HORSESHOE

Three wrought iron horseshoe of probable later medieval, post-medieval or modern date (1400-1800). All the horseshoe are U shaped in plan with flared and enlarged terminals or heals; in cross section the shoe is sub-rectangular (rectangular with rounded corners. All the shoes have suffered with laminating corrosion that has destroyed their outsurfaces. This has removed what-ever detail present - slight traces of partial fullering can be seen on each branch of the shoes. Fullering is the creation of a U shaped groove through which the nail holes were punched. The horseshoe has an encrusted mid brown / orange coloured corrosion concretion which has laminated in places revealing the dark brown -purple iron beneath. The iron appears to be completely unstable, although there are significant areas of light orange powdery rust present. The condition of each is poor and so detailed dating cannot be undertaken - two of the horse shoes are similar to those known as 'guildhall' types - one of these has a deliberate thickening in one branch - possibly as a deliberate way to correct a problem (for a similar example see: PUBLIC-82EB54. Types and styles of shoe vary considerably from different geographic regions and so a certain date is impossible to produce.

The shoes have a bulk weight of 638 grams.