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BELL
Unique ID: CORN-22E4F8
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Base fragment of a large cast copper alloy bell which has broken along the slit between two circular holes, producing a 'dumbbell' shape in plan, with half of one of those holes still extant. Above the slit is an incised linear border and part of the semi-circular 'sun', around the maker's initial 'R' with an annulet on either side, with linear rays emanating from it, decorating part of this half of the sphere. Each ray consists of two or three parallel incised lines, which may have curved into a rounded terminal, but these are now missing. There would have been a metal ball clapper within the bell to produce the sound. From the curvature of the fragment, the original diameter was probably around 64 mm.
Bailey (1992) illustrates a bell with the initials oRo oWo with annulets on either side on the base, which is attributed to the Robert Wells foundry of Aldbourne in Wiltshire, which produced a lot of bells of all sizes, on p.42, no.30, which is dated from the 1760-1826.
Notes:
The diameter is a reading of the existing fragment but the curvature suggests that the complete bell would be more than 62mm in diameter.
Class: cast spherical
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1750
Date to: Circa AD 1850
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 45 mm
Height: 23 mm
Width: 23 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight: 8.64 g
Diameter: 45 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Monday 1st August 2016 - Tuesday 13th September 2016
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Dorset (County)
District: North Dorset (District)
Parish or ward: Spetisbury (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: ST9002
Four figure Latitude: 50.81745735
Four figure longitude: -2.14331923
1:25K map: ST9002
1:10K map: ST90SW
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bailey, G. | 1995 | Detector Finds | Chelmsford | Greenlight Publishing | 42 | no.30 |
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Timeline of associated dates
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