File:An incomplete cast copper alloy barb-spring barrel padlock of Medieval date (c. AD 1200 - c. AD 1400). (FindID 826279).jpg

An incomplete cast copper alloy barb-spring barrel padlock of Medieval date (c. AD 1200 - c. AD 1400). The barrel case is octagonal in section and rectangular in form, with a flat top and bottom and sides that step slightly inwards three quarters of the way down. The barrel case is hollow and damaged at the narrow end revealing a thin bar inside. At the wider end one of the barrel case is the end plate which has a riveted sub-circular hole, presumably for attachment possibly of a chain.. At 90 degrees to the tab, parallel to the case, runs the bolt bar; this narrows to a blunt point at the end opposite the tab and is sub-rectangular, 29.5mm long, 2.7mm wide by 2.9mm thick. The outer face of the barrel is decorated with incised lines creating a series of rectangular sections. The object is worn and has a mid-green patina. The case measures 27.8mm long by 9.9mm diameter. The lock weighs 6.72 grams. This padlock was probably used on a casket (Egan 1998, 92). Parallels from London (e.g. Egan 1998, 93; ref. 244) have come from pre-fourteenth-century contexts, although elsewhere they have been found in fourteenth contexts (Geake 2001, 50-51).

Similar barrel lokcs can be seen on PAS database SUSS-09F6E5 and LEIC-9F0248.