File:Medieval padlock (FindID 662811).jpg

English: An incomplete cast copper-alloy barrel padlock of probable Medieval date. It is zoomorphic, in the form of a quadruped, perhaps a horse, dog or similar. The Animal has a vertical, cylindrical neck with short cylindrical snout that projects forwards. At the top of the head are two short projecting semi-circular ears, the top of the brow and end of the snout decorated with incised transverse grooves. The back of the head and front of the snout have a circular perforation, presumably originally to hold in place the bar of the now missing locking mechanism. On the back face of the barrel/back of the animal are two central transverse grooves that serve as decoration, with short forwards facing hind legs, and projecting front legs that are L-shaped in form and perhaps give the impression of the animal moving forwards. At the front of the padlock (at the breast of the animal) is a T-shaped key hole, with corresponding double rectangular aperture at the back face where the now missing locking mechanism would have attached to the barrel. The entire object measures 36.72mm in length, 11.95mm in width, 28.27mm in height, and 16.16g in weight.

This is a zoomorphic barrel padlock that would have had a barb-spring mechanism opened by a barrel padlock key. Its size may indicate use on a casket or chest, with similar examples recorded through the PAS database (e.g. DEV-491751, LVPL-1E8DF7 or SWYOR-DA4617). It is likely to be of Medieval date, c.13th-15th centuries AD.