File:Medieval barb spring padlock (FindID 549135).jpg

English: An incomplete copper-alloy barb spring padlock of Medieval date. It has an elongated hollow case that is rectangular in form and section, and with a projecting integral rectangular hasp at one end, the remainder of the lock now missing due to old breaks. The hasp itself is flat, rectangular in plan and section, and on the same plane as the case. Extending from the top of the hasp is an integrally cast cylindrical bar that tapers slightly before terminating in old breaks. The keyhole, at the same end as the hasp, has a rectangular aperture. At the opposite end of the case the spring holes are formed of two square perforations separated by a vertical bar, which may indicate the lock had two spring mechanisms. The surviving padlock has extensive post-depositional corrosion and encrustation. It measures 29.82mm in length, 11.27mm in width, 23.42mm in thickness including hasp, and weighs 9.27g.

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 parallel is noted from Medieval London (Egan, 1998: no. 244), as well as on the PAS database (see for example SF-1253A5, NMS C96086, SOM-075698 or DENO-41B6B5). These indicate a Medieval date for the current example, perhaps in the 13th to 14th centuries AD if not slightly earlier or later.