This is a Turnspit dog/ Dog wheel that can be found in the kitchen of St Briavels castle in Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire in the UK.
This is the only one left in the world that still works and is in it's original position. Small dogs were used to walk around in the wheel in order to turn meat on a spit so that the meat was cooked evenly.
Dogs were bred specifically for this purpose. The small dogs were short legged and long bodied and a special breed was created to carry out this very gruelling work. Medieval kitchens would have been very hot and smokey and not a good working environment for either humans or small dogs.
The breed of dogs has long since died out but some experts think that they were similar to a terrier in overall looks ...
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