Britain's Secret Treasures

by Mary-Ann Ochota

  Copyright © 2013 ITV Studios Limited

  The right of Mary-Ann Ochota to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  First published in 2013

  by HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  Every effort has been made to fulfil requirements with regard to reproducing copyright material. The author and publisher will be glad to rectify any omissions at the earliest opportunity. Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978 0 7553 6573 9

  Editors for ITV: Ed Taylor, Michael Kelpie

  Editors for the British Museum: Michael Lewis, Ian Richardson

  Researcher: Kate Jarvis

  An Hachette UK Company

  338 Euston Road

  London NW1 3BH

  www.headline.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  Britain’s Secret Treasures first transmitted in the UK in July 2012. The six-part series was devised by Ed Taylor & Michael Kelpie and commissioned by Katy Thorogood for ITV Network.

  The series told the stories of members of the public who had discovered extraordinary artefacts as they dug in their gardens, walked in fields and strolled along beaches – sometimes literally stumbling on lost treasures that had lain undetected for many years.

  It is testament to the boundless dedication of the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, under the leadership of Roger Bland, his team, and their nationwide network of Finds Liaison Officers that the histories of these amazing artefacts, and the people who found them, have become part of the ITV series and ultimately now form the heart of this book.

  The new series of Britain’s Secret Treasures returns to ITV in the Autumn 2013.

  Front cover/spine photographs © Stuart Laidlaw Institute of Archaeology, UCL.

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Book

  Timeline

  Introduction

  East

  South East

  South West, Wales and Borders

  Central and South

  North West

  North East

  Scotland and Northern Ireland

  Get Involved

  Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting

  The Treasure Act 1996

  Further Reading

  Picture Credits

  Acknowledgements

  For hundreds of thousands of years our ancestors have walked these isles burying, dropping and throwing away their belongings, and now these treaures lie waiting for us, keeping their secrets until we uncover them once more.

  Every year, hundreds of vaulable artefacts are discovered by ordinary members of the British public. Here in Britain’s Secret Treasures, which accompanies the ITV series, the British Museum chooses eighty of the most fascinating finds ever reported and Mary-Ann Ochota shares with us the moving histories that bring each piece to life. There is also a detailed chapter showing you how you can get involved in archaeology too.

  From hoards of Roman gold and Bronze Age drinking vessels to tiny Viking spindle whorls and weapons from dozens of wars, all manner of treausres are described here. Some help prove that our ancestors were alive over half a million years ago, some saw their modern-day finders receive a generous reward, all provide an insight into the wodnerful, dynamic, colourful history of our nation.

  Note on Dating:

  The most common dating system in Britain is to use BC (‘Before Christ’) for years before the year of Christ’s birth (AD 1), and AD (Anno Domini, meaning ‘the year of our Lord’ in Latin) for years after. BC normally comes after the year (eg 55BC), and AD usually comes before the year (AD1066). Here we have opted to put both BC and AD after the year, an increasingly common usage. A form of dating you might see in other books is CE/BCE – the ‘Year of Our Lord’ has been replaced with the non-religious ‘Common Era’/‘Before the Common Era’. CE starts at the year 1 as well and is exactly equivalent to AD; BCE is equivalent to BC.

  Introduction

  The treasures in this book span 500,000 years of life in Britain, and they were all discovered by members of the public. Some treasures were found by chance when people were going about their everyday lives, walking the dog, digging the garden, on a school trip, farming, or doing building work. Other treasures were found by people intentionally searching using metal detectors, hoping there might be something there, waiting to be discovered.

  However you make a find, it comes with an electrifying sense of discovery – knowing that the last person to touch this unique object was a stranger from a distant generation. The find might have come from a small, personal moment of fear or triumph, or be part of a grand account of kings and queens. The shiny golden treasure hoards that grab the news and make the finders millionaires are few and far between – most searchers only ever find ordinary things that belonged to ordinary people – but even when an item is financially worthless, it can still have an incredible power to reach through time and connect you to a person from the past. The promise of that magical connection is addictive. It’s what gets many metal detectorists and other searchers out in the cold and rain every weekend.

  The excitement of making a discovery comes with the responsibility to share that find – to make sure each crucial piece of our past is recorded and preserved for future generations.

  In England and Wales all finds should be recorded through the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which is managed (in England) by the British Museum and (in Wales) through the National Museums Wales. Locally based archaeologists, known as Finds Liaison Officers, undertake the work of logging and recording these finds. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems they use for recording archaeological objects (see here for more details).

  When a Finds Liaison Officer or curator gets a call or email bringing them the first glimpse of an artefact for assessment, they too share the thrill of discovery. It’s their job to establish just how important a find is, and what its discovery might mean for our understanding of the past. Working together, amateurs and professionals unearth, record and preserve the finds that tell our history.

  We throng to see these objects, to learn about them and the contexts they came from, to discover what that can tell us about our ancestors’ lives.

