The Claim
There’s a race of green people who live in Saint Martin’s Land, a subterranean world far below the surface of the earth.
I know that some of the claims on this site sound pretty silly, but this one has to be close to the worst. The Green children of Woolpit is a story from the 12th century that has been passed down through the writings of a monk and a historian from the era.
The first documented mention of the green children comes from Ralph of Coggeshall, who was a monk that later became the 6th abbot of Coggeshall. The second mention comes from William of Newburgh, a historian who’s works have been highly valued for their accuracy.
These 2 accounts are what make the story so strange, as both were supposedly very credible people of high standing in the country, and had much to lose for the sake of trying to trick people into thinking there’s an underground world full of green people if there wasn’t at least some evidence.
The story goes that during the harvest time in the village of Woolpit, 2 children were found sitting by one of the wolf pits near the village, a small dug out hole lined with stone for the purpose of trapping animals. They spoke a strange language no one could understand, and wore clothes unfamiliar to any fashion of the day.
They appeared to be normal humans in every aspect, except their skin which was a dark green colour. They were taken to a local noblemen, Richard de Caine who took an interest in them and gave them shelter and food. Strangely enough the pair refused anything they were offered and went hungry for several days until they spotted some raw broad beans, which they ate frantically as if it were the first food they’d seen.
They both adapted to normal food over time and eventually learned to speak English, though they both lost their green colour after eating a more varied diet. They explained how they were from a place called Saint Martin’s land, which was an underground world were everything was green. As for how they came to be on the surface, neither of them could give a rational explanation, with their story consisting of one moment they were herding their fathers cattle, and after hearing a loud noise were suddenly sitting by the wolfpit next to the village.
The pair were eventually baptised and shortly after the boy became ill and died from an unknown sickness. The girl remained on for several years as a servant of Richard de Calne household, were she was noted to be “very wonton and impudent”. She eventually married a man from Kings Lynn 40 miles away and took the name of Agnes. She is believed to have married a Royal officer named Richard Barre.
The accuracy of this story can never be confirmed, and the only 2 recordings of it come from the 2 previously mentioned historic figures. There’s various explanations from people who have researched the claim and all are quite rational, such as the children got lost in a cave herding cattle and followed the sounds of the village church bells out again, leading them to the wolf pit.
Personally i believe the possibility of a self sustaining underground Eco-system would be completely impossible for a civilisation, as no crops would grow and everyone would eventually go blind after several generations from the lack of sunlight, but then again who am i to say, there very well could be some kind of dwarf style city underground were everyone eats nothing but beans that cant grow there.
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