File:Barb spring padlock of Medieval date (FindID 710303).jpg

English: An incomplete copper-alloy barb spring padlock of Medieval date. It has an elongated hollow case that is sub-oval in form, perhaps originally hexagonally faceted, however it has suffered from post-depositional damage resulting in the case being flattened. At one end is a projecting rectangular hasp that is flat, with the remains of a central circular aperture at its outer edge where it terminates in old breaks. The keyhole is visible at the same end as the hasp and has rectangulat notches, its precise form uncertain due to the preservation of the object. At the opposite end of the case is a rectangular slot and aperture into which the now missing spring would have originally been inserted. The surviving padlock measures 40.78mm in length, 9.11mm in width (flattened), 20.86mm in thickness including hasp, and weighs 11.90g.

This padlock would have had a barb-spring mechanism opened by a barrel padlock key. Its size may indicate use on a casket or chest. A close parallel is noted from Medieval London (Egan, 1998: no. 244), as well as on the PAS database (see for example SF-0D1AB3, SF-1253A5, NMS C96086, SOM-075698 or DENO-41B6B5). These indicate a date in the 12th to 13th centuries AD, if not later, for the current example.