  Museum curators understand the power of objects, and many have finds-handling sessions where you can handle precious, ancient and intriguing objects from their collections. The power of touching objects is so potent that researchers are now even bringing heritage artefacts into hospitals and care homes.

  Touching and handling can damage artefacts – the oils from our skin, our breath, and exposing the artefact to a non-controlled climate can all take their toll – but although much of our past is fragile, it shouldn’t be shut away. Conservators, fundraisers and educators ensure that these treasures are preserved for future research and enjoyment, and that our heritage is protected.

  To select just a few dozen artefacts from the 900,000 finds that have been discovered, investigated and logged on the national Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) database (see here), as well as finds of significance from Scotland and Northern Ireland, was an astonishingly difficult job. A team of experts shortlisted finds that were of national importance (like the Vale of York Viking Hoard), had deep cultural significance (like the Roman Slave
Shackle), were considered to be exquisitely beautiful (like the Leopard Cup), and some that had a weird or wonderful find story.

  These secret treasures invite us to explore the personal worlds of our ancestors: their homes and families, their passions, fears and beliefs. The incredible stories of how these objects were made, handled, cherished and discarded are ours to enjoy. The ITV show Britain’s Secret Treasures – a collaboration with the British Museum and now into its second series – immediately fired the interest of the wider public, and got them sending in pictures of their own previously unrecorded finds, visiting local museums, and exploring the PAS database online. This book presents the stories behind just eighty of Britain’s secret treasures. Each one invites us into an intriguing past and, above all, these treasures demonstrate how important ordinary people are in the quest to secure our national heritage.

  EAST

  MOSTLY LOW-LYING and sometimes overlooked, the large, fertile areas of the East Midlands and East Anglia are tucked between damp fenland and rolling hills. Some people who live in the coastal areas of this region are struggling to stop their homes and communities being claimed by the sea. But in the process of erosion, this dynamic coastline is giving up secrets from its extremely ancient past – including the very earliest evidence for human habitation in Britain. The Happisburgh Handaxe is a stone tool more than half a million years old. It comes from a time when mainland Britain was attached to continental Europe and our early ancestors could walk from Amsterdam to Norwich without getting their feet wet.

  It’s difficult to grasp just how old this tool is, or how important in the great scheme of human achievement. Similar to the moments when we first controlled fire, when we first cooked food, when we first made marks on the rock walls of cave shelters – this flint tool marks a step-change. All the treasures in this book build on that simple flint tool. Putting a man on the moon, modelling quantum physics or finding a cure for cancer are simply further along the ladder of human problem-solving.

  In the much more recent past, people continued to be drawn to the sea and the fertile lands of the East. People made, traded and used items like the Sedgeford Torc, the Syston Knife Handle, and the Billingford Amulet in Iron Age and Roman times. When the Romans left, the Angles arrived, from modern-day Denmark and Germany, establishing their eastern Kingdom, East Anglia, which was later divided into the North Folk and the South Folk (Norfolk and Suffolk).

  Hundreds of years later the next inevitable wave of foreign invaders and settlers arrived – the Vikings – and they brought with them a rich heritage that still exists in the place names and family names of many people in the East, as well as in everyday treasures like the Saltfleetby Spindle Whorl. Ancient centres of power across the region include Lincoln, Ely and Norwich, and you can experience the wealth and power of this area by exploring the historic houses, castles and monuments that have been preserved. In some parts, a sense of isolation lingers. But elsewhere, new communities of incomers are once again influencing the culture and ethnic make-up of the East. It’s not a new trend – it’s one with a most ancient pedigree.

  Spanish-American Gold Doubloons

  Treasure Trove in a Lincolnshire hedgerow

  Date: 1790–1801, Post Medieval

  Where, when and how found: South East Lincolnshire; 1928, 2010 & 2011; farm work & metal detecting

  Finders: Father and son, Fredrick and John Kingswood (1928); sister and brother, Sue Green and David Wilkinson (2010 & 2011)

  Official valuation: £6,650

  Where are they now? Collection Museum, Lincoln

  www.thecollectionmuseum.com

  Sue Green and her brother Dave Wilkinson often metal detect together. They’re both members of the Lincoln Historic Search Society, and have found their share of the usual detecting finds from Lincolnshire – Roman brooches and coins, medieval metal work as well as Victorian and modern items.

  Just like many new detectorists, it took Sue a while to get permission to practise her hobby on a promising piece of land. But in 2010, with a year’s experience under her belt, she invested in a new machine and got permission for a new piece of land. After a couple of hours’ searching, she hit a strong signal which looked like it had come from a jam-jar lid in the ground. As she lifted the item she realised it was a big, fat, gold coin. And it wasn’t alone – together with her brother, she got the signals for five more big, fat, gold coins. Sue took them home and alerted her local Finds Liaison Officer (FLO), Adam Daubney, who recorded the discovery and reported it to the coroner.

