Report: Bishopstone (Sussex), Anglo-Saxon ironwork
May 2010 | University of Kent
Patrick Ottaway has been appointed by Dr Gabor Thomas of the University of Kent to conduct research into an important hoard of late Anglo-Saxon ironwork from excavations at Bishopstone (Sussex). The hoard consists of about 30 objects of varying types including tools such as a sickle, a claw hammer and a wool comb. The hoard also contains hinge straps from a door, a barrel padlock and a very fine chest lock. The hoard was found in a cellar and had probably been deposited as part of some sort of ritual, possibly with a Christian significance, when the building above was dismantled.
A report on the hoard has appeared as part of an article on Bishopstone by Gabor Thomas in Archaeological Journal 165 for 2008.
Patrick has also studied other iron objects from the site which include some fine tin-plated casket or box fittings. They have been conserved by York Archaeological Trust Conservation Laboratory.
Late Anglo-Saxon chest lock from the ironwork hoard