Lead Anchor Stock (10A05)
This is a 9kg lead stock from a small wooden anchor of Greco-Roman design. The anchor would have been made of wood with a lead stock at the top and lead collar at the bottom which held the arms to the shank. The stock provided weight towards the top of the anchor so it would lay flat on the seabed.
The stock was cast on to the wooden shank and was permanently fixed, in later designs the stock could be removed from the shank. Before casting on the stock, a hole was drilled trough the shank so when the stock was cast a cross bar of lead was formed within the square lead collar which held the stock in place, see image below.
The stock has straight arms and does not have any surface markings. The stock is 566mm total length with two arms each 254mm long, 27mm wide and 52mm high tapering at the ends to 36mm high. The square collar is 70mm long by 83mm wide and 52mm high with an approximate thickness of 9mm. The cross bar formed within the collar is 8-10mm in diameter.
This stock was recovered from the rocks off Fort Bovisand in Plymouth, is eroded and was once covered in wite calcareous concretion. There is a crack in one side of the collar 20mm long and a small hole in the other side 14mm x 11mm where the collar appears to have thinned. A 25mm deep void on the inside of the collar along one arm appears to have been created during casting.
If you have any more information about these finds then please contact us.
Images
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References
Curryer B., 1999, Anchors, an Illustrated History, Chatham Publishing, London, ISBN 1 86176 080 9
