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An 18th century biscuit made to commemorate the philanthropy of a pair of conjoined twins has been sold for £100 at auction.
Biddenden Cakes were a rectangle hard biscuit moulded with an image of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst â known as the Biddenden Maids.
The twins were born in the village of Biddenden in Kent in 1100 and lived until the age of 34.
Weâve sold quite a few pieces of wedding cake from the Charles and Diana wedding of 1981 for as much as £1,000 and we are no strangers to selling quirky collectables
Auctioneer Chris Albury
A Biddenden Cake with an image of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (Dominic Winter Auctioneers)
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An 18th century biscuit made to commemorate the philanthropy of a pair of conjoined twins has been sold for £100 at auction.
Biddenden Cakes were a rectangle hard biscuit moulded with an image of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst – known as the Biddenden Maids.
The twins were born in the village of Biddenden in Kent in 1100 and lived until the age of 34.
Biddenden Maids biscuit sells for £100
A Biddenden Cake with an image of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (Dominic Winter Auctioneers)
An 18th century biscuit made to commemorate the philanthropy of a pair of conjoined twins has been sold for £100 at auction.
Biddenden Cakes were a rectangle hard biscuit moulded with an image of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst – known as the Biddenden Maids.
The twins were born in the village of Biddenden in Kent in 1100 and lived until the age of 34.
Tradition has it that when one of the twins died the other refused to be separated from her dead twin saying, As we came together we will go together, and died six hours later.
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The sisters are reputed to have bequeathed land to the village, known as the Bread and Cheese Lands, the rent from which was used to pay an annual dole of food and drink to the poor at Easter.
Since at least 1775 the dole included Biddenden Cakes, bearing the effigy of the conjoined maids.
A depiction of Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, known as the famous Biddenden Maids
There are many different depictions of the Biddenden Maids created over the years
How rare is having conjoined twins?
Conjoined twins occur once every 200,000 births and develop from the same fertilized egg.
The developing embryo starts to split into identical twins during the first few weeks after conception but stops before the process is complete. The partially separated egg then develops into a conjoined fetus.