thumb|300px|Wrought-iron [[village sign erected in Biddenden in the 1920s|alt=Signpost with the name of Biddenden above a circle enclosing the cut-out and brightly painted figures of two conjoined women]]
Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst (or Chalkhurst), commonly known as the Biddenden Maids (1100–1134), were a pair of conjoined twins supposedly born in Biddenden, Kent, England, in the year 1100. They are said to have been joined at both the shoulder and the hip, and to have lived for 34 years. It is claimed that on their death they bequeathed five plots of land to the village, known as the Bread and Cheese Lands. The income from these lands was used to pay for an annual dole of food and drink to the poor every Easter. Since at least 1775, the dole has included Biddenden cakes, hard biscuits imprinted with an image of two conjoined women.
Although the annual distribution of food and drink is known to have taken place since at least 1605, no records exist of the story of the sisters prior to 1770. Records of that time say that the names of the sisters were not known, and early drawings of Biddenden cakes do not give names for the sisters; it is not until the early 19th century that the names "Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst" were first used.
Edward Hasted, the local historian of Kent, has dismissed the story of the Biddenden Maids as a folk myth, claiming that the image on the cake had originally represented two poor women and that the story of the conjoined twins was "a vulgar tradition" arising from a misinterpretation of the image, while influential historian Robert Chambers accepted that the legend could be true but believed it unlikely. Throughout most of the 19th century, little research was carried out into the origins of the legend. Despite the doubts among historians, in the 19th century, the legend became increasingly popular and the village of Biddenden was thronged with rowdy visitors every Easter. In the late 19th century, historians investigated the origins of the legend. It was suggested that the twins had genuinely existed but had been joined at the hip only rather than at both the hip and shoulder, and that they had lived in the 16th rather than the 12th century.
In 1907, the Bread and Cheese Lands were sold for housing, and the resulting income allowed the annual dole to expand considerably, providing the widows and pensioners of Biddenden with cheese, bread and tea at Easter and with cash payments at Christmas. Biddenden cakes continue to be given to the poor of Biddenden each Easter, and are sold as souvenirs to visitors.
Legend
According to tradition Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, or Chalkhurst, were born to relatively wealthy parents in Biddenden, Kent, in the year 1100. The pair were said to be conjoined at both the shoulder and the hip. They grew up conjoined, and are said to have "had frequent quarrels, which sometimes terminated in blows". At the age of 34, Mary Chulkhurst died suddenly. Doctors proposed to separate the still-living Eliza from her sister's body but she refused, saying "as we came together we will also go together", and died six hours afterwards. In their wills, the sisters left five pieces of land in the Biddenden area comprising around in total to the local church, with the income from these lands (claimed to have been 6 guineas per annum at the time of their death) to provide an annual dole of bread, cheese, and beer to the poor every Easter. Henceforward, the lands were to be known as the Bread and Cheese Lands.
History
right|thumb|All Saints' Church, Biddenden|alt=Stone church surrounded by graves
The churchwardens of Biddenden continued to maintain the annual dole from the Bread and Cheese Lands. It is recorded that in 1605, the custom that "on that day [Easter] our parson giveth unto the parishoners bread, cheese, cakes and divers barrels of beer, brought in there and drawn" was suspended on account of a visit from Charles Fotherby, the Archdeacon of Canterbury, owing to previous ceremonies having caused "much disorder by reason of some unruly ones, which at such time we cannot restrain with any ease". In 1645, rector William Horner<!-- Don't link this unless you write an article on the man; the 'other' William Horner, inventor of the Horner scheme, is unrelated to this one --> claimed that the Bread and Cheese Lands were glebe (land intended for the use of the parish priest), and attempted to take control of the lands. The case of the Bread and Cheese Lands was brought before the Committee for Plundered Ministers, who eventually found in favour of the charity in 1649. Horner brought the case before the Court of the Exchequer in 1656 but again without success, and the charity continued to own the lands and to operate the annual Easter dole. This is in fact an extract from Walter Scott's 1805 The Lay of the Last Minstrel, describing Melrose Abbey; the line given as "Shewed the twin sisters and many a saint" reads Show'd many a prophet and many a saint in the original.|group=note
By 1770, it is recorded that the annual dole took place immediately after the afternoon Easter service. The annual income from the Bread and Cheese Lands had risen to 20 guineas (about £ in ), and a huge quantity of food was distributed each year. By this time, as well as the dole of bread, cheese and beer, hard bread rolls known as "Biddenden cakes", moulded into an image of the sisters, were thrown to crowds from the church roof. The Biddenden cakes were flat, hard and made of flour and water, and were described as "not by any means tempting"; one writer in 1860 described one as "a biscuit plaque".
