Another major location for seal finds are routeways, along which a traveller may have mislaid his seal when sleeping rough or if waylaid by robbers. A fine example is the bronze seal of Walter Wynter, archdeacon of Carmarthen about 1330, found in Glamorgan in1991 (Fig. 14.16), in the vicinity of Castell Coch, Aberthin, and not very far north of the medieval Portway, now followed in large measure by the A48 road.²⁵ The imagery is what we might expect of an archdeacon’s seal: St Stephen, the first deacon, holding in his right hand three stones, reminding us of the manner of his martyrdom, and robed in a dalmatic – which later became a deacon’s formal wear. The legend, in Lombardic Capital script, reads:

S’ WALT’ WYNT’ A R C HID DE KERMDYN

Three years ago, a lead matrix, as to be expected finely preserved with remnant of the attachment loop (Fig. 14.17), was unearthed by metal detector in Monmouthshire close to an ancient ridgeway leading from Llangybi to Llanhenwg.²⁶ Bearing a fine stylised fleur de lis, very popular at the time, and dating perhaps from the late-thirteenth century, it is the seal of Tudor, the son of Ithel: two good Welsh names, but Tudor as a Christian name was far from common in the Gwent of those days; that, together with its almost roadside position, suggests that Tudor was on a journey, from further north in Wales, when for some reason he mislaid his seal. There was and is a lot of woodland close by; could robbers have been lying in wait for passers by, sprung out and robbed Tudur of his cash and his seal?²⁷ The legend, given in Lombardic Capitals, reads: S’ TVDER AB IThAEL

Another location where seals have been found is on, or close to the site, of a religious house – like the papal seals mentioned earlier. About 1807, there was found close to the site of Strata Florida abbey the fine silver seal of one of its fifteenth century abbots (Fig. 14.18).²⁸ When he passed away, his name was obliterated either so that the seal could not be used unlawfully, or to keep costs down by allowing his successor also to use it. It is again a typical abbatial seal of the period, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary with the cowled abbot in prayer in the base and clutching his pastoral staff. In black letter script, the legend reads:

Sigill’. ……… abb’is de strata florida

A find of great importance was made 3 years ago by metal detector on the very site of a small Cistercian nunnery, at Llanllŷr, off the road between Aberystwyth and and Lampeter (Fig. 14.19). The matrix is of weathered copper alloy, and so the legend is very corroded. The seal is that of a religious superior, with a book, presumably for the Rule of St Benedict held with the left hand, and the faint outline of the pastoral staff held by the right hand. Despite the absence of a wimple, it is very probably it is a seal of an abbess of the house – perhaps of the early fifteenth century.²⁹