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Found at Torpoint .. An inner disc from a four-disc armorial seal -  "crown over triple rose, flowering plant motifs to sides ....... A series of these seals, with inner discs c.40mm or just under in diameter, which are integrally cast with the devices (one with the arms of the realm and the other with a large, crowned rose), was in use from the reign of Elizabeth I to that of George I. The inner discs occasionally retain traces of gilding, which may well have originally been present on all these seals. The precise function of this series of large, well-produced seals, presumably issued as part of the Alnage system, and its relation to the much commoner, smaller four-disc series remain enigmatic."

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The Flax Mill in Crediton, Devon  by Michael Patrick A promising location of a new flax seal site for someone to uncover

Crediton in Devon has a long history of the manufacture of woollen cloth. What is less-known is that in the early nineteenth century a factory was developed for the manufacture of flax yarn.  John Cadlick Davy was a successful Devon clothier who had a serge manufactory at Crediton.  Following his death in 1783, a partnership was formed between two of his older sons, William and Samuel who carried on business under as, by mutual consent dissolved on the 24th Day of June 1795, after which date the business was carried on by Samuel Davy and Isaac Davy, under, the same Firm of J.C. Davy and Sons, on their sole Account. The eldest son, William Davy, had married Susanna Broom, in 1780, and fathered several children before moving to the U.S.A. He arrived, with his family, in Philadelphia and was naturalized in 1796. He became a merchant in Philadelphia, where he remained until about 1812. In 1807, he was appointed Principal Agent of the Indian Department in the Jefferson government. Later, in 1816, he was appointed Consul of the U.S.A. in Leeds, England, where he stayed until his death in 1827. On a June day at the end of 1805, between two and three o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out at Messrs Davy and Co.'s woollen manufactory, at Fordton, near Crediton, which burnt with great fury for two hours, and entirely consumed the machinery and mills .. Interestingly, Samuel Davy became a Director of the West of England Fire Insurance Company in December 1807 By 1811 a guide to Devon announced that, At Fordton, near Crediton, a considerable woollen factory has been converted into a mill for spinning flax, where this process is carried on in a very extensive and complete manner; and some of the thread is made into linen cloth, and bleached at the same place A decade later, the Lysons wrote that At Fordton, near Crediton, in the extensive buildings formerly occupied by the woollen manufacture of Messrs. Davy, dowlas, and other coarse linens, are now made.         click on a thumb nail.

Extract from 1839 tithe-map of Crediton, showing “Four Mills”.   Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 01 July 1805 .   Exeter Flying Post - Thursday 17 December 1807.    A chorographical description or survey of the county of Devon. By Tristram Risdon, (revised edition) 1811.   Magna Britannia: volume 6: Devonshire, Authors Daniel and Samuel Lysons, 1822

The location of the factory can be seen on the above 1839 Tithe Map of Crediton, but by the time of the Ordnance Survey map of 1890-1891, the factory has been demolished and is shown as the “Four-Mills (ruins).” Four Mills had been the name of the original mill used for fulling serge (a pair of “twin” fulling stocks). O.S. Map of 1890-91 (1:2500) It is known that in the early part of the 19th century, the adjacent port of Topsham, 12 miles away, received a number of shipments each year of naval stores from the Baltic (hemp, flax, pitch, tar and tallow). Hemp was used in the rope manufactory at Topsham and although a little flax was grown in East Devon, it is quite possible that some of this imported flax was used to make sail-cloth at Crediton. . A challenge remains for Devon metal-detectorists. Are there unexplored fields near Crediton which may be hiding Lead Flax Seals from the Baltic? Some Hemp seals have been found at Topsham not far from the old Rope-Walk.

 

   About PeaceHavens - This database is an ongoing project involving the daily finding and identification of Russian Lead Flax Bale Seals from the old disused 18th/19th century Flax Mills of the Industrial Revolution in the UK.    For many decades in the 18th & 19th centuries, Russia was by far the world's greatest exporter of these flax stems via Archangel, Konigsberg, Kronstadt, Libnau, Memel, Narva, Pernau, Revel, Riga, St Petersburg, Tilsit, Windau and Great Britain was Russia's major customer. Every bale of flax stems was fastened together with a lead seal by a quality control inspector. The discarded stems of the flax with seals still attached were prized as fertilizer by local farmers and were spread onto the land mixed with night soil manure.

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