Copper-alloy sewing ring. From BS 1965-71, Brook Street site, Winchester, Hampshire.

Copper alloy sewing ring

Late medieval, 14th to 15th century

Found during excavations by the Winchester Excavations Committee in the Brooks area of Winchester in the late 1960s

Rather than being cast, like thimbles of later periods, this sewing ring is a strip of metal bent into a circle with hand-punched indentations. The open end leaves the fingertip free to pick up light items such as threads and pins, and prevents sweating. For further information, see Professor Martin Biddle's (1990) book, Winchester Studies 7.ii, Object and Economy in Medieval Winchester, catalogue number 2502.