Thelist of hoards in Britain comprises significantarchaeologicalhoards of coins, jewellery, precious and scrap metal objects and other valuable items discovered inGreat Britain (England,Scotland andWales). It includes both hoards that were buried with the intention of retrieval at a later date (personal hoards,founder's hoards, merchant's hoards, and hoards of loot), and also hoards ofvotive offerings which were not intended to be recovered at a later date, but excludesgrave goods and single items found in isolation. The list is subdivided into sections according to archaeological and historical periods.
Map this section's coordinates usingOpenStreetMapDownload coordinates asKML
Hoards dating to theNeolithic period, approximately 4000 to 2000 BC, comprise stone weapons and tools such as axeheads and arrowheads. Such hoards are very rare, and only a few are known from Britain.
A large number of hoards associated with theBritish Bronze Age, approximately 2700 BC to 8th century BC, have been found in Great Britain. Most of these hoards comprise bronze tools and weapons such as axeheads, chisels, spearheads and knives, and in many cases may be founder's hoards buried with the intention of recovery at a later date for use in casting new bronze items. A smaller number of hoards include goldtorcs and other items of jewellery. As coinage was not in use during the Bronze Age in Great Britain, there are no hoards of coins from this period.
A large number of hoards associated with theBritish Iron Age, approximately 8th century BC to the 1st century AD, have been found in Britain. Most of the hoards comprise silver or gold Celtic coins known asstaters, usually numbered in the tens or hundreds of coins, although theHallaton Treasure contained over 5,000 silver and gold coins. In addition to hoards of coins, a number of hoards of goldtorcs and other items of jewellery have been found, including theSnettisham Hoard, theIpswich Hoard and theStirling Hoard.
In September 2020, 1,300Celtic gold coins were discovered at a location in eastern England, dated back between 40 and 50 A.D.[3]
Hoards associated with the period ofRomano-British culture whenpart of Great Britain was under the control of theRoman Empire, from AD 43 until about 410, as well as the subsequentSub-Roman period up to the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms are the most numerous type of hoard found in Great Britain, and Roman coin hoards are particularly well represented, with over 1,200 known examples. In addition to hoards composed largely or entirely of coins, a smaller number of hoards, such as theMildenhall Treasure and theHoxne Hoard, include items of silver or gold tableware such as dishes, bowls, jugs and spoons, or items of silver or gold jewellery.
Map this section's coordinates usingOpenStreetMapDownload coordinates asKML
Hoards associated with theAnglo-Saxon culture, from the 6th century to 1066, are relatively uncommon. Those that have been found include both hoards of coins and hoards of jewellery and metalwork such as sword hilts and crosses. TheStaffordshire Hoard is the largest Anglo-Saxon hoard to have been found, comprising over 1,500 items of gold and silver. More Anglo-Saxon artefacts have been found in the context of graveburials than hoards in England. These include major finds fromSutton Hoo in Suffolk,Taplow in Buckinghamshire,Prittlewell,Mucking andBroomfield in Essex, andCrundale andSarre in Kent.
A hoard of 99 silver pennies, dated back to the reign ofAethelred II (978–1016), was discovered under the remains of a Saxon church demolished shortly after theNorman conquest of England in the 11th century.[9]
More than 1,500 items (about 5 kg (11 lb) of gold and 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) of silver), mostly sword fittings and decorative parts of weaponry, but also two gold crosses and an inscribed gold strip[18]
5 items of 7th to 11th century gold jewellery (acabochon ring, afiligree ring, aniello finger ring, a filigree and granular ring, and a piece of acloisonné bracelet), an ingot of gold, and a lead spindle whorl.[20]
Map this section's coordinates usingOpenStreetMapDownload coordinates asKML
Hoards associated withPictish culture, dating from the end of Roman occupation in the 5th century until about the 10th century, have been found in eastern and northern Scotland. These hoards often contain silver brooches and other items of jewellery.
8 silver vessels several silver combs 5 or 6 silver hair pins 2 or 3 silver brooches several fragments of silver chains a large number ofamber beads[22]
Nearly 12.5 kg of silver objects, of which all but 750 g were melted down. The 170 surviving objects[24] include: 2 penannular brooches 2 oval plaques 3 or 4 hand-pins 2 spiral finger-rings 1 small vessel lid fragment of a 4th-century Roman spoon knife-handle mounts fragments of arm-bands various rod and chain fragments[25]
Map this section's coordinates usingOpenStreetMapDownload coordinates asKML
Hoards associated with theViking culture in Great Britain, dating from the 9th to 11th centuries, are mostly found in northern England and Orkney, and frequently comprise a mixture of silver coins, silver jewellery andhacksilver that has been taken in loot, some coins originating from as far away as theMiddle East.
