Stone in Archaeology Database


Honiton Scythe Stone

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Usage

General Comments:

This stone was primarily used for the manufacture of whetstones, these were stones used for sharpening the edges of implements, such as scythes and sickles etc. The ones made at Blackborough were more or less rectangular in shape with bevelled corners and tapered at the ends, and approximately 31x4x3cm (Moore: 1978: 62). A scythe needed constant sharpening, perhaps every quarter of an hour or so, hence a farm labourer could use two or three whetstones a day during harvest time as they often broke (Rugg 1999). Most of the newly formed stones were taken to the ports of Topsham and Bridgewater to be shipped to London, the Midlands and south coast ports. Some even found their way as far afield as South Africa and Australia (ibid.).

Known Usage:

None Recorded