Unlocking the Love-Lock: The History and Heritage of a Contemporary Custom

Ceri Houlbrook examines love-locking, the contemporary custom of engraving padlocks with names before attaching them to bridges and other public structures as declarations of romantic commitment. The practice became widely popular in the 2000s, spreading rapidly from sites such as Paris and Rome to cities including New York, Seoul, Melbourne and Moscow.

The book considers love-locks as objects of folklore and material culture, asking how popular culture helped shape the custom and what its deposits communicate. A detailed case study of the love-lock assemblage on Oxford Road Bridge in Manchester is joined by interviews with participants, analysis of symbolism, and discussion of commercialisation, public controversy and the difficulties of treating recent customs as heritage.