Origins of the Biddenden Maids legend
thumb|left|upright|The earliest surviving depiction of Biddenden cakes, 1775. The figures are shown as conjoined, but the names, ages and 1100 date are not shown.|alt=Two rectangular cakes, one showing two women apparently conjoined at the shoulder and the other one damaged in such a way that it is not clearly apparent whether the women are conjoined. Each cake has the word "Biddenden" written above the women.
Although it is known that the charity had been in operation as early as 1656, an anonymous article in The Gentleman's Magazine in August 1770 is the earliest recorded account of the legend of the Biddenden Maids. This account states that the twins were joined at the hip only, rather than at both the hip and the shoulder, and that they lived to a relatively old age. The article explicitly states that their names were not recorded, and that they were known only as the "Maids of Biddenden". The anonymous author recounts the story of their bequest of the lands to the parish to support the annual dole, and goes on to say that despite the antiquity of the events described, he has no doubt as to their authenticity. As with all accounts of the tradition prior to 1790 the author does not mention their alleged birth in 1100, or the name of Chulkhurst; these details first appeared in a broadside published in 1790. The Antiquarian Repertory of 1775 says that the sisters had lived "as tradition says, two hundred and fifty years ago". Drawings of Biddenden cakes from this period show that they featured an image of two women, possibly conjoined, but no names, dates or ages.
Historian Edward Hasted, in the third volume of The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent published in 1798, dismissed the legend of the Biddenden Maids. He claimed that the Bread and Cheese Lands were the gift of two women named Preston (although he elsewhere described the lands as having been "given by persons unknown"). The Biddenden Maids were occasionally mentioned in pieces on conjoined twins, particularly after Chang and Eng Bunker proved that conjoined twins could live to an advanced age and lead relatively normal lives. Notes and Queries magazine called in 1866 for a close examination of Biddenden documents, the editors describing Hasted's conclusions as "very obscure and unsatisfactory" and questioning why the names "Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst" should have been added to the design of cakes granted by a family named Preston, but no significant research into the tradition was carried out.
Growth of the charity
thumb|right|upright|Illustration from the 1808 broadside. Although the image caption uses the spelling "Elisa", the accompanying text gives the name as "Eliza".|alt=Two women, apparently joined at the shoulder. The women are wearing a single skirt between them. The women's facial features and hair colours are not identical.
As the annual dole grew larger the Easter distribution became increasingly popular. In 1808, a broadside featuring a woodcut of the twins and a brief history of their alleged story was sold outside the church at Easter, The Bread and Cheese Lands were sold for housing, expanding the charity significantly to provide Biddenden pensioners and widows with bread, cheese, and tea at Easter, a cash payment at Christmas, and distribute Biddenden cakes. (During the food rationing of the 1940s and early 1950s, the cheese was replaced by cocoa. Distribution of cheese resumed in 1951.) A wrought iron village sign showing the Biddenden Maids was erected on Biddenden village green in the 1920s.
The tradition of the dole continues to the present, and every Easter Monday tea, cheese, and bread are given to local widows and pensioners through the windows of Biddenden's former workhouse. All those eligible for the annual dole are given a Biddenden cake, and they are sold as souvenirs to visitors.