MeRit teamed up with the PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme) in Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) and the REMADE (Roman and Early Medieval Alloys Defined) project at the University of Reading to record and analyse medieval lead objects from Norfolk. The collaboration stemmed from MeRit’s interest in Norfolk as a case study area and in religious finds from south of King’s Lynn in particular, and ongoing work to publish Lynn Museum’s pilgrim badge collection.
We reached out to the local detecting community, encouraging them to attend a finds recording and identification event on Sunday 24 November at Marriott’s Warehouse, one of the best surviving Hanseatic buildings in Lynn. The aim of the day was to record medieval lead finds and analyse them using XRF (non-destructive analysis of metal composition) that might be useful for understanding how religious objects were made and circulated.
The response from the detecting community was fantastic, particularly from members of the King’s Lynn Metal Detecting Club, but also finders from as far away as Norwich and Downham Market. The PAS/MeRit team saw several hundred finds, of which over 50 were chosen for full or further recording and XRF-ing by REMADE, a project focused on studying metal alloys. These finds included ampullae, papal bullae and seal matrices. Most were made of pure lead, though there were some surprises, including a tin ampulla. In due course, these XRF results will be added to the PAS records, so they can be shared with the finders and the wider public.
The following day, Monday 25 November, the MeRit and REMADE team ventured to Lynn Museum. The principal aim was to finish photographing pilgrim and secular badges in the museum’s collection, but it also offered an opportunity to XRF these objects and some others of cult centres that had already been photographed. PAS volunteer Rod Trevaskus led the photography. Many of the badges have been identified with local cult centres, notably Our Lady of Walsingham, but it is not known whether other badges, notably of the Annunciation, were also made at Walsingham. Here, perhaps science could help to discover whether these different types of badges were connected through their manufacture! Some 45 objects were photographed, and 65 were analysed using XRF. Initial results confirm what many assume, that is, medieval badges (in general) have a eutectic mix of alloys (i.e. a special ratio of lead and tin, that enables casting), whereas other objects are mostly unalloyed metals. Also, some badges from similar moulds used different recipes.
Many thanks to King’s Lynn Metal Detecting Club, Lynn Museum, Marriott’s Warehouse Trust, REMADE and the PAS in Norfolk (Norfolk County Council).