Cauldrons to coffins: creepy curios in our collection
Charles Paget Wade of Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire
Charles Paget Wade was an avid collector of magical and astrological objects. Our Head Curator Sally-Anne Huxtable takes us through a few of Wade's objects.
Wade's collection of objects includes armillary spheres, witch bottles, and a magician’s chest. He also designed objects including the ‘Nychthemeron’ (‘Night and Day’ in Greek) clock which features astrological and zodiac symbols, and another ‘Unicorn’ clock for which he created his own Tarot designs based on the Marseilles deck.
Tucked away at the top of Snowshill Manor is a secret room, which is closed to the public, called the ‘Witches Garret’ (image on the left). Wade decorated this room with a Ceremonial Magic circle on the floor, and on the walls he created images of male and female mandrakes based on a 15th-century herbal. The mandrake is a plant closely associated with witchcraft and alchemy.
The stuff of nightmares

Listen to the National Trust Podcast: Halloween special
In episode 67 of the National Trust Podcast, recorded in 2019, curator James Grasby visits 500-year old Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire, to find out how the Tudors protected their homes against evil. James meets house staff who reveal strange relics of our past.
" Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble."