Latest news with #NorwichCastleMuseum
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
One of a kind 7th Century Anglo-Saxon coin found in Norfolk field
A tiny gold coin which is believed to be the oldest from the Anglo-Saxons in East Anglia has been found in a expert Adrian Marsden described the coin as a "massively significant" find that was struck in the 7th design depicts a man dancing a jig while holding a Christian cross above a symbol linked to the Norse god coin was discovered by a metal detectorist near Norwich in the autumn and Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire it. "It's the first one of this type of coin that we've seen and new types of shillings just don't turn up," said Dr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service."It's got this fascinating iconography of a little figure with a long cross - explicitly Christian - over the valknut design, which has pagan roots."Dr Marsden said all the evidence pointed to it being "the earliest Anglo-Saxon East Anglian coin so far known", dating it to AD640 to was struck at a time when pagan beliefs were starting to give way to Christianity, and its design appears to straddle this time of change. Experts associate the design with the god Odin, whose roles in Norse mythology included ferrying the dead to the the 20th Century, the valknut was adopted as a symbol by white supremacists among coin dates back to the same era as the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial, which, as Dr Marsden explained, had a mix of Christian and pagan grave goods. On the reverse of the coin is a design that could be a cross or could be a swastika, then recognised as a good luck symbol, surrounded by an attempt at a Latin Marsden recently published his research in the Searcher."It's plain from looking at the letters that whoever made the die wasn't literate, the letters don't bear much resemblance to Latin - they're garbage really," he revealed the coin was made from a very high gold content, of up to 60%. Dr Marsden also pointed out it was the second coin in Norfolk to benefit from a new treasure definition on "the basis of national significance".The government changed the legal definition of the 1996 Treasure Act two years ago, to try getting more artefacts on public display.A coroner decides if a discovery is treasure and a museum usually gets first refusal over whether to store it. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Police officer, 50, who was jailed after secretly selling rare gold coins is told he could have made more than £100,000 if had been honest
A police officer who went to prison for pocketing £15,000 from selling rare Saxon gold coins that didn't belong to him has now learned he could have made over £100,000 if he had been straight. Amateur detectorist and PC David Cockle, 50, was jailed for 16 months after he admitted the theft of ten early medieval coins which he unearthed and sold secretly for £15,000. Rules around treasure finds mean they must be officially declared before they can be sold but Cockle failed to tell anyone about 7th-century gold coins he found while metal detecting on a farmer's land. Now it's emerged that the former detectorist partner and the farmer who he cheated on have shared a payout of £367,200 they got by sticking to the rules - meaning Cockle could not only have avoided losing his reputation and going to prison but also had a six-figure sum instead. The coins were among 131 found by him and another detectorist in a field in west Norfolk, making it Britain's largest ever hoard of seventh-century gold coins. The former Norfolk officer and the other detectorist both had agreements with the landowner to report any finds and split any reward money. The hoard was declared treasure trove in 2021, and 129 of the coins along with four gold fragments from the field have now been acquired for £367,200 by Norwich Castle Museum. The money is being split as a reward between the landowner and the honest detectorist who reported his finds over a period of years while Cockle received nothing. Cockle was unable to return to the field after his dishonesty was uncovered, meaning he missed out on the chance of finding more coins and getting a larger share of any future reward. But the other detectorist who had already found 35 coins, was allowed to continue searching and discovered another 85. Cockle ignored his contract with the landowner after he dug up ten Merovingian Tremissis coins dating back to the late 6th century and early 7th century. Ipswich Crown Court heard how he secretly sold the coins to a dealer in three batches for £15,000 between August 2014 and October 2015, and pocketed the cash. His dishonesty was uncovered after he bragged to fellow officers about his find, and how he was not reporting it. Cockle had lied to coin dealer Michael Vosper that he had found the coins individually at different sites, meaning they did not have to be reported to a coroner. Prosecutor Gerald Pounder said that Mr Vosper had sold some of the coins and had been forced to reimburse the buyers as they had bought stolen property. Cockle who previously lived in Wereham, Norfolk, and later moved to Leigh, Lancashire, admitted the theft of coins between April 2012 and November 2015. The court heard he had carried out the fraud to help pay for his divorce. But Judge Rupert Overbury told him that he was motivated by 'greed' and to pay for his gambling habit, and had caused 'significant and irreversible' harm as archaeological work was not carried out immediately at the site. The judge jailed him for 16 months after accusing him of 'bringing the metal detecting community into disrepute'. He said: 'Many enjoy the pastime for the enjoyment and thrill of finding something significant. I have no doubt that the confidence of landowners and the general public in the good intentions of detectorists will be eroded particularly in the area where the coins were found. 'It is plain that you deliberately and dishonestly chose not to inform the authorities to maximise any profit from the sale of your treasure. You spun a web of deceit to a legitimate dealer in coins.' The judge also issued Cockle with a criminal behaviour order banning him from being involved in metal detecting for five years Cockle who had been metal detecting for 30 years, was said to be full of remorse and the court heard he had given up his hobby. He was later ordered to repay the £15,000 he made from the coins at a Proceeds of Crime hearing. The hoard at the museum features 118 coin designs from 51 different European mints, as well as ten coins from Byzantium, including two from Constantinople. Most of them are Frankish tremisses from the Merovingian Frankish Kingdoms that occupied much of modern-day France, Germany, Switzerland and the Low Countries. The tremisses were the first coins made and used in Europe after the fall of the Roman empire and predate the first gold coinage made in Anglo-Saxon England. The collection is one of only eight hoards of this coin type known from Europe and only the third from the UK. It is believed that the Norfolk hoard was buried in around 610 AD, judging from the date of the newest coins. The coins acquired by the museum are two less than the declared size of the treasure hoard as one of the coins stolen by Cockle was never recovered. Dr Tim Pestell, the senior curator of archaeology at Norwich Castle Museum, said: 'As with all Treasure rewards, the money is split 50/50 between the landowner and the finder. 'In this case, the full reward value was paid to the landowner for those coins found by the jailed detectorist.' A Norfolk County Council spokesperson said: 'Thanks to the responsible detectorist, we are now able to explore an internationally-significant find that will open a new window into the past.' Cockle was sacked at a Norfolk police misconduct hearing when the county's chief constable Simon Bailey described his theft as 'one of the grossest breaches of trust.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Castle confirms summer reopening after long delays
