Inscribed Slate Fragment, Battle Abbey

Excavated objects often show signs of reuse, and this slate fragment, found in the north of reredorter, is one such example. One side is engraved with stave lines for musical notation, almost certainly for use in teaching music.

After a breakage the slate was turned over and reused to record accounts – the medieval equivalent of making notes on the back of an envelope. The scratched inscription includes payments for repair of a pair of boots, ink, and ‘repair of King William’s table’. The word ‘table’ here is probably an abbreviation of ‘retable’ and refers to a painting of William I.