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A COLLECTION OF DRIVE IN FIXINGS (NAILS) BOARD 6 PG 3

257. Four new French nails used for decoration purposes, bought at the Malvern flea market, Worcestershire.
258. The first is a lining nail, the other 3 are box nails. Bought in Copenhagen in 1970 and donated to the collection by Mrs Joan Reck, Combe Down, Bath. September 2011.
259. A heavy copper nail for holding metal to woodwork I would have thought, maybe for the repair of ship’s hulls when they were damaged. They would cover any damage with heavy copper plates and these nails may well have been used to secure the plates in position. I would think that the twist in the nail was done when being used, not in its manufacture.             
260. What you see in this little box is the remains of a nail from The Newport Ship.  It has been placed in this small box to prevent it from being knocked about as it is only corroded metal - not surprising when you consider that it has been buried in the mud of the river Usk for 600 years. The ship is currently under preservation in Newport, South Wales. Donated by Mr Toby Jones, Curator of the Newport Ship.
261. A modern blacksmith made nail and rove as used in the building of a mock up to show how the original Newport Ship was built.
262. A 13 inch wrought nail that has been driven though 12 inches of wood and then clenched over to prevent the timbers from pulling apart. Recovered from a 200 year old boat that was found buried on the banks of the Usk River, one mile up from Tredunnock, Monmouthshire. The timbers had deteriorated too much for it to be preserved.   261 & 262 Donated as 260.
263. A 4 inch steel wire lost head nail recovered from 28 Elim Way, Pontllanfraith, Gwent. Circa 1960.    
264. Two wrought iron spur head floor brads. Donated by Mr Butcher. North End, Dunmow, Essex.
265. 7 coach trimmer’s tacks, the bottom 2 were recovered from the bodywork of a Rolls Royce car. Donated as no. 264.
266. 5 lath nails of different shapes and sizes, all wrought iron, donated as no. 265.
267. 4 18th century wrought nails, one with a pointed end, the others have round ends.
268. A very large staple, driven into a doorframe and used as a receiver for a lock or just a loose pin.
269. A holdfast, the point would be driven into the stonework alongside a door or window frame, then nailed through the holes in the holdfast and into the frame.
270. A heavy receiver for a field gate or courtyard gates.
271. A steel drive in gutter bracket, used where there was no fascia board, mostly on farm buildings and old cottages, they can be a problematic to fit as they are likely to twist whilst being driven in.
272. A 6 inch steel cut nail. I have not seen one like this before as it is parallel, most cut nails are tapered. Donated by Mr Neil Burgoyne. Knighton, Powys.
273. A cast steel handrail bracket with a shoulder for driving into masonry, the curved piece that the handrail fixes to is made separately and riveted on afterwards.
274. A nail gauge as used in the medical world for checking the size of nails when doing orthopedic operations.
275. A steel wire nail with a cast brass dome head & filled with lead to hold the two together.
276. A headless floor brad from Tredegar House, Newport, Gwent. Donated as 260.
277. This nail was found whilst digging the garden, cir; 16th –17th C. use is unknown. Donated by Mr Roy Forward. Dolebury House, Churchill, North Somerset.
278. Two machine made wrought nails of different sizes, German made and donated by Herr Wolfgang Ruecker, Langenlonsheim, Germany.

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