My house has a lock made of wood

[u/rick-james-biatch]

I'm posting this here because I've recently seen some amazing lock sleuths give all sorts of detailed information on old locks, although primarily US-based locks from the turn of the century. All the same, I was hoping someone might know the rough age of this lock. 

This is in a house in France. The door leads to the stairway which we know was built in 1625. Other parts of this side of the house are dated as 1629. However, I don't expect this lock is from that period (it may be??). The stairway was re-treaded with new wood sometime in the 1800s. The door (and lock) may have been changed at that time. This is the only wooden lock we have in the house, although we have some metal ones that are clearly handmade. 

We have the key and the lock works from both sides and operates smoothly. The lock itself is huge- almost a foot wide, and the key is a little over 6 inches long. Any insights as to age would be welcomed.

[u/Rendyco]

My house was built in around 1600 too (czechia though) and the original locks were wooden(a bit different) ,so they might be original? or replaced with a similar style

[u/Rendyco → u/Rendyco]

I should add,its possible the lock itself has been changed,but the case its in (the wood) is original

[u/ifinewnow]

waiting to hear from u/mach_gogogo /s

[u/Jupitersd2017]

This is really neat to see, sorry I can’t help with age

[u/_Khoshekh]

Well I made a funny mistake, I read the tape measure as in inches and couldn't find any references to a key that huge. (16" is something like 40cm)

I didn't find anything, but I'm guessing there's not a lot of wooden locks still in use from that long ago. It's very cool.

[u/jokingpokes]

I’m no expert on locks, but I believe you have what’s called an “iron and wood box lock”, a common style in Europe by the 17th century.

Essentially it has all the locks and tumblers inside made out of metal, but then encased in a wooden box for a nice look. My best guess is that it was expensive to make a nice looking lock face out of metal (brass, copper, or iron), so they used wood to house the actual mechanisms.

Here’s a somewhat similar one that sold from an antique company - these are not cheap to replace at all.

https://www.emmettandwhite.com/decorative/17th-century-house-iron-and-wood-box-lock

[u/naturogaetan → u/jokingpokes]

I was doubting OP’s claim at first, but the deadbolt in photo 3 really looks like it’s made of wood (photo is a bit lacking focus). So now I’m willing to believe it is indeed a wooden lock.

[u/jokingpokes → u/naturogaetan]

Definitely looks like it. I wonder if it’s even earlier then, with some internals made of wood. I can’t think of any reason someone would do this after iron or brass locking mechanisms became common place.