A SUCCESSFUL public appeal held last November means Tiverton Museum has purchased a collection of lead cloth seals.

The museum said it received a really positive response, and the funds raised the £310 needed for the collection of 22 lead cloth seals.

The seals feature a range of Tiverton merchants’ names and marks.

Pippa Griffith, museum director, said: “We want to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this appeal which enabled us to respond to this rare chance and purchase the cloth seals.

“They were sold to us by a metal detectorist from Holland who found them, and he added a 23rd seal in for good measure.

“We have put the seals on display in our entrance area for the time being, so anyone coming into the museum and tourist information service can see them.”

Small lead cloth seals have been found by metal detectorists in Germany and Holland, often featuring the names of Tiverton merchants.

From the late 17 century through most of the 18 century, there was a large export trade in serges from Topsham to Rotterdam or Amsterdam.

The seals were attached to bolts of cloth and often discarded when all the lengths of cloth were sold.

They are not often found in this country, but usually at market sites on the continent where Tiverton’s cloth was sold.

The seals in the museum’s collection date between the late 17th century and the late 18th century.

The merchants represented in the collection include Samuel Foote whose business was taken over by his son-in-law Robert Burridge, after Samuel’s death in 1691, and then by his grandson Samuel Burridge (who is also represented in the collection).

There are seals from other wellknown Tiverton merchants including: - The Lewis family who built a grand house on Fore Street after the fire of 1731.

- Oliver Peard who lived where Boots the Chemist is today who was very wealthy, but killed himself with a blunderbuss in 1764.

- Benjamin Dickinson, Peard’s nephew, who eventually took over his business.

He also rebuilt his uncle’s house on Fore Street to become a mansion.

To improve the view from his new house, Dickinson ordered the removal of the Market Cross which had stood at the centre of the street. In the same year, 1787, work was completed on his new country mansion at Knightshayes (which was rebuilt by John Heathcoat’s grandson).

In all, 19 of the seals feature Tiverton merchants and three of Exeter merchants.

A very unusual seal is of John of Uffculme. Research is ongoing to identify this merchant