Link to photo's and details:
Medieval armour or something else?
As a young boy, I was helping with the restoration of a chapel spire. Whilst clearing up centuries of ‘junk’ I found an interesting piece of leather work, and was so intrigued by it, I was allowed to keep it as a souvenir.
In brief, this piece of leather work is a very thick reinforced dome (approx 4 inches in diameter). It has fastenings protruding from it, one with a buckle, one just a thick leather lace. The upper face of the dome has obvious wear marks, and has clearly been used as a form of protection.
I recently saw a documentary that mentioned that in medieval times, armour was often stored in church spires. This lead me to think that my object may be a piece of under-armour, and from the shape of it, the only place I can think it would fit would be on the shoulder.
I was hoping that you may be able to offer a more knowledgeable opinion, and I note that your article states that no known examples of spaulders survive – if my description raises your interest, I would be glad to send you detailed photographs to help identification.
First of all, your first paragraph reads like the introduction to a ghost story. I don't believe in ghosts any more than M. R. James did, but I mean, you might have a latent ability worth exploring.
Second, I'm going to go with the kneepad theory. Specifically, the left.
The thing is large enough to protect the patella, but small enough to be convenient. You'll notice that the inner lining is most worn on the right side, which you would expect from a left kneepad.
The most persuasive detail? The condition of the upper fastening. Imagine yourself strapping this pad onto your left knee. You hold the buckle in your right hand--keeping the strap tight as your left hand brings the free end beneath your leg. You manage to buckle the thing onto your thigh like a belt. Pulling it tight, the buckle winds up somewhere behind your knee; the rippled section show us where the strap was scrunched up when you knelt.
The bottom fastening is an irritating afterthought: in your haste, you snap the lace. But it's a quick fix, relatively speaking, and then you're off to the races. Or the barn. Probably the barn.
How did I do?
EDIT: On further review, I believe it is equally possible that you have uncovered a right knee pad. Either way, I would just leave it where you found it.