Hungate stone mould

An object recently found in the excavations at Hungate is a reminder that during the medieval period, cloth making was an important craft in York. The object in question is a rectangular stone block used as a mould to cast lead alloy cloth seals. This particular mould has been worked on two faces; one face may have been unused because the shape cut out for the casting does not appear correct. The replacement has been cut on the other face.

Cloth seals were used as a mark of quality control, and were devised specifically for marking commercial textiles; they had a similar function to hallmarks on precious metalwork. Generally, one seal noted the maker of the cloth, and another represented an official marking of the cloth as fit for sale by the alnager who was the officer of the Crown doing the quality check with his deputies. When cast, one disc had an integral rivet and there was a corresponding hole in the other disc; a strip connected them. The seal would be attached to a piece of cloth by folding the discs around each side of the textile so that the rivet fitted through the cloth and into the hole; the rivet was then bent over and the seal stamped with one die, or between two dies, in order to close it firmly and record the maker or quality mark. We have found a few cloth seals in excavations in the city, though none so far at Hungate; parts of two found at Union Terrace are pictured here.

Two disc seals such as those cast in this mould were the norm in medieval England up until the late 16th century when four part seals were developed. Cloth making became a significant craft in York during the 13th century, so we can suggest a date for the making of this object is likely to be sometime between the 13th  and 16th centuries.