SEVERAL readers knew what last week’s curiosity was, much to the interest of the owner, who had dug it up from her garden, and didn’t know what it was, although she suspected it might be part of an old horse harness that may have dropped off a working horse at some point and got buried on her land.

She could not have been further from the truth, as the very many answers we received have suggested.

It was in fact a butcher’s hook, known as a ‘gambrel’ or ‘cambrel’.

Herbert Shaw, of Oakworth, said he used to use them when slaughtering animals and it would have been used to hang a slaughtered pig or sheep.

Dawn Arbuthnott got in touch to say her grandmother, Barbara Shuttleworth recognised it as a hook to hang a pig by its legs for butchering, while others to correctly identify it were Brian Parker, of Carleton, Phyllis Capstick, of Hellifield, and Mary Myers of Lowgill.

Interestingly, the word gambrel comes from the Latin word gamba meaning horse’s hock or leg, and is used to describe a two-sided roof with two slopes non each side - also known as a Dutch roof.

The owner of this gambrel says she is very grateful to all those who came up with an explanation, and although it has something of a grisly function, she is happy to know what it is.

Do you have an interesting item you would like to share with our readers? It might be a domestic item no longer in use, or something you have spotted while out and about in Craven. If so, scan a picture of it and send it with an explanation as to what it is, to news@cravenherald.co.uk.

Meanwhile, suggestions to this week’s item should also be sent to news@cravenherald.co.uk before 8am on Monday.