A 900-year-old door - once thought to be covered in human skin - has been identified as the oldest in the UK. Archaeologists discovered the oak door in Westminster Abbey was put in place in the 1050s, during the reign of the Abbey's founder, Edward the Confessor. It makes it the only surviving Anglo Saxon door in Britain. Tests also showed fragments of hide stuck to the door - which legend said was the skin of a punished man - was cow hide, said an Abbey spokeswoman. Research on the door was funded by English Heritage and taken three months to complete. It is thought it has only survived because it is indoors and has been in constant use. The Abbey spokeswoman continued: "It has long been obvious that the battered and insignificant-looking wooden door must be ancient but its true age has eluded discovery. "In the 19th century it was noticed that there were fragments of hide adhering to the door and a legend grew up suggesting that these were human. "It was supposed that somebody in the Middle Ages had been caught committing sacrilege in the Abbey, had been flayed and his skin nailed to the door as a deterrent to other would-be felons."
View: Full Article | Source: BBC News
!