Researchers Crack 400-Year-Old Elizabethan Padlock Using Micro-CT Scans
Researchers in Wales have unlocked a 400-year-old Elizabethan padlock using micro-CT scanning technology, revealing the secret four-letter code A-N-C-E from a sunken merchant shipwreck.
In December 1583, the English merchant ship Anne Francis was caught in a violent storm off the southern coast of Wales, resulting in the tragic loss of all fourteen crew members. The shipwreck sparked local panic, leading superstitious residents to accuse a woman named Mother Gabley of witchcraft and summoning the deadly weather. While the vessel vanished from historical records for centuries, metal detectorist Peter Hughes discovered the first buried remains in the sands of Margam Beach in 1998. Over two decades of excavations subsequently yielded more than 800 gold and silver coins from Germany, Spain, and Portugal, alongside navigational equipment.
Among the recovered artifacts was a remarkably preserved sixteenth-century brass combination padlock, locked tight and concealing a four-letter code that remained a mystery for over four centuries. To avoid damaging the irreplaceable historical mechanism through physical trial and error, researchers at Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales turned to advanced medical technology. Using high-resolution micro-computed tomography, the team generated a microscopic three-dimensional model of the internal components, revealing the exact alignment of the code wheels and the secret combination: A-N-C-E.
While micro-CT scans are typically utilized in hospitals for medical diagnostics, applying the technology at a microscopic scale allowed researchers to penetrate the dense brass casing without moving a single internal pin. By analyzing the density differences between the springs and internal gears, the digital reconstruction enabled scientists to read the hidden combination directly. Despite solving the mechanical riddle, the discovery has sparked a fresh historical debate regarding the exact meaning of the word ANCE, with experts currently examining sixteenth-century merchant logs to determine whether the code refers to the captain, the ship, or a forgotten Elizabethan trade password.
