BRIDLE BIT

Two complete copper-alloy bridle bit cheekpieces (side plates), of Roman date (1st century AD).

Both side plates are flat, with an irregular shape. They have a circular body, with a central circular perforation or hole. Two loops extend off the body, one is triangular in shape, the other is circular. On one of the artefacts, the triangular loop has spherical knops on each corner.

Side plate 1 measures 64.8 mm in length, 47.6 mm wide and 4.4 mm thick. It weighs 34.3 g. The central circular hole has an internal diameter of 11.0 mm. The circular loop has an internal diameter of 6.7 mm. The triangular loop measures 14.3 mm in length, with a minimum width of 4.8 mm and a maximum width of 11.1 mm. This artefact is a mid green colour, with an even surface patina.

Side plate 2 measures 61.9 mm in length, 59.5 mm wide and 3.9 mm thick. It weighs 37.1 g. The central circular hole has an internal diameter 13.2 mm. The circular loop has an internal diameter of 10.1 mm. The triangular loop measures 14.5 mm in length, with a minimum width of 5.0 mm and a maximum width of 13.3 mm. This artefact is a dark brown colour with patches of dark green. The colour could suggest a high iron content but this is uncertain without XRF analysis being carried out.

Ralph Jackson (Curator of Romano-British Collections, British Museum) has confirmed that these two artefacts are bridle bit side plates, like numbers A25-A27, p2, fig 2, from Hod Hill (Brailsford, 1962), currently on display in the Weston Gallery of Roman British (Gallery 49) at the British Museum. One is slightly fancier but they are both of the same type as the heavily worn examples from Hod Hill.

Reference:
Brailsford, J. 1962, Hod Hill 1: Antiquities from Hod Hill in the Durden Collection. Trustees of the British Museum