Stone Spindle Whorl

A spindle whorl is a disk-shaped object with a hole in the centre, and it is used in the ancient art of making cloth.  It is a weighted object placed on a spindle to help maintain the spindle’s speed of rotation while spinning wool. The size of the whorl is directly proportional to the length of the spindle, and is of direct bearing on the type and weight of the material being spun, with heavier whorls being used for heavier threads, or even twine.

This Anglo-Saxon stone spindle whorl probably dates from the 10^th and 11^th centuries AD