  The coins

  The gold pieces Sue found are all 8-escudos coins, minted between 1790 to 1801, from across what was then the Spanish-controlled New World, in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Bolivia. They’re 37mm in diameter, 24.5g each, and made from 88% gold. The name ‘Doubloon’ was originally only used for 2-escudos coins, but grew to encompass all denominations of escudos – ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8. The term ‘Pieces of Eight’ was never used for 8-escudos coins, but for silver coins worth 8-reales.

  The escudos have a profile of Charles IV of Spain on the front (obverse) and the Spanish royal coat of arms on the reverse, along with the mint mark, assayer’s initials, and the inscription, AUSPICE.DEO IN UTRO Q.FELIX. which means ‘Under God’s Will we will prosper’.

  The escudos were struck in Spanish-controlled areas and were used for bullion and coinage, circulating around the world. During the decades of European war following the French Revolution in 1789, and throughout the Napoleonic Wars of 1803–1815, gold coinage was hoarded in Britain and across Europe. Coin hoards are rarely found from the period between the end of the English Civil War (which ended in 1651) and the 1790s, but in the years around 1800 coin hoards, particularly of gold, rapidly increase in frequency. It fits with the pattern archaeologists see of hoarding increasing at times of social and military unrest.

  The burial

  Sue’s pet theory is that a pirate might have dropped his golden loot whilst riding along a nearby bridleway. It’s possible that she’s right, there’s no way to know. Another theory comes from documentary research conducted by the landowner and Adam, the FLO. The landowner has studied the land deeds and indentures of the parish fields around the hoard find site, and identified the likely owner at the time of deposition as Lord Robert Hobart. Lord Robert was 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire and Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between 1801 and 1804 – which makes him very likely to have had significant access to these precious gold coins. Perhaps he gave the doubloons to an employee or relative as a gift or payment. Perhaps they were buried on Lord Robert’s behalf, and there’s even a slim chance that he buried them himself.

  Some people intrigued by this treasure mystery have noted that Lord Robert died falling from his horse in February 1816. It’s no more than speculation, but maybe his tragic early death is the reason the hoard was never recovered.

  A village farce

  Initially it was thought that Sue’s mini hoard of six coins was unique. But research revealed that there had been a previous discovery of ‘Spanish gold coins’ in the same field in 1928. A father and son labouring team, Fred and John Kingswood, had been digging in the field and found 18 gold coins. They took them to the local pub to show their friends and tried to discover if they were of value. They didn’t find out what they were but in the excitement of the following days, the landowner, Mr Frank Waterhouse, heard about the coins and engaged a private detective to get them back. Meanwhile, the village baker took one of the coins to test it with acid, another got ‘lost’, and a few were taken to a local fair. One of Fred’s friends wanted to hang one from his watch chain, but Fred refused to sell.

  The landowner, Mr Waterhouse, eventually visited the Kingswoods’ house and ‘bluffed’ John into giving up some of the coins. But the Kingswoods didn’t reveal the full number that they’d found, and Fred and John decided to rebury the coins under their own apple tree. They resolved that they’d only give them up to a police officer. But Mr Waterhouse’s pr
ivate detective discovered the plot, confronted the Kingswoods and the coins were eventually recovered. The whole hoard was ultimately claimed by the Crown under the old law of Treasure Trove, and the coins were valued at £3 6s each, a hefty sum in 1928.

  More than a year and a half after their 2010 discovery, Sue and David returned to the field and discovered two more coins, which were perhaps dislodged by a new round of deep ploughing. In total, 26 escudos have come out of the field. Thorough subsequent searches have revealed nothing more – the whole hoard has at last been recovered – but the real mystery of the Lincoln doubloons may never be solved.

  “Initially it was thought that Sue’s mini hoard of six coins was unique. But research revealed that there had been a previous discovery of ‘Spanish gold coins’ in the same field in 1928”

  See also:

  Hackney WWII Hoard

  Frome Hoard

  Carlton Knight

  A bronze horseman found in a garden

  Date: 1150–1250, Medieval

  Where, when and how found: Carlton in Lindrick, Nottinghamshire; 2004; metal detecting in a back garden

  Finder: Anonymous

  Where is it now? Bassetlaw Museum, Retford, Nottinghamshire

  www.bassetlawmuseum.org.uk

  This finder had been metal detecting for twenty years when he was asked to look for a lost ring in a back garden. Instead, he found this 5cm-high solid bronze figurine of a knight on horseback so close to the surface that he could see it before he started digging.

  The knight has a moustache and conical helmet, and holds a shield in his left hand and the warhorse’s reins in his right. The horse wears a saddle cloth and caparison, an ornate cloth covering its back and legs, with its hooves peeping out at the bottom. The knight’s kite-shaped shield, conical helmet and armour stylistically dates the object to the second half of the 12th or early 13th century. Traces of silvering have been found on the surface – it’s likely that when it was new, the knight would have been a bright shiny, white-silver colour.