Two Iron Age Coin Hoards from Lenham Found in 1781 and 2022
In 2022, a hoard of Iron Age gold staters was found within the parish of Lenham, between Ashford and Maidstone, and close to the geographical centre of Kent. Whilst writing a report on this find, further information about a hoard of Iron Age potin coins found at Lenham Heath in 1781 unexpectedly came to light. Because of their closeness, both physical and temporal, the decision has been taken to report on both these discoveries, new and old, together.[pg346]
The Lenham Heath potin hoard - 1781
One of the earliest recorded Iron Age coin hoards found in Britain is that discovered at Lenham Heath, some 2.6 kilometres to the south-east of Lenham village, in 1781. The find consisted of an unknown number of Flat Linear potin coins dated to the first half of the first century BC. What little was known about the hoard has been published by Philip de Jersey, who noted that the only coins which can now be identified as coming from it are four specimens which were donated to the British Museum by Lord Radnor in 1830.[fn1]
TABLE 1: COINS FROM THE LENHAM HEATH HOARD IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM
[tb] [th]CCI ref.|BMC ref.|Holman Type[/th] [tr]68.1042|BMc 711|B2/2-2b[/tr] [tr]68.1039|BMc 682|D6/1-3a[/tr] [tr]68.1056|BMc 687|E3/3-2a[/tr] [tr]68.1068|BMc 688|F1/3-2[/tr] [/tb]celtic coin Index (ccI); Hobbs 1996; Holman 2016.2
Although de Jersey noted that there was little prospect of any further information emerging, two unrelated additional sources of information have recently come to light which allow the identification of the location of the discovery and increase the minimum number of coins found.
In 2020, the Royal Collection Trust published online a number of military maps which had been collected by King George III, among which was a plan of a British army encampment at Lenham Heath in 1781.[fn3] Prior to its publication, the site of the encampment had been forgotten locally until recent research by the Lenham Heritage Society revealed where it lay in the modern landscape.[fn4] The encampment was set up as part of the precautions taken against a potential invasion by France in connection with the American War of Independence, France and the newly independent Americans having allied against the British. The map shows that the regiments stationed at Lenham Heath were the Berkshire Militia, the Northamptonshire Militia, the Montgomeryshire Militia, the 16th Dragoons/Light Horse, and the 20th Dragoons/Light Horse.
The Lord Radnor who presented the coins to the British Museum in 1830 was William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor (1779-1869). His father, Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 2nd Earl of Radnor (1750-1828) had been commissioned as a captain in the Northamptonshire Militia on 27 September 1779. From 24 December 1791 to 8 May 1800, he was also a colonel in the Berkshire Militia. As noted above, both regiments were stationed at Lenham Heath in 1781, which is presumably how some of the coins came into the family’s possession.
This connection raised the possibility that the Lenham Heath hoard was found on ground occupied by the Northamptonshire Militia. However, the recent publication by the Society of Antiquaries of London of their Minute Books showed this not to [pg347]be the case. The minutes of their meeting held on 8 November 1781 include the following: ‘The Vice President in the Chair also communicated Three Coins, of the same Metal & Type, which were found upon Lenham-Heath, in Kent, in that part where the Berkshire Regiment was encamped this Summer. They are of adulterated Silver, with some rude Figures inscribed on them, & are supposed to be British. These belong to Mr Matthews of Wallingford; & four more are in the possession of Col. Vansittart.’[fn5]
This note indicates the existence of at least seven coins, up from the four published by de Jersey. The text is accompanied by a neat sketch of one of the coins in question, which can be identified as a Flat Linear potin of Holman type C3/1-2b. So, they are not silver coins at all, but potin coins – copper alloy with a high tin content, which can give a silvery appearance. It appears from this that the coins were exhibited at the meeting. This is not one of the British Museum coins and must be one of those then in the possession of Mr Matthews, which until now were unknown to numismatic researchers. It is not possible to determine whether this particular coin is one of the unprovenanced pieces in the Celtic Coin Index. It is likely that the coins now in the British Museum are those then in the possession of Colonel (Arthur) Vansittart (1726-1806), who was a colonel of the Berkshire Regiment of Militia.
The Society of Antiquaries have confirmed that they have no record of a Mr Matthews from that time, so he was not a Fellow of the Society, and enquiries have failed to produce any further information as to who he was, not even a first name, so what subsequently happened to his coins is unknown. Lacking sufficient detail, it is not known if they are among the unprovenanced coins in the Celtic Coin Index.
