened both life and harmony. Not only have deliberately concealed garments been used as an example of folklore and ritual, but also of supernatural beliefs, magic, and the boundaries of belief in popular religion. But these garments can also be used as evidence for emotional lives, ones that concealed these objects for safekeeping and in memoriam, that interacted with the body physically and spiritually, within this life and the next. There is a wealth of knowledge and understanding to be uncovered just from the fold of a fabric and a well-intentioned stitch; knowledge that abounds between realms of the body and the spirit. And there are people too, their stories and emotional experiences of the world both in life and in death...read more here.

For those of you wanting to know more...don't worry, this is the whole point! Each week, I will be uploading a post that will be sent to your inbox with a little more information than the week before of this unique subject.

Before too long, I will have posted all the free content that is available for everyone to read and peruse in their own time on my Substack. This will eventually, however, turn into a paid subscription if you want to keep reading full updates every week as you follow along with travel logs as I visit these objects, and more in-depth literature reviews, essays, and much, much more.

Navigating Hidden Within These Walls on Substack

Once you have subscribed to my Substack, you will start receiving updates in your inbox for every new post that I write, but there is also much more to find on my Substack! First, if you want more information about the person behind the pen - that's me! - or about this newsletter, then head over to the About page.

But there is also much more! The Glossary page has a whole index of words and phrases with their definitions to aid in easy reading. And there is also a page for Resources and Links full of websites, book recommendations, articles, journals and more. Coming in the future will be podcast episodes accompanying posts, Q&As, travel logs and museum visits, and an open chat for subscribers to discuss and ask questions.

For now, thank you all for reading and I hope you stay along for the journey!