Hardwick Hall Vicinity Lead Artifact

[PetesPockets55]

I have an elderly uncle that is cleaning out some hard to place items and sent the following item to me. It is lead and he said came across it in 1980 while visiting England.

The background on the item involves Elizabeth "Bess" of Hardwick (1527-1608), a wealthy Victorian-era noblewoman and builder who outlived 4 husbands (Lord Cavendish was #2). She and husband #4 even got to "volunteer" their time and resources as custodian to Mary Queen of Scotts after her forced abdication by Queen Elizabeth.
If you follow the link above you can see some of her building handiwork.

According to my uncle, most materials for the construction came from the property itself. On a tour of the site he kicked aside some leaves and saw this item and believes it was part of the roof. It weighs about half a pound and is about 2-1/2" to 2-3/4" tall with a square hole in the middle that doesn't extend through the other side. This leads me to believe it may have been a cap over something. I'm wondering if they may have used a technique of covering iron with lead to help keep it from being exposed and rusting.

Anyway, enough blabbering on and on. Here are the images and let me know if you have any ideas on what this may be.
PP55

 

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[ANTIQUARIAN]

I'm probably wrong in my assessment of your 'inheritance' from your elderly uncle, but these look like pieces of early cast concrete?
If you look closely at the matrix, you can see course aggregate... but without actually being able to handle a piece, it may be granite.

You might want to also post your thread here... Rocks/Gems

Dave

 

[ticndig]

I agree , it looks like a post was set in concrete and now the post is gone and you have the concrete.

 

[PetesPockets55]

Thanks for the replies.
This is one of those things that is best viewed in hand, but it's definitely heavy metal, as someone (my Uncle?) scraped the edge away in two spots.
(See the additional images.)

The lumpiness that you might be taking for aggregate that shows up in some images might be from when it was shaped/formed by heat, pounding or uneven oxidation.

Seems like the "whiteness" to it is from the oxidation of the lead with a smattering of tans and browns from the organic matter where it was found.

It just seems like iron is the only structural metal I'm familiar with they might have used. But it doesn't have much shelf life when left exposed to the outside elements.
The abundance and durability of stone and brick is a natural material of choice but usually needs metal to stabilize it the higher up it goes. (Think of the long iron rods used with big plates to keep brick homes from spreading apart on colonial-era homes. View the link above for examples.)

 

[Red-Coat]

Only you can know whether it's lead or not since we can't tell from the pictures. The use of lead for securing ironwork into masonry does however have a long history, as per the link below. I live in a house that dates from the 1820s, built on a private estate that dates to the late 1700s. There are some remnant pieces of masonry in the ground with lead in them that look like they once supported some iron railings or perhaps an ornamental gate.

https://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/lead-fixing-ironwork/lead-fixing-ironwork.htm

 

[PetesPockets55]

Only you can know whether it's lead or not since we can't tell from the pictures. The use of lead for securing ironwork into masonry does however have a long history, as per the link below. I live in a house that dates from the 1820s, built on a private estate that dates to the late 1700s. There are some remnant pieces of masonry in the ground with lead in them that look like they once supported some iron railings or perhaps an ornamental gate.

https://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/lead-fixing-ironwork/lead-fixing-ironwork.htm

Bingo. I think we have a winner. Excellent link and info. Thanks a million.
Thanks again to all for looking.

ps. I've added images to show where I made fresh scrapes into the lead. Adding these mainly as a means to practice my editing skills.

 

[invent4hir]

Excellent sleuthing

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Repair of a loose iron fence-post footing with lead? Before Sakrete lead was used as caulking.

https://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/lead-fixing-ironwork/lead-fixing-ironwork.htm


Oop - I see that was proposed earlier.

 

[PetesPockets55]

Thanks again, everyone. Really seems like that lead filler for railing seems probable.