Record ID: CORN-1B4113
Object type: CANNON BALL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Cast iron cannon ball spherical in shape with some lumps of iron oxide accretion on the surface, but generally undamaged. Without the accretions, the ball is about 41 mm in diameter or 1.6 inches and so was probably fired from a 16th-century Spanish muzzle-loading swivel gun such as the esmeril swivel gun which had an external bore of 2 inches. These guns were used by the Spanish Armada, particularly on the boat the Girona, and also by the Spanish when they attacked Paul church in 1595 on the other side of bay from where this cannon ball was found. Paul was one of the communities a…
Created on: Monday 17th August 2015
Last updated: Monday 17th August 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-508D86
Object type: CANNON BALL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete cast iron cannon ball broken in half, probably at impact when it was fired. The ball is 2 and a half inches in diameter or 68 mm and so was probably fired from a 16th-century Spanish Falcon breech-loading swivel gun, which had an internal calibre of 72 mm on average. These guns were used by the Spanish Armada and also by the Spanish when they attacked Paul church in 1595 where this cannon ball was found. Paul was one of the communities along with Mousehole, Newlyn, and Penzance to be destroyed in the Spanish raid of 1595 carried out by Carlos de Amésquita, who was a Spa…
Created on: Wednesday 27th May 2015
Last updated: Monday 1st June 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-955913
Object type: KNIFE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Dorset
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete forged iron knife, with a broken blade at one end, and tapering towards the tang at the other end which is bent at a 45 degree angle. The upper edge and the blade edge have parallel sides in plan, from the break until the blade starts to taper towards the tang, at an oblique angle. One face of the knife is forged and tapered in three stages, as it narrows to the cutting edge, in section. The opposite face is flat, suggesting that this blade was used to cut sideways, perhaps as part of a pair of shears, or used like a 'currier' knife which was used for cutting and paring lea…
Created on: Monday 10th February 2014
Last updated: Thursday 6th March 2014
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-8B1646
Object type: PATTEN
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Forged iron foot patten, oval in plan, with a triangular plate at the rear of the patten, and a triangular plate with an extended pointed terminal at the front. The two plates each have an extant iron rivet, which would have attached the patten to the underside of a wooden platform. The platform was then tied around the shoe using leather or cloth straps attached to the upperside of the platform, by means of buckles clasps or laces. Pattens were worn over shoes to protect the wearer from muddy ground. This style of foot patten originated in the mid-17th century and continued in produc…
Created on: Wednesday 11th December 2013
Last updated: Monday 16th December 2013
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-53E127
Object type: SHOT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Cast iron shot, spherical in shape, with pitted surface, but with most of the surface iron corrosion product having fallen away since it was found, leaving the original object. The shot is about an inch and a quarter in diameter, or 39 mm, which could have been used by the smaller artillery pieces like the 'base', or small cannon, which was the smallest of the 'standard' list of guns of the late 16th century, at one and a quarter inch calibre, but equally could have been used as grape shot for some of the larger pieces. In the 17th century, during the Civil War, any iron object was us…
Created on: Saturday 5th May 2012
Last updated: Saturday 5th May 2012
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-251B02
Object type: CANNON BALL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Cast iron cannon ball, spherical in shape, pitted and corroded on the surface but not damaged from use. The diameter of 82 mm and weight of almost 2kg of the cannon ball compares well with examples of Civil War shot in the Royal Institution of Cornwall's collections, in particular a cannon ball from Castle Dore, Lostwithiel (TRURI 1992.91) and another from Tresillian Bridge (TRURI 1993.8), both Civil Ware battle sites. The size and weight of the ball suggests that it would fit a 'Minion' cannon which had a 3.5 inch bore and shot a 4 pound ball (Bailey, 2000, 95). These were used from …
Created on: Thursday 3rd May 2012
Last updated: Monday 7th May 2012
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-034693
Object type: BULLET MOULD
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Cast iron musket ball mould with two curved arms, like scissors, meeting in a flat hinge with a central pin in it, and terminating in barrel shaped jaws which enclose a hollow spherical section in between the two halves. The two halves are circular in plan and semi-circular in profile with flat outer edges. Each half has a semi-circular aperture cut out of one edge so that when the mould is held closed and they meet up, they form a circular hole for the molten lead to be poured through. The lead would cool and solidify within the mould and the jaws could then be opened to release the …
Created on: Wednesday 26th January 2011
Last updated: Wednesday 27th February 2019
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-725C91
Object type: HORSESHOE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Cast iron horseshoe of keyhole type, current in the 17th-18th centuries, with thickened heels but no calkins, and a fullered groove set close to the outer edge through which the eight oval nail holes were punched. The length of the shoe is 121 mm and its span is 110 mm, and the width of the web is 34 mm which is exactly the width of the examples below. Griffiths, Philpott and Egan (2007) illustrate similar examples excavated from Meols, on the north Wirral coast, on page 231, Plate 51, Nos.3176-77, which are dated from the 17th to the 18th century. Egan (2005) illustrates a simil…
Created on: Monday 1st February 2010
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-652A77
Object type: SWORD
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Fragment of a forged steel sword with central mid-rib and narrow blade, tapering towards the tip of the blade, and also slightly towards the opposite, broken end, but this may be due to corrosion. The mid-rib would also have originally been more pronounced and has since corroded into its present flattened state. The Royal Institution of Cornwall also has a sword (1821.4.1) with a similar mid-rib and width and thickness of blade, taking into account the amount of corrosion. This has been identified as a French Curassier's (cavalryman's) sword engraved with the date 1814 and likely to h…
Created on: Tuesday 29th April 2008
Last updated: Tuesday 14th June 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-E73E27
Object type: DONKEY SHOE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Iron mule shoe or iron fitting for the heel of a wooden clog or shoe sole. The shape of the shoe and its rectangular nail holes and nail resemble 'tongue' type horseshoes, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries (see Bailey, 1997, page 41). Clark (2004) illustrates a similar Type 4 'miniature horseshoe' on page 120, Fig.86, No.197, which is dated c.1270-1350, but was never used and 'would not function as a shoe cleat' (p.91). He discusses mule shoes on page 78, and concludes that mules were rarely shod in the Medieval period and that the shoe would be narrow and long with a length to …
Created on: Wednesday 24th October 2007
Last updated: Monday 21st February 2022
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-6AD6C3
Object type: CANNON BALL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Cast iron round shot or cannon ball, partly corroded so that there is little sign of a mid-rib or casting mark. The cannon ball weighs 480g which is about 1lb, and is almost 50 mm in diameter, or 2 inches, which was common in the 18th century. A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. Although a variety of such guns are commonly referred to as 'cannon', the term specifically refers to a gun designed to fire a 42lb shot as opposed to a Demi-cannon (32lb), Culverin (18lb) or Demi-culverin (9lb). This cannon ball weighs only 1…
Created on: Sunday 24th September 2006
Last updated: Friday 1st March 2019
Spatial data recorded.