Object number
56/247/1-3
Description
This lock and key has three parts: lock, key and staple. Used at Oldfield Farm, Baulking, Berkshire. Similar examples are dated to the 17th C..
This lock and key has three parts: lock, key and staple. The lock is opened by inserting the key and giving a short turn. This action presses back two springs on the bottom of the arms of the staple, and the staple can then be withdrawn from the main body of the lock. It was used originally at Oldfield Farm, Baulking, Berkshire, and was attached to an iron bound of 'continental' make. It is not known how old the lock is, but similar examples have been dated to the 17th century.
Physical description
Lock: metal (iron); good condition
Archival history
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'This lock was originally in use at Oldfield Farm, Baulking, Berkshire, and was attached to an iron bound chest of continental make. The lock has three parts, key, staple and padlock. It is made of iron and when assembled is 5 inches long. The width is 2 inches and the measurement of the padlock at the part of maximum depth is 1 1/2 inches. // The lock is opened by inserting the key and giving a short turn. This action presses back two springs on the bottom of the arms of the staple, and the staple can then be withdrawn from the main body of the lock. Originally an attachment consisting of a slender rod with a small knot at the end passed down from one arm of the staple to the main body of the lock to prevent the staple being drawn completely away and lost. The rod is missing, but the hole at the point where it was attached to the staple arm can be seen. // A lock identical to this specimen is illustrated and described in Lieut. General Pitt-River's "On the Development and Distribution of Primitive Locks and Keys," pages 18-19 and plate 6. He obtained the lock from Paris and believed that it was probably a seventeenth century lock. A similar lock was used for an iron chest presented to the Royal Society in 1665.'
Object name
Material
Associated subject
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_1304.tif - High resolution image
