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This is a long metal thatching needle with a point and eye at one end a loop handle. Tarred cord is threaded through the eye, and the needle pushed through the thatch into the roof space. The cord is then passed around a rafter, re-threaded in the needle by a helper, withdrawn by the thatcher, and then secured to a hazel rod. This needle was found at some cottages in Little Assendon, Oxfordshire, when they were being renovated in the 1990s.

1 thatcher's needle: metal; good condition though slightly bent