SPUR

Incomplete cast copper alloy rowel spur missing its attachment terminals, but retaining half of the hinge on one side, suggesting that the shank was hinged so that the spur could be angled upwards, away from the heel of the boot. The existing shanks are semi-circular in cross-section, with curved outer edges and straight inner edges. The spur is undecorated apart from a ridge at the end of the neck that is connected to the main body of the spur, making it look as if the spur was made in two parts, which it was not. The neck then tapers and droops down towards the rowel box and then expands to form a rowel box reminiscent of the distal end of a metacarpal bone. The rowel is missing, but traces of the iron rowel pin remain in the groove of the rowel box. The length of the complete side of the spur, allowing for the curvature, is about 30 mm, its height is 12 mm and its thickness is 5 mm. The length of the neck is 31 mm and its width is 6.4 mm (minimum) and the thickness is 6.3 mm. The width of the rowel box is 13.5 mm and its thickness is 7 mm. The length of the hinge that remains at the terminal is 6 mm and its thickness is 3.5 mm. The total length, from hinge to rowel box, ignoring the curvature is 54 mm, and the total width is 54.7 mm.

The patina of the spur is a good deep green to brown colour with little corrosion, which is probably due to the conditions that it was found in.

Read (1988) illustrates a similar example of a spur with a hinge, on page 196, No.1384, which dates from the 18th century.

Bailey (2002) illustrates a similar bronze spur on page 36, Fig.16, which is dated from the 18th century.