51/62

This is a woman’s sickle and is lighter and more slender than a standard man’s sickle. The blade has only a few faint traces of the saw edge and has a considerable curve. It belonged to Harold Greening’s grandmother and was used by her on Corndean Hill near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire. The sickle was the earliest tool for reaping corn, with this shape dating to Saxon times, and was in common use until 1870. The reaper stooped and, grasping a bunch of corn in one hand, curved the sickle round it and cut the straw by drawing the sickle towards him.

1 sickle: metal; wood

Citation in publication [H. J. Massingham, 'Country Relics' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939)] –'One of the sickles was made for a woman's exclusive use...The sickle, of lighter and slenderer build than its brethren, was in the hands of Mr Greening's grandmother 80 years ago.' (p.114), MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/62 // SICKLE // NEG NO.: 35/58 // STORAGE: ', The accession card states that this sickle is smaller and lighter than others in the collection, and so it may be a generalisation to state that it is smaller than all men's sickles. [Added by Tim Jerrome for the Further Afield project, 2024]

Wood, Metal