Iron Anvil Found buried in field near river in UK If anyone recognised it I would be thrilled.

[Emma]

Ancient Anvil? found buried in field near river in UK. IRON. If anyone recognised it I would be thrilled. There was a lot of something (like red oxide- not rust) stuck to it.

 

 

 

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning,

It looks like the ends of a strap that would have gone around a large container or Barrel.

Enjoy the Journey!!

Neil

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

I’m gonna have to agree with swedefiddle, that looks like a heavy duty bolt going through some kind of strapping 

[George N. M.]

It does not appear to be an anvil to me.  It looks like 2 brackets of some sort connected by a large bolt or rivet.  I would guess some sort of 19th century industrial application, railroad, bridge, steam engine, industrial machinery, structural iron work, etc..  It very well may be wrought iron but you would have to get through the oxidation down to clean metal to tell.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[ThomasPowers]

Looks like it was fullered on the surfaces to make it hold better if mortared into masonry; was there a dock or lock anywhere near?

Another: not an anvil.  Also the use of the bolt indicates it's not ancient, only a couple of centuries at most!

[caotropheus]

The experts have spoken, not an anvil.

If you want to see what it is and preserve as much original material as possible, clean it with a cleaning brush under running water to loose soil and loose particles and them clean it with electrolysis. There are hundreds of videos on Youtube on how to make electrolysis to clean iron materials. Then take few pictures of before and after and show us. 

Good luck

[caotropheus]

I almost forgot. After electrolysis, you can easily see if those pieces are wrought iron and wrought iron chunks that size have good value for blacksmithing.