Description (Physical description)
Openwork wheel design; fragmentary. Frankish.
Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Field collection)
Excavated by Group Captain G.M. Knocker and C.F. Leech, March to April 1954.
Event Date 1954
Author: Sophie Wardle

Context (References)
Knocker, G. M. (1956). ‘Excavations at Framlingham Castle, 1954’. Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, 27(2), pp. 65-88.
Event Date 1956
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Knocker, G. M. (1956): 'A bronze open-work disc, found at S.139 at 4 feet, near burial H.13. Diameter 1.65 inches, with a central hollow boss. The boss is connected to the ring by six radial strips, which join the boss in an enlargement shaped like a step or keystone. The object belongs to a large class of openwork discs of the Frankish period in the Rhineland, Low Countries and northern France. Usually the discs have a central ring, connected to the outer ring by from four to eight strips, sometimes with step pattern at one end, as on the Framlingham example, or animal-head ornament. A type less frequently found has the central ring replaced by a hollow boss or dome, precisely as on the Framlingham disc. A few examples of these wheel-shaped discs have been found in Saxon graves in England, where they appear to be late in the pagan period (7th century). Instances may be quoted from Kempston, Beds.; Burwell, Cambs.; Shrewton and Winkelbury, Wilts. The discs appear to be connected with the accessories of women's dress. In some instances from them were suspended girdle-hangers or keys, and in other cases they were fastened or sewn to the front of a purse or pouch hanging from the belt. The second explanation is the more likely for the Framlingham disc, which is small in size. (F.26 on Fig. 6 (ii)).'
Event Date 1956
Author: Sophie Wardle

Description (Physical description)
Hollow copper-alloy central boss from an openwork wheel or disk ornament. Two radial joints, each in the shape of a keystone, and one connecting radial strip with part of the external ring survive. Possibly Frankish. Corroded, with green copper-corrosion deposit.
Event Date 1/12/2023
Author: Sophie Wardle