Saxon Loom Weight

In Saxon England, women in nearly all households would have done weaving to produce cloths, as most households would have owned sheep, so would have had easy access to the wool needed to make thread.

Due to the fact that the clothes worn by the Saxons were mainly made out of either leather or cloth, weaving would have been an important part of day to day life. However before weaving could begin, the wool would need to be spun into thread using something known as a 'drop Spindle'; the wool would be wrapped around the spindle and then spun quickly, with the drop spindle hanging in the air, twisting the wool into threads.

The weaving and sewing of cloths would have required some skill, with weavers having to ensure that the threads were tightly woven together, as otherwise it would lead to holes in the cloth. Some women would have specialised in this line of work, weaving and sewing extra amounts of cloth (which could then either be sold on as either as cloth to make other commodities such as tapestries, although it was only the wealthy who could afford something such as this), or as readymade clothes, such as tunics, meaning that the production of looms and loom weights, along with the production of cloths would have formed a sort of industry in Saxon England.

This particular loom weight was found on Chapel street, the next street down from the Novium heading towards Chichester cross, part of the Chichester's North West Quadrant. During Saxon times this area had a fairly high number of people living in there, and it was during this period of Chichester's history from which the origins of Chichester's name comes; 'Cissa's Ceaster', meaning 'Cissa's city' (Cissa was a son of Ælle, the first Saxon King of Sussex).