The Horniman Museum in South London’s Forest Hill has a wonderful example of man’s inhumanity to man on display – a torture chair. This device was part of Frederick Horniman’s collection when the museum opened in 1901 and has been a popular exhibit ever since.
Relic of Medieval Torture in The Spanish Inquisition
The provenance of the article is not certain, but, according to museum documentation, it was supposed to have come from Cuenca, Spain: from ‘Cell 23 – a dungeon of the Spanish inquisition.’ The museum authorities acknowledge that the greater likelihood is that the chair was assembled in the 19th century from some parts that were genuine historical instruments of torture, but the lower portion was probably a humble artisan’ s work bench, that saw no more blood spilt than from the worker’s own scratches.
The Head Torture Device
Horniman authorities believe that at least one part is a genuine instrument of torture: the upright iron bar that makes the back of the chair was probably a Spanish garrotte, used to execute vicitims by strangulation. While the torture chair was widely used throughout Europe, by all governments, to either punish or extract confessions, the garrotte was so popular in Spain as an execution device that it became synonymous with the Inquisition and took on the name Spanish Garotte.
On top of the garrotte upright is a device to encircle the head with various bands and tension screws to break jawbones, penetrate ears and generally make life miserable for the occupant. The lower part of the chair features manacles to bind the ankles. The seat contains a hole that can be adjusted to squeeze – it is unclear whether this is just part of the mundane workbench or a cruel device for mutilating genitals. None of it looks particularly savoury.
Visit the The Horniman Museum
The torture chair is infamous, but the Horniman has many beautiful and exciting cultural items on display in its six floors of anthropological and natural history collections. It makes for a stunning day out from the centre of London. The museum is open daily from 10:30 to 5:30, except for 24-26 December. Entrance to the main museum exhibits is free. The Horniman Museum may be readily reached by buses 176, 185, 197, 356, P4 – which stop outside the Museum and Gardens on London Road, or is just a 5-10 minute walk from Forest hill Station, where it is even signposted from Platform Exit 1.
