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Treasures found near Cardiff

Late Bronze Age, Medieval and Tudor period artefacts found in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan declared as treasures

Eight discoveries dated to the Late Bronze Age (around 1000-800 BC or 3,000-2,800 years ago), the Middle Ages (from the 5th to the 15th centuries) and the Tudor period (16th century) have today (22nd April 2015) been declared treasures by H.M. Coroner for Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan.

A medieval hoard of seventeen coins discovered by Mr Roland Mumford in December 2012, while metal detecting on farm land in Wenvoe Community, was among them.

The hoard is made of five gold and twelve silver coins and includes a half-noble, four quarter-nobles of Edward III (1327-77) and principally groats (4d pieces) of Edward III. The hoard is thought to be dated to around 1365 - 1370.

The oldest coin discovered by Mr Mumford on that occasion is a penny of Edward I from the 1290s and the most recent, both gold and silver, date from the 1360s.

An archaeological investigation of the find-spot was undertaken by National Museum and PAS Cymru archaeologists, with the support of the landowner and the assistance of the finder. As no obvious signs of settlement were found, this deposition or loss of a significant sum of money remains a mystery.

The total contemporary value of the group is 13s 4d which is exactly one mark, the unit of accounting most commonly used at the time. With daily pay rates of a few pence per day, this represented a considerable sum of money – around two months’ wages, not the sort of sum that many could lay their hands on.

Another hoard including two bronze artefacts, thought to be dated to the Late Bronze Age (around 1000-800 BC or 3,000-2,800 years ago), was also declared treasure.

The hoard of two bronze artefacts identified as a complete socketed axe of ribbed Croxton Type and a fragment of a socketed axe of ribbed South Wales Type were discovered in Llancarfan Community, in the Vale of Glamorgan, by Mr. David Harrison. The artefacts were discovered together in October 2013, while Mr Harrison was metal detecting on farm land.

The fragmentary axe had been wedged into the socket of the complete axe immediately before burial and were found near to each other in the corner of a field.

Hoards, involving the burial of both complete and fragmentary axes, tools and weapons, were probably buried during social and ritual ceremonies, expressing the beliefs of the times. Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age there was a significant increase in the frequency of axe hoards buried across south east Wales.

The forcible ramming of artefact fragments into the sockets of other axes is a widespread phenomenon in Britain at this time. This may have represented the deliberate destruction or symbolic killing of objects, immediately before they were placed in the ground.

Another find of a small gold pendant which is thought to be dated to the first half of the sixteenth century was also declared treasure today.

The pendant was discovered in the Community of St Donats by Mr. David Hughes on the 4th November 2011.

Four circular sockets that would once have held beads, pearls or semi-precious stones, are fastened to a small circular back-plate in a cross shape. The sockets of the pendant are decorated with a gold twisted wire that can be matched to Tudor dress hooks and pins. Cross-shaped pendants were particularly popular during the late Middle Ages/early Tudor period. More luxurious examples of such pendants can be seen on Tudor royal portraits.

Other finds declared treasure today included:

  • ·         A fifteenth - or early sixteenth - century silver signet ring. The artefact was found by Mr Michael Gerry on 31st August 2013 whilst metal detecting in Sully.
  • ·         A gold ring of which the inside is inscribed with the text Such is my love, was found by Mr David Hughes on 19 April 2013 on land at Llantwit Major. The artefact, decorated with a floral pattern, is thought to be dated to the sixteenth to mid-seventeenth century.
  • ·         Fragments of a silver devotional ring were found by Mr Mark Lambert in April 2013 on land at St Athan. The artefact is thought to be dated to the fifteenth or early sixteenth century.
  • ·         Fragments of a silver badge in the form of a cockerel, bearing the motto Si deus nobiscum (If God is with us) were found by Mr Mark Newbury in September 2012 at Pentyrch.
  • ·         A seventeenth-century silver dress pin was found by Mr Robert Lock and Mr Joseph Cartwright in August 2011 on land at St Athan.

 

Dr Mark Redknap, Head of Collections and Research at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, said:

“These significant finds are allowing us to slowly build up a detailed and previously poorly documented picture of personal adornment in late medieval, Tudor and early modern Wales.

“Data on these objects and their find-spots are now enabling us to compare fashion and taste here with trends further afield”.

The finds will be acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales following their independent valuation, using funding secured via the Collecting Cultures stream of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Entry to National Museum Cardiff is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Government. 

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven museums across Wales National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.  

– Ends –

 

Notes to Editors:

1. The Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales (PAS Cymru) is a mechanism to record and publish archaeological finds made by members of the public. It has proved a highly effective means of capturing vital archaeological information, while engaging with non-traditional museum audiences and communities.

 

2. Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, in partnership with PAS Cymru and The Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales (The FED), has recently received a confirmed grant of £349,000 from the Collecting Cultures stream of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

For 5 years from January 2015 – December 2019, the project Saving Treasures, Telling Stories will ensure a range of treasure and non-treasure artefacts can be purchased by accredited local and national museums in Wales. The artefacts purchased will date from the Stone Age to the seventeenth century AD.

A three year programme of Community Archaeology Projects will be delivered across Wales, working with local museums, metal-detecting clubs, local communities and target audiences.

A distinctive website will be developed for PAS Cymru and hosted on the Amgueddfa Cymru website. This will also become the focus for up-to-the-minute information about treasure and non-treasure finds reported across Wales each year. Through the projects, archaeological collecting networks will be set up and a range of training, skill-sharing, bursaries and volunteering opportunities will be delivered.

 

3. ‘Making History’. Redevelopment Project at St Fagans National History Museum.

Wales’s archaeology collections will eventually be redisplayed in new galleries at St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff.  This will be the first time that national collections of archaeology and cultural, industrial and social history will be displayed together in an open-air museum.  The project will also see the creation of an open-air archaeology zone and the re-imagining of two buildings – an Iron Age Farm and a Medieval Prince’s Court.