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Description: | A very worn and corroded incomplete wrought iron rotary key of probable early post-medieval date. The bit has been lost as possibly evidenced on the underside of the stem which appears hollow at the current tip. The stem itself is sub-circular in cross-section. Its surface pitted and it appears swollen, although how much these effects are related to the corrosion of the iron is uncertain. The bow is kidney-shaped with a pair of prominent internal projections at the junction of bow and stem. With the bow being the only extant diagnostic element a 16th-century date is suggested for this key, although a slightly earlier or later date ought not to be ruled out. A pair of recent marks on one face revealing the gleaming iron under the corrosion layers can be attributed to the key's recent extraction from its remarkable findspot (see circumstances of discovery). | Subjects: | rotary key | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Webley, Robert - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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