A Horseshoe on the Threshold

Aubrey said it was very common to nail horseshoes on thresholds to keep out the power of witches, that most houses at the west end of London had one, and that it should be a horseshoe one had found. He saw a tile with a horseshoe on it under the porch of Stanningfield church in Suffolk. Brand found many nailed to thresholds in Monmouth Street in 1797, and in 1813 Ellis counted seventeen there. Misson was told they kept out witches, and noted that people laughed as they said so, but did not laugh at it altogether.