11th century AD. A bronze stirrup mount of Williams's Class A Type 1 with trapezoidal plaque and narrow ledge to the rear; incised geometric design following the outline of the mount with symmetrical panels; to the neck five vertical lines, perhaps pseudo-runes. Cf. Williams, D. Late Saxon Stirrup-Strap Mounts, York, 1997, item 51 for type; Page, R.I. Runes, London, 1987. 20 grams, 50mm (2"). Property of a gentleman; acquired in the 1970s. The markings on the neck appear to conform to the shapes of four runes, being inverted chevrons to the edges (runic 'U'), a character of two verticals and a sloping cross-bar (runic 'H'), and a simple vertical stroke (runic 'I'"). However, the outer chevrons are formed as the junction of the inner border with a vertical while the cross-bar appears to be a later abrasion. The form of 'H' with a single cross-bar is very early (2nd -5th century AD) and is almost unknown in England, while by the 8th century this form had been replaced in Scandinavia by a rune formed as a vertical with a small saltire to the centre (like an asterisk"). It is nevertheless possible that these marks were intended as a form of pseudo-runic text.