The Society of Antiquaries note now allows the location of the discovery to be narrowed down to a small area. The encampment map shows that the Berkshire Militia was stationed next to the Northamptonshire Militia, immediately to their south-west (Fig. 1). Some of the features on this map survive to the present day, including the base of Lenham Heath windmill which is shown close to the location of the Northamptonshire Militia. This windmill also appears on maps dated 1769 and 1801.[fn6] The area shown as occupied by the Berkshire Militia is approximately (in modern measurements) 240 by 110 metres, with the centre of the coloured area at around TQ 91044986, some 250 metres marginally south of west of the windmill. A now lost triangulation pillar once stood at or very close to this point, at the then summit of a hill at a height of 363 or 364 feet (111 metres) – depending on the map version – above OD. It can therefore be said with some certainty that the Berkshire Militia was stationed around the highest part of the hill and down the slope to the south-east. De Jersey has noted that hoards were often deposited on the brow of a hill but not the summit, often with an easterly aspect, and the Lenham Heath hoard may now be considered as potentially falling into this category.[fn7] The hoard must have been discovered as a result of ground disturbance caused by any one of a number of potential activities necessary to maintain a camp perhaps containing several hundred men, including latrine pits, general waste pits, field ovens, tent post-holes, etc.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 1 Army positions in 1781 superimposed on the 1:25000 Ordnance Survey sheets TQ94 and TQ95 (1958).[fn8]|Image[/fg]
The British Geological Survey shows that the geology in the area of the hoard is [pg348]sandstone of the Folkestone Formation, belonging to the Lower Greensand Group.[fn9] Unfortunately, the area was subjected to sand quarrying in the mid to late twentieth century, and the findspot of the hoard has probably been destroyed, eliminating any possibility of undertaking a search of the location. Aerial photographs show the field as intact in 1940, but more than half of the field had been quarried away by 1960. Another aerial photograph from 1990 shows that almost the entire field, with the exception of two corners occupied by residential premises, was eventually removed before the area was allowed to regenerate, and the site is now a nature reserve known as Bull Heath Pit. The effects of the quarrying can be well seen in photographs.[fn10]
The latest known coin from the hoard is Holman type F1/3-2, dated to c. 75/70- 60/55 BC, with this type probably towards the earlier end of this range.[fn11] If any later types were present, then this would push the earliest date of deposition into the mid or even late 60s BC.
Thanks must go to members of the Lenham Heritage Society, in particular Henny Shotter and Lesley Feakes, for bringing the existence of the Lenham Heath [pg349]encampment map to the writer’s attention. Thanks also goes to Keith Parfitt for allowing the writer to access the Society of Antiquaries Minute Books.
The Lenham gold stater hoard – 2022
On 26 August 2022, the Joan Allen ‘Heart of Kent’ metal detector rally took place near Lenham. On the surface of an arable field to the east of Forstal Road a hoard of thirty-five Iron Age gold staters was discovered by Mr Tony Asquith. The coins were found lying close together, with one contained within a fragment of hollow flint, leading to the recovery of most of what had evidently been a container for the coins. It is likely that the flint, of spherical form, had been intact until very recently, before being shattered as a result of being struck by farm equipment during cultivation prior to the rally taking place. It was fortunate that the discovery was made before the hoard was dispersed, which would have also probably resulted in the container not being found or even suspected, and it is considered likely that most or even all of the hoard was recovered. The discovery was reported as potential treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act. It was allocated a Treasure reference (2022/T872) and a Portable Antiquities Scheme reference (KENT-05D0ED).
