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KEY (LOCKING)
Unique ID: SWYOR-540995
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A complete, slightly misshapen Medieval rotary key dating from AD 1300-1500.
The key has a lozenge-shaped bow, a hollow (pipe) shank and openwork bit.
The open bow is sub-rectangular in cross-section with a rectangular knop at each side and a hollow tubular outer end now filled with corrosion. Between the bow and the shank there is large bulbous collar. The shank flares slightly in width and thickness from the bow to the bit. It is oval in cross-section throughout its length and is hollow to a depth of 12.23mm from the bit where a small portion is missing. The bit is sub-square. There are two openwork rectangles in the centre across the groove one one face. The outer edge has three wards divided by two clefts. The key is slightly curved along its length. The patina is dark grey.
This key, with the lozenge-shaped bow and hollow stem falls broadly into Ward Perkins types V and VI and dates 14th-15th century (Ward Perkins 1940, 138-141, fig. 42).
Compare IOW-B5BAF1, NARC-7D6187 and IOW-9AA937.
Class: London type VI
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1300
Date to: Circa AD 1500
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 104.63 mm
Width: 32.34 mm
Thickness: 9.4 mm
Weight: 64.63 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 1st July 2012 - Tuesday 16th October 2012
Rally details.
This object was found at Digging up the Past - Shackerstone, Leics, 2012
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: PAS form number 2005
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: East Midlands (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Leicestershire (County)
District: Hinckley and Bosworth (District)
Parish or ward: Shackerstone (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SK3808
Four figure Latitude: 52.668386
Four figure longitude: -1.439515
1:25K map: SK3808
1:10K map: SK30NE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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