Woodham Mortimer Hall, less than three miles from Maldon, was once home to a medical dynasty that pioneered the development of forceps for delivering babies. It was also the site of a surprising discovery under the floorboards.

The Chamberlen family were French Huguenots who arrived in England as refugees in 1569. The father and two sons set themselves up as 'accoucheurs' – a posh name for man-midwives, who were rather looked down upon at the time.

The older son Peter invented the modern forceps around 1600. Prior to this, the only instrument used had been a kind of crochet hook, which could save the mother, but not the child.

Further developed over time the forceps had a curvature to cradle the infant's head, and a pin to allow easy pivoting. They were kept strictly secret, in a huge locked chest, and only the Chamberlens were allowed in with the mother, who was blindfolded.

The secrecy was designed to protect a valuable commercial secret, as the Chamberlens profited considerably from their work. Viewers of the recent series 'This is going to hurt' may smile however, as the obstetrician in the series advises hiding the forceps so that the mother is not put off at the sight of a 'twelve inch pair of salad tongs'.

The Chamberlens were frequently called in by female midwives for difficult births. Many women had pelvic deformities caused by rickets, which added to their caseload.

Both the father and first son were called Peter. Peter the Third, grandson of the original Peter, gained a medical degree (unlike most of the rest of the family) but fell out with the Royal College of Physicians for his flamboyant lifestyle and absences from its meetings, and moved out to Woodham Mortimer. He was soon joined by his eldest son Hugh.

Hugh attempted to sell the secret to the French government in 1670. Louis XIV had popularised man-midwives by using them for his pregnant mistresses. But Hugh failed a particularly difficult test involving a woman with dwarfism, and lost his sale. He did however achieve success by translating a French text under the English title 'The Accomplisht Midwife'. This became the standard text for the next hundred years.

Hugh (predictably) named his own son Hugh, and late in life Hugh the Younger revealed the secret. Similar forceps became widely available from 1733, and William Smellie developed the modern instrument in 1752.

The forceps opened the way for childbirth to become a male-dominated, medical, scientific process where previously it had been the province of women in a domestic, non-medical context. Many would argue that quite a lot has been lost along the way, and forceps themselves are by no means uncontroversial though undoubtedly life-saving in many cases.

And the discovery under the floorboards? In 1813 the original Chamberlen delivery tools were found under a trapdoor at Woodham Mortimer Hall.