Renovations to Norwich Castle Museum are due to end, almost two years after a projected finish date. Work to refurbish the castle's Norman keep began in 2020 but was held up by the pandemic. Dr Tim Pestell, senior curator of archaeology, confirmed the finishing touches were being carried out and objects were ready to be installed in the museum for a summer 2025 opening. "It has been an absolute marathon," he said. Dr Pestell said the castle was only two months away from reopening. "We will open this summer. We are on the final stretch," he said. "The display cases are nearly all in now. We have builders doing their tidying up work, ready to come out, and we have the objects ready to be installed. They are being pinned on their backing boards." The project has faced many delays, including some caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. There were problems in obtaining steel, due to the war in Ukraine. In March 2022, the project's contractor Morgan Sindall told the BBC work would be completed by the end of 2023, but more problems arose. Hidden Norman and Victorian features were discovered and a leaking roof needed to be replaced, causing it to miss a revised target of reopening last summer. Named Royal Palace Reborn, the project has included restoring the original floor levels in the keep and recreating the great hall and the apartments of Norman kings. A new gallery of medieval life was also part of the plans. The castle has just acquired what is believed to be the largest collection of 7th Century gold coins found in Britain. The collection includes 129 coins, featuring 118 different designs, that were found by two metal detectorists in a west Norfolk field between 2014 and 2020. Dr Pestell said: "It will be an incredible relief to see that open. It has been an absolute marathon, as it has been for all of the members of our team, but it's going to be amazing. "It's going to be well, well worth the wait." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Museum work delay 'causing financial pressure' City castle reopening date pushed back again Norwich Castle
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Castle confirms summer reopening after long delays
Renovations to Norwich Castle Museum are due to end, almost two years after a projected finish date. Work to refurbish the castle's Norman keep began in 2020 but was held up by the pandemic. Dr Tim Pestell, senior curator of archaeology, confirmed the finishing touches were being carried out and objects were ready to be installed in the museum for a summer 2025 opening. "It has been an absolute marathon," he said. Dr Pestell said the castle was only two months away from reopening. "We will open this summer. We are on the final stretch," he said. "The display cases are nearly all in now. We have builders doing their tidying up work, ready to come out, and we have the objects ready to be installed. They are being pinned on their backing boards." The project has faced many delays, including some caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. There were problems in obtaining steel, due to the war in Ukraine. In March 2022, the project's contractor Morgan Sindall told the BBC work would be completed by the end of 2023, but more problems arose. Hidden Norman and Victorian features were discovered and a leaking roof needed to be replaced, causing it to miss a revised target of reopening last summer. Named Royal Palace Reborn, the project has included restoring the original floor levels in the keep and recreating the great hall and the apartments of Norman kings. A new gallery of medieval life was also part of the plans. The castle has just acquired what is believed to be the largest collection of 7th Century gold coins found in Britain. The collection includes 129 coins, featuring 118 different designs, that were found by two metal detectorists in a west Norfolk field between 2014 and 2020. Dr Pestell said: "It will be an incredible relief to see that open. It has been an absolute marathon, as it has been for all of the members of our team, but it's going to be amazing. "It's going to be well, well worth the wait." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Museum work delay 'causing financial pressure' City castle reopening date pushed back again Norwich Castle
BBC News
21-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Thetford gold ring find remembers 'rackety' baronet
A gold mourning ring that was made in memory of a dead baronet has been found in a 20mm (0.7in)-round jewel was discovered by a metal detectorist near Thetford, Norfolk, in Helen Geake was able to connect it to landowner Sir Bassingbourne Gawdy thanks to its inscription. He was a "notable sportsman" who researchers said liked "rackety exploits".The ring is the subject of a treasure inquest and Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire it. A coroner at a treasure inquest typically decides whether the discovery is treasure, and therefore whether a museum should have first refusal over Bassingbourne died in a hunting accident in 1723.A baronet was a title in the British aristocracy that was passed down through families. Dr Geake, who is the finds liaison officer for Norfolk, said mourning rings were made to remember a person who had would leave money in their wills for rings to be created and distributed to family and friends in their politician Samuel Pepys wrote about being given one in his 1660s diary. This find was inscribed in Latin B.G. Bart. ob: 10. Oct: 1723. aet: 56, which translates as B.G. Baronet, died 10th October 1723, aged Geake's investigations revealed Sir Bassingbourne lived at West Harling, east of never married and was described as a "notable sportsman" who enjoyed "rackety exploits" by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. "What is also interesting is he was the grandson of the celebrated painter Sir John Gawdy, who was born deaf," Dr Geake said. He and his brother Framlingham, who was also deaf, were the first known deaf people in Britain to be educated through the use of sign language, according to the British Deaf History Society. Dr Geake said the ring would not have been classed as treasure if it had been found a year is because the Treasure Act 1996 categorises a find as treasure if it is at least 300 years old and made at least in part of precious metal, like gold or if the ring had been found in August 2023 - not August 2024 - the detectorist and landowner would not have had to declare it. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
