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A spade iron was fastened to the underside of the boot to protect the footwear during hard digging and to provide a solid surface on which to push. This spade iron was dug up in Earlye Farm in Wadhurst, East Sussex, the farmhouse of which is over 500 years old. According to the donor, men wore the spare iron on the left foot and women wore it on the right.

spade iron: metal