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Description: | The incomplete iron spring mechanism from the bolt of a cast padlock of probable medieval date. The artefact consists of a roughly circular end plate with three protuberances on its upper surface. These are the roved terminals of the trio of springs: two parallel with each other and perpendicular to a larger third. Beyond the other face the springs extend for a maximum of c. 83mm. Originally the springs would have had a barb on each side extending to within c. 8 or 9mm of the plate. A slide (or squeeze) key would have squeezed the barbs against the springs such that the bolt could be removed from the case (see Egan 1998, 92; fig. 64). The largest spring is 17mm wide at the plate, tapering to 12.2mm at its terminal. Whilst it retains its inner barb, protected as it is by the other springs, the majority of the outer barb has been lost. The two parallel springs are narrower: one is 11.9mm (tapering to 7.6mm), the other 11.2mm (tapering to 10.1mm). In the same way as the larger spring, their inner barbs survive well while the majority of the outer barbs have been lost. Both of these springs have been bent in the same direction so that they are no longer perpendicular to the plate. The size of this mechanism and the number of springs suggests that the padlock may have had an important function, perhaps relating to securing a door (see Egan 1998, 91). | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1150
1400 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Robert Webley | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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