Around 1150, villagers of Woolpit, England, hardly believed their eyes when two foreign children emerged from the woods. It’s not the fact that they seem to come from a foreign country that lets the villagers tilt their heads. It’s the fact that the children’s skin is green – a mystery that is certain to keep the town and future generations wondering. Who or what were those green-skinned children?

Strange Children Make their Arrival at Woolpit

Woolpit is a pun on “wolf pit”. As the name suggests, the village used pits as a defense mechanism to capture wolves. In the 12th century at harvest season, villagers discovered a pair of siblings beside said pits. The boy and girl wore strange clothes, spoke an unknown language and had strangely green skin. Sir Richard de Calne, a local knight, took them in and the two lived with him for a few years. Providing for them initially proved to be difficult. The siblings only ate raw broad beans out of the ground, which could be found in Calne’s garden and refused other food. However, once de Calne converted them to eat a normal diet, their skin color changed from green to white/pink.

green children of woolpit — *An artist’s depiction of the children*

Lone Survivor and Her Side of the Story

Shortly after their arrival, the boy turned sick and died because of an unknown illness. His sister kept working as a servant for Sir Richard de Calne. She was baptized and given the name Agnes. While being under the care of the knight, Agnes learned to speak English and later said that she and her brother had come from St. Martin’s land. She described it as a land with a single river and of perpetual twilight where the sun never shone. Upon being asked how the siblings had found their way to Woolpit, she answered that they had simply herded cattle, got lost and followed the sound of bells until they ended up in front of the village.

Despite her initial mysterious and sudden appearance, Agnes adjusted to her environment and managed to live a fairly normal life. Later on, she married the archdeacon of Ely in Cambridgeshire, Richard Barre, and had one child with him.

Interpretation and Theories

Over the centuries, the children became part of Woolpit’s folklore, rumored to be fairies or other mythical creatures. Historians took a look into the mystery and suggest that the children were Flemish. The first wave of Flemish immigration to England happened in 1066 due to William the Conqueror’s invasion. In the 12th century, another wave of immigrants followed due to overpopulation and environmental disasters. At first, the immigrants were welcomed. However, in 1154, Henry II started persecuting them, accusing them of impeding English trade.

Near Woolpit existed the town Fornham St Martin, where chalk caves and tin mines could be found nearby and which likely is the hometown of the green children. In 1773/74, Flemish mercenaries revolted against Henry II, a historic event known as the Battle of Fornham. The children could have escaped from the area and were possibly Flemish descendants who have gotten lost in the forest. Furthermore, their description of the land they had originated from could be a hint to an underground cave system made by Flemish refugees. The fact that the children mentioned that there was no sunlight and that they lacked nutritious food may point to that being the case. However, such an underground cave system has not been proven as a historical fact but rather is a speculative interpretation.

As for the mystery of their green skin there have been cases in the past where one’s skin color changed due to certain circumstances. For example, in the 1820s the Fugates family in the US had blue skin, which was caused by a rare blood disorder that ran in the family. In Washington, Paul Karason’s skin turned blue after having been exposed to silver chloride. It caused him to develop argyria. All of those previous instances perhaps point to the green skin being a result of a mutation or exposure to copper. Additionally, the children’s strict habit of only consuming beans may have caused a vitamin and mineral deficiency. For instance, hypochromic anemia is a deficiency of the B6 vitamin, which can cause the skin to take on a greenish tint.

The Medieval Mystery Carries on

The legend of the Green Children of Woolpit lingers on and persists to influence media in art and literature. Woolpit will forever be known as the village where the mysterious children first appeared. Though we may never uncover the true identity of the Green Children, their story continues to live on — an enduring mystery that still fascinates, inspires, and sparks the imagination.