• Date: Medieval
• Material: Stone
• Place Made/Found: In the core of the tower north wall

This sculpture of a male human head wearing a cowl or hood was found during wall consolidation in the tower. The underside has the remains of a channel which was probably intended to project water out of the mouth, suggesting this is a rainwater spout. There are other figurative stone carvings still in situ on the tower, but this head is much more crudely carved. It may have been discarded before ever being used.

• Date: Late medieval
• Type: Copper alloy, enamel
• Place Made/Found: Tower

This copper alloy heraldic mount with remains of blue enamel is particularly unusual as there is no means of attachment. It was probably attached to an item of furniture or a casket using a mounting strip. The design appears to be a generic coat of arms and purely decorative.

• Date: Late medieval
• Material: Stone
• Place Made/Found: Hall house kitchen

These two fragments of a heraldic panel feature three crosses pattée (crosses with arms that narrow at the centre), which originally had three boar heads below them. This is an otherwise unknown variation of the Swinburne coat of arms, which usually features three cinquefoils (five-petalled flowers) or three boar heads. It was probably made for Edlingham after the Swinburne family bought the castle in 1514. The Swinburne family used boar heads as a rebus – a visual punning device, referencing the family name.

• Date: 15th to 16th century
• Material: Copper alloy
• Place Made/Found: Hall house

This fragment of a cast copper-alloy spout with anthropomorphic design comes from a late medieval ewer, a large jug often used for wine. Similar designs featuring human or animal features were very common in the late medieval and early post-medieval period. As this spout was found among material from a collapsed post-medieval building, it is more likely to be 16th century in date.

• Date: c.1550–1650
• Material: Iron
• Place Made/Found: Hall house

This fragment of a cauldron, with an L-shaped handle and everted (outward-turned) rim, is late medieval in form. But the fact that it was made from cast iron rather than bronze makes it more likely to be later in date – probably the end of the 16th or early 17th century. It would have been used for boiling water and cooking in the hall house kitchen.

• Date: 1550–1650
• Material: Glass
• Place Made/Found: Tower forebuilding

This glass fragment comes from the rim of a tapering beaker, and has a decorative rod applied to it running round the circumference of the beaker. Glass tableware was still a relatively high-status commodity in the 16th century, although less so than during the medieval period. This beaker is likely to have been used for drinking beer.

• Date: 1550–1630
• Material: Copper alloy
• Place Made/Found: Hall house fireplace

This complete copper-alloy spoon was found in the hearth of a fireplace in the hall house. At the end of the handle is a flat circular finial known as a seal top, and the underside of the spoon is marked with the maker’s initials, RB. This type of spoon was fashionable from the late 16th century until around 1630.

• Date: Late 16th century
• Material: Iron
• Place Made/Found: Ditch by the east gate

These iron pincers have unusually decorative handles, with each panel featuring zigzag decoration. They were probably used for cutting but could have had a range of uses including metal working, carpentry or even food preparation.

• Date: c.1600
• Material: Plaster
• Place Made/Found: Tower forebuilding

This plaster moulding of a crowned human face would have formed part of an elaborate ceiling or frieze in the refurbished hall house. Other plaster fragments in the collection show that the ceiling design included animals, birds and stylised foliage. The mould used to create this appliqué face was also used at Brough House in Catterick and Ripley Castle in Harrogate, confirming that the Edlingham ceiling was made by the same group of Yorkshire plasterers.

• Date: Early 17th century
• Material: Bone
• Place Made/Found: Hall house

This small, double-edged comb, made of polished bone, was found in the hall house among collapsed masonry. In the late medieval and early post-medieval period, combs were considered prized objects and often given as tokens of affection. This one probably belonged to one of the last occupants of the hall house in the first half of the 17th century.

• Date: 1600–50
• Material: Copper alloy, iron
• Place Made/Found: Clay floor of the tower forebuilding

This is one half of a copper-alloy mould that would have been used for casting 17mm musket balls. While soldiers in the 17th century regularly cast their own ammunition, evidence for shooting at Edlingham is more likely to be associated with hunting than with combat.