File:Medieval Barb Spring Padlock (FindID 240986).jpg

English: An incomplete copper-alloy barb spring padlock of Medieval date. It has an elongated hollow, octagonal case with a projecting integral rectangular hasp at one end, the remainder of the lock now missing due to old breaks. The faceted surfaces of the case have extensive tool marks and on three of the faces opposite the hasp there is incised decoration. This comprises an incised double zig-zag wavy line on the face directly opposite the hasp, and similar decoration but with straight lines to the faces either side. The hasp itself is flat, rectangular in plan and section, and on the same plane as the case. It has a small rectangular notch half way down the exterior edge. The keyhole, at the same end as the hasp, has a T-shaped aperture. At the opposite end of the case the spring holes are formed of two vertical rectangular perforations separated by a vertical bar, which may indicate the lock had two spring mechanisms. The case above the sping holes has a rectangular notch where the now missing bolt would have engaged the case. The surviving padlock measures 48.66mm in length, 11.61mm in width, 23.85mm in thickness including hasp, and weighs 14.55g. 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 NMS C96086, SOM-075698 or DENO-41B6B5). These indicate a date in the 12th to 13th centuries AD for the current example.