A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100 A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100 A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100 A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100 A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100 A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100 A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100

A rare sheet wrought iron hand-bell, almost certainly Saxon or Early Medieval, circa 800-1100

REF: 4549

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Originally bronze-coated, trapezoidal in shape, constructed from a single sheet of iron, folded and riveted to each side, with large D-shaped handle and clapper

Often found in Scotland, Wales and Ireland and thought to be associated with the Celtic church or monastic life, used as a call to worship

A hand-bell, excavated at Marden, Herefordshire, in 1848, and now in the Herefordshire Museum Collection, acc. no. 488, is of very similar form and construction. See also the 'Bruern Bell' from a Cistercian Abbey, excavated in 1984 and now on display at the Woodstock Museum Oxfordshire

A further example dated to 8th - 9th century is in the National Museum of Ireland, reputed to belong to Saint Patrick is in an inscribed and decorated shrine dating to the 11th century. See also in the same collection 'The Knockatemple' hand-bell acc. no. NM1 2019:140

  • Height 26.5 cm / 10 1⁄2"
  • Width 16 cm / 6 "
  • Depth 13.8 cm / 5 1⁄2"

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