Pair of pattens
Object name: Pair of pattens
Object number: CHWJA:JAH453.1-2
Category: Object
Description: A pair of pattens, each consisting of a dark wooden sole with a square toe, and leather straps on each side secured with a ribbon tie. Underneath there is an iron ring, raising the sole from the ground.
Date:
Context: Pattens were a type of overshoe that Regency ladies could wear over their shoes to protect them from mud and dirt. They consisted of a wooden sole raised on an iron ring, lifting the wearer several centimetres above the ground, thus lifting their shoes and hems clear of the ground.
In his Memoir of Jane Austen, James Edward Austen Leigh recalled Jane and Cassandra wearing pattens: âwhen the roads were dirty, the sisters took long walks in pattens. This defence against wet and dirt is now seldom seen.â
Jane herself mentioned pattens in Persuasion, in a list of the sounds that Lady Russell enjoys in the streets of Bath: âthe heavy rumble of carts and drays, the bawling of newspapermen, muffin-men and milkmen, and the ceaseless clink of pattensâ.
This pair is on loan from Hampshire Cultural Trust.
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