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18th C.,Sussex-made weight-driven spit jack. It has baluster spindles and is geared to a vertical spindle for a fly.
A jack is a device used for turning a spit. This is an eighteenth-century, Sussex-made weight-driven spit jack made of wrought iron and wood. It consists of a frame with a front plate of open scrollwork which encloses a drum for a cord, weight, and cog wheels. It has baluster spindles, and is geared to a vertical spindle for a fly. The lead-weighted fly is a modern addition.

1 spit jack: iron

Pre-MERL list / description – [Victoria and Albert Museum] ‘Ironwork objects for transfer to Museum of English Rural Life, Reading ... No. 19. Spit-jack. Wrought iron. A frame with front plate of open scrollwork, enclosing a drum for a cord and weight and a train of cog-wheels, with baluster spindles, geared to a vertical spindle for a fly; with two wooden pulleys. English (Sussex): 18th century. (the lead-weighted fly is a modern addition).', MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Description: Weight driven spit jack, with worm and spur gearing, and two baluster shafts. Gears, frame, and plate are of wrought iron. the drum and pulleys are wooden. // The lead weighted fly is a modern addition. // Dimensions: // Associated information: from Sussex, C18 (V & A checklist) // Standard C18 type (Seymour Lindsay) // References: J Seymour Lindsay ‘Iron & brass Implements of the English House’, 1927, pp.22–23, 42.’

Sussex

1700-01-01 - 1799-12-31

Eighteenth century