1 iron sword pommel with gold foil plaques, 4 gold hoops a sword hilt, 6 small gold rivets, 4 silver collars and neck-rings, 1 silver arm-ring, 1 fragment of a silver Permian ring, 1 silver penannular brooch, and 29 silver ingots.[30]
About 300 Anglo-Saxon silver and gold coins, some issued byCeolwulf II of Mercia and some issued byAlfred of Wessex, together with one or more silver ingots, and some items of jewellery, including a late 6th-century crystal pendant, a gold arm-band and a gold finger ring[34][35]
201 silver objects inside a box made from a sheet of lead; comprising 27 coins (Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Viking, Frankish and Islamic), 10 arm rings, 2 finger rings, 14 ingots, 6 brooch fragments, 1 wire braid, and 141 pieces of hacksilver.[43]
More than 617 silver coins, and 65 other items, including silver and gold armrings, neckrings and brooch fragments, as well as hacksilver, all placed inside a 9th-century gilt-silver vessel[46]
About 210 silver coins from the reigns ofAlfred the Great of Wessex andCeolwulf II of Mercia, together with 15 silver ingots, 6 silver arm rings, 2 neck ring fragments, and one small piece of hack gold[48]
Map this section's coordinates usingOpenStreetMapDownload coordinates asKML
Hoards dating to thelater medieval period, from 1066 to about 1500, mostly comprise silver pennies, in some cases amounting to many thousands of coins, although theFishpool Hoard contains over a thousand gold coins.
1 late 13th or early 14th century copper alloyaquamanile in the shape of a stag, 1 5th century copper alloy ewer, 1 copper alloy tray, 1 bronze cauldron, 2 bronze skillets, 1 woodman's iron axe, and ironfiredog fragments[57]
812 silver coins, mostly English groats, half-groats and pennies dating from the reigns of Edward I/II through Henry VII, in an unglazed drinking jug.[71]
Map this section's coordinates usingOpenStreetMapDownload coordinates asKML
Most hoards from the post-medieval period, later than 1500, date to the period of theEnglish Civil War (1642–1651), from which time over 200 hoards are known.[77]
907g of silver clippings from coins issued by Philip and Mary (1553–1558), Elizabeth I (1558–1603), James I (1603–1625), and Charles I (1625–1649), stored in an earthenware jar.[80][note 4]
86 silver coins (mostly shillings and sixpences) in a salt glazed stoneware bottle which was buried beneath the floor of the pantry in a cottage, the coins mostly dating to the Civil War period. Coins minted from 1554 to 1661/1662.[91]
10 gold and 7 silver coins, including 11 English coins dating from the reigns of Henry VI through Elizabeth I and 6 coins from France, Saxony, the Netherlands and the Papal States, in a mid-16th century German jug.[95]
Dispersed amongst various museums and private collections, includingYorkshire Museum, York
5,099 silver coins, comprising 4,772 English coins ofEdward VI throughCharles I, 31 Scottish coins, 10 Irish coins, 245 coins from theSpanish Netherlands, and 2 coins from theSpanish New World. The coins were found in three pots from two different pits, and were probably deposited at slightly different dates.[96]
128 coins, comprising groat and half-groat coins from the reigns ofEdward IV (r. 1461–1470 and 1471–1483) andHenry VII (r. 1485–1509), as well as nine coins issued byCharles the Bold when he wasDuke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477.[101]
^The hoard was uncovered when preparing a burial ground in an area called Harkirke, or Harkirk (meaning "hoary or grey church"), which is now park land. The only record of the coins was acopperplate engraving of thirty five of them which was reproduced in a book byJohn Spelman, published in 1678.
^The Ainsbrook Hoard is named after the two men who discovered the hoard, Mark Ainsley and Geoffrey Bambrook; it was covered in a special episode of the Channel 4 programmeTime Team, first broadcast 14 January 2008. The programme was sceptical about the Viking origins of the hoard, and the location of the find was initially kept secret "to avoid the location becoming known to unscrupulous 'nighthawk' detectorists".[27]
^The Eye hoard was not declared to thePortable Antiquities Scheme, but was illegally sold to dealers by the finders, who were convicted of theft and concealing the find in 2019. Only 31 of the coins, a silver ingot, and three pieces of jewellery have been recovered.[34]
^The Alderwasley Hoard was found a few metres away from the site of another hoard of clippings in a ceramic jar, weighing 3.6kg, which was discovered in 1846, and subsequently melted down to make silver altarware for the Alderwasley church.[80]
^The Mason Hoard is named after its discover, Richard Mason, a builder who found the jug when working on an extension to a modern house in Lindisfarne; he did not realize the jug contained any coins until 2011. The Mason hoard was found at exactly the same location that the 1962 Short Hoard had been found at.
^The Short Hoard is named after its discover, Alan Short, a builder who found the jug when working on a modern house in Lindisfarne. The Mason Hoard was found at the same location in 2003.
^Grierson, Philip (1979). "The Canterbury (St. Martin's) Hoard of Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Coin-Ornaments".Dark Age Numismatics: Selected Studies. London: Variorum Reprints. pp. 38–51, Corregida 5.ISBN0-86078-041-4.
^abBrooks, Howard; Crummy, Nina; Archibald, Marion M. (2004). "A Medieval Lead Canister from Colchester High Street: Hoard Container, or Floor Safe?".Medieval Archaeology.48:131–142.doi:10.1179/007660904225022825.
^Barclay, Craig; Besly, Edward (1994). "Appendix 1: Coin hoards from Yorkshire & Humberside - Breckenbrough".A little barrel of Ducatoons: The Civil War Coinage of Yorkshire. Yorkshire Museum. p. 42.
.jpg)
.jpg)
_Selection_of_coins_from_the_side.JPG)
