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A foolish monkey

Join our history curator on an audio tour exploring the significance of the Oak Room panels.

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This panel shows a monkey-headed man carrying a baby being beaten by a woman with a distaff. Throughout the Medieval and Tudor period depictions of monkeys represented sin and foolishness. The distaff is associated with spinning flax, used to make linen, and wool. The unspun wool or flax fibres were wound onto the distaff before spinning.

Play the YouTube clip below to hear more about religion and the panels.

Once you have listened to this section then follow the link below to enjoy the next part of the tour.

The fox and the geese