File:Seal impression (FindID 874200).jpg

English: A cast lead flat stamp seal matrix dating from the Medieval period, 29.8 mm long, 17.5 mm wide, 5 mm thick and 8.8 g in weight. A personal seal, originally a pointed oval or vesica shape in plan, engraved with a large-eyed animal running left, probably a lion passant as it has a long, slender tail, surrounded by an inscription of the owner's name above and below:

lower line: S.WILLI. (seal of William)

upper line OSRU..EF (surname)

Both ends are damaged where there would have been a cross at the start of the inscription. On the otherwise flat reverse side is a moulded ridge, 2 mm wide and now 1.5 mm high but worn, which runs centrally along the length of the matrix to the damaged end which would have expanded into a suspension loop, now missing. The size and shape of the matrix suggests a date of late thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries (New, 2010, p.103) Animal motifs were also common at this time (Ibid. p.106).

Harvey & McGuinness (1996) illustrate a similar vesical-shaped personal seal with a stag's head on p.86, fig.79 which dates from the mid thirteenth century.