File:Medieval padlock (FindID 487248).jpg

English: An incomplete copper-alloy barb spring padlock of Medieval date. It has an elongated hollow case that is roughly hexagonal in form and with a projecting integral rectangular hasp at one end, the remainder of the lock now missing due to old breaks. The slightly faceted surfaces of the case are decorated with deeply incised longitudinal grooves, with the exception of the bottom surface, which has a central wavy line with small indentations in each angle of the line. The hasp itself is flat, rectangular in plan and section, and on the same plane as the case. It has a small circular aperture half way down its length and extending from the top of the hasp is an integrally cast cylindrical bar that tapers to a point. 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 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 35.03mm in length, 11.37mm in width, 24.31mm in thickness including hasp, and weighs 15.75g.

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-1253A5, NMS C96086, SOM-075698 or DENO-41B6B5). These indicate a date in the 12th to 13th centuries AD for the current example.