Victorian boot baffles historians

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A Victorian boot found in an oak tree at Blenheim Palace has left historians wondering where it came from.

It was discovered by a woman and her two children - who thought it was a wetsuit boot - on a visit to the palace, in Oxfordshire, with friends.

Dubbed the Blenheim Boot, it is thought to date from the late 19th Century but has not yet been valued.

Historians said it was a late Victorian, or early Edwardian, "Derby" or "Blucher" boot, for children.

It will be on display in the Blenheim Bygones exhibition in the Palace's Pleasure Gardens.

It's been well-worn with a large hole in the toe Sam van de GeerOxfordshire County Council Museums Service

Tracey Edmonds, of North Leigh, Oxfordshire, said the children uncovered the boot while playing in this "fantastic tree" they discovered.

One of the children in the group, Tom Clutterbuck, shouted: "'I've found an old wetsuit boot' and flung it out," she said.

"I caught it and was astonished to realise it was a hobnail boot".

Sam van de Geer, social history conservator at the Oxfordshire County Council Museums Service, said: "The sole of the boot has lots of nails hammered in to give it grip.

The boot is believed to be late Victorian or early Edwardian"So it looks as if it was a fashionable boot that has been turned into a working boot.

"It's been well-worn with a large hole in the toe."

John Forster, archivist to the Duke of Marlborough, said: "As to how the boot got in to the tree we can never know for certain.

"Since it is of child's size and worn out, I suspect some childish prank or game.

"At that time, when money was scarce, children needed to be adept at making up simple games."