66/340/1

A straight, flat, iron thatching needle with an eye at one end. It belonged to a thatcher in Yarcombe, Devon. A thatching needle is used to secure the bunches of straw to the roof and to each other with twine (tarred to keep the mice away).

1 needle; metal [iron]; good condition

MERL Miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 5 March 2014 – The Burne-Jones collection of thatching and other tools was put together by the donor while living in Membury, Devon, some time prior to 1966. She had planned to open a private museum. The tools came from the workshop of Mr Spiller, a thatcher from Yarcombe, Devon, and were in regular use until his death in 1962. He had thatched in the area his whole life, and his widow passed on his tools. By 1966 the donor had moved to Oxfordshire and no longer had room for the Collection so donated it to MERL., MERL ‘Handwritten catalogue’ – ‘NEEDLE (THATCHERS) // 66/340/1–2 // CRAFTS Straw thatch // ... // Belonged to Mr Spiller, Yarcombe, Devon who died about 1962 while still working as a thatcher. // [pencil drawing] // Both made of iron.’