Historical records from the 12th century describe a bizarre event in the English village of Woolpit: the sudden appearance of two children with skin the color of green leaves. Even now, more than 800 years later, their story remains one of medieval history’s most puzzling mysteries.
Around the year 1150, villagers found the pair near a wolf trap on the outskirts of Woolpit. The children seemed human, but something was undeniably unusual about them — their skin was green, their clothing unfamiliar, and the language they spoke was unlike anything anyone in the region had ever heard. Even stranger, they refused to eat the food offered to them and recoiled from most meals until they were eventually given raw beans, which they devoured eagerly.
Once the villagers took them in, the children gradually adapted. Over time, the green hue faded from their skin, and they began to learn English. When they were finally able to communicate, they told a story that left everyone even more confused: they claimed they had come from a place called St. Martin’s Land, a dim, twilight world where the sun rarely shone and where everything seemed cast in a perpetual greenish light.
Since then, the tale of the Green Children of Woolpit has lingered in folklore and historical records, triggering endless speculation. If the children were real, what caused their strange appearance? What — or where — was St. Martin’s Land? Were they refugees from a hidden medieval community, victims of a rare medical condition, or even travelers from another world?
Centuries later, the mystery remains unsolved — and the Green Children continue to stand as one of England’s most intriguing and haunting legends.
