Custom · Biddenden · Famous
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Joined for life, and still feeding the village at Easter.
See it clearly
Easter Monday morning at the Old Workhouse on Sissinghurst Road; times vary, check before you go.
Easter Monday in Biddenden: a biscuit stamped with two joined sisters, handed out as it has been for centuries.
Biddenden tells of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, twin sisters joined at the hip and shoulder, who were said to have lived for thirty-four years. When one died, the other refused to be separated and died hours later. They left land to the parish whose rent paid for bread, cheese and beer for the poor each Easter. Hard biscuits stamped with two joined women are still handed out. The Dole is given on Easter Monday at the Old Workhouse. The lands were sold in 1907, but bread, cheese and tea still go to local widows and pensioners.