An early medieval (AD 800-900) silver disc brooch has been declared Treasure by H.M. Coroner at an inquest held at Taunton Coroner’s Court on Wednesday 4 August 2021. Its value has yet to be determined by the independent Treasure Valuation Committee.
Detectorist Iain Sansome, from Cheddar, discovered the brooch while detecting on farmland at Cheddar, Somerset, on 14 October 2020. Mr Sansome immediately stopped detecting and contacted the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), actions for which he should be commended. As a potential item of Treasure under the 1996 Treasure Act it was reported by PAS to H.M. Coroner. Led by the South West Heritage Trust, a follow-up investigation took place at the find site but no further significant discoveries were made.
The disc brooch, in what is known as Trewhiddle* style, is 91mm in diameter, 1.93 mm thick and weighs 76.12 g. It features extremely detailed interlace decoration with animal forms, some of which are thought to be peacocks. Peacocks are found on other early-medieval metal work and have religious and high-status overtones. A significant group of six Trewhiddle brooches from Pentney in Norfolk was discovered in the late 1970s and is now in the British Museum. Finding such a brooch in Somerset is both exciting and exceptional.
The value of the brooch will now be determined by the independent Treasure Valuation Committee. The relevant Collecting Museum then has a chance to raise funds for its acquisition, the money being paid as a reward to the finder and the landowner.
“I’ve found a lot of important historical items in the few years I’ve been detecting, and have covered a lot of ground, but this find is in a different league. When I first saw the brooch I wasn’t exactly sure what it was but I knew it was something special and stopped detecting immediately. It’s a very rare find and the fact that the last person to handle it was probably someone of extreme importance and high status over 1,000 years ago is just incredible. It really does make one wonder!”
Iain Sansome, FINDER
“Although it is relatively common to find Roman brooches in Somerset, Early Medieval examples are rare. Such items were important symbols of wealth and high status and may have been given as gifts to cement relationships between powerful individuals, including those with religious roles. The fact that no further significant objects were found suggests that the brooch was lost or discarded into water, rather than deliberately buried”
DR LUCY SHIPLEY, Portable Antiquities Scheme
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The Portable Antiquities Scheme online record of the Cheddar Brooch is available to view on the finds database.
* Trewhiddle is the name given to brooches of a similar type. Trewhiddle is the place, or ‘type site’ in Cornwall where the first brooch of this type was found and identified.