Ball and chain found in River Thames

A ball and chain believed to have shackled a convict who drowned trying to escape has been found in the banks of the Thames. The eight kilogram leg iron is the world's only known complete ball, chain and lock found through excavation.

The device, which would have been impossible to remove without a key, discovered sticking out from the mud on the south bank of the river near Rotherhithe. The cast iron device suffered only a tiny amount of rust because it was encased in thick black mud on the river foreshore which shielded the metal from oxygen.

No bones were found alongside the discovery, but Museum of London Docklands archaeologists said today if a prisoner had perished in the river while chained up their bones would have been scattered long ago.


Photo from here.

The design of the lock indicates that the find dates from the seventeenth or eighteenth century and was likely made in Germany.

Kate Sumnall, a archaeologist who examined the find, said: "It's high quality iron that could have been melted down and used again, so was very valuable and that means it's unlikely that someone just threw it away.

"That means someone was probably imprisoned in it. We know from the lock design that it was not a slave ball and chain but was definitely used for a prisoner. Without the key I doubt very much anyone could have got out of it without cutting off their own foot."