The findspot is located in the Gault clay vale below the North Downs escarpment within the parish of Lenham, a little over 2 kilometres south-east of the medieval parish church. The coins were discovered about 360 metres east of Forstal Road, to the south-east of New Shelve Farm, in a shallow natural bowl in the landscape, at NGR TQ 9187 5078. The elevation here is about 99 metres OD. A drainage ditch runs through the bowl and may have once contained a minor tributary of the Great Stour river to the south: the British Geological Survey records a long tract of stream alluvium immediately to the east. The east-west prehistoric trackway now known as the Pilgrims Way runs some 1.5 kilometres to the north of the findspot, along the southern slope of the North Downs escarpment, reaching the channel coast at Folkestone some 35 kilometres to the south-east. The Iron Age site at East Wear Bay, Folkestone may be where many coins of the type found in the hoard entered Britain; indeed, a probable small hoard containing coins of the same type was found here in the nineteenth century.[fn12]
All the Lenham coins are gold staters of the Gallo-Belgic E uniface type (ABC 16), with a largely plain obverse and with a disjointed horse facing right on the reverse (Fig 2).[fn13] This series was produced by the northern Gaulish tribes, principally the Ambiani, during the Gallic Wars. The production of these coins in huge numbers is likely to have been for, among other things, the payment of mercenaries in the fight against Caesar’s forces. Caesar records that the Gauls were receiving help from Britain, which gave him a reason to make incursions into Britain in 55 and 54 BC.[fn14] The series is split into six main classes, and all the coins in the Lenham hoard belong to class 4, dated by John Sills to 55-53 BC.[fn15] Class 4 can be divided into heavy (H) and light (L) types based on the weight and style of particular die groups. The Lenham hoard coins range in weight between 5.80 and 6.09 g. with a total weight of 208.86 g. and an average of 5.97 g. There are seven which are certainly 4H, two which are probably 4H, and the remaining twenty-six are all 4L. The distinction is not always clear and can sometimes only be determined from a comparison with other coins struck from the same dies.[pg350]
[fg]jpg|Fig. 2 The stater hoard (reverses only).|Image[/fg]
Although a number of hoards of Gallo-Belgic E staters are known from both Britain and France, British hoards terminating with 4L are uncommon; Sills lists only Bracknell (Berkshire) and Essendon (Hertfordshire), both of which also contain early British issues, in that category. Furthermore, Lenham is to date the only hoard containing solely Class 4 Gallo-Belgic E staters (John Sills, pers. comm.). If the dating proposed by Sills is correct, which is supported by the association elsewhere of 4L with early British issues, then the Lenham hoard postdates the Caesarian incursions. The hoard is unlikely to have been deposited earlier than 53 BC and could even be closer to 50 BC. There are no coins in the hoard of the later Classes 5 or 6, but these are extremely rare in Britain and may not have been available for inclusion, thus their absence has no bearing on the deposition date.
The coins were clearly put inside the hollow flint for the purposes of concealment, but the reason for them remaining there ever since cannot be known (Fig. 3). Perhaps the owner was unable to return to where they had deposited it, or they were [pg351]unable to find it, or perhaps it was a deliberate, votive deposit with no intention of recovery. If there was then a natural spring at the location, that might strengthen a votive interpretation for the deposit.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 3 The flint container.|Image[/fg]
Philip de Jersey records that flint containers are known for certainly nine and possibly ten other Iron Age hoards in Britain.[fn16] Another was found in 2023 at East Garston (Berkshire). All but one of these hoards have been found in areas where flint occurs naturally, and hollow flints were evidently seen as a useful method of concealment in these areas. They include other Kentish examples from Higham and Westerham. Neither of those hoards contained any Gallo-Belgic E staters: Higham contained 11 coins and was earlier, and Westerham contained 14 coins and was later although with some earlier types. The only flint container hoard other than Lenham to include Gallo-Belgic E staters was that from Harpsden (Oxfordshire).
Unfortunately, after the hoard had been through the procedures outlined in the Treasure Act, including a coroner’s inquest, no museum expressed an interest in acquisition. The coins and the flint container were auctioned as individual lots (nos. 1-36) by Noonans in London on 18 September 2024, with a total sale price of £103,500 as against a pre-sale estimate of £20,000. The hoard has now been separated from its container for the first time in over 2,000 years, split up, and sold. Accordingly, it must be placed on record here as constituting a regrettable loss to Kentish archaeology. However, a full record of the hoard was made by the writer [pg352]prior to disposal, and the contents have been entered into the Celtic Coin Index (CCI) under the references shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2: CATALOGUE OF THE LENHAM STATER HOARD
[tb] [th]Coin no.|Type|Class|Date|Cat. ref|Weight (g.)|CCI ref[/th] [tr]1|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|6.09|23.0186[/tr] [tr]2|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|6.06|23.0187[/tr] [tr]3|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|6.05|23.0188[/tr] [tr]4|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|6.04|23.0189[/tr] [tr]5|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|6.03|23.0190[/tr] [tr]6|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|6.03|23.0191[/tr] [tr]7|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|6.01|23.0192[/tr] [tr]8|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.99|23.0193[/tr] [tr]9|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|5.98|23.0194[/tr] [tr]10|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.97|23.0195[/tr] [tr]11|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.96|23.0196[/tr] [tr]12|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.95|23.0197[/tr] [tr]13|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.94|23.0198[/tr] [tr]14|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|5.94|23.0199[/tr] [tr]15|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.94|23.0200[/tr] [tr]16|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.94|23.0201[/tr] [tr]17|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.92|23.0202[/tr] [tr]18|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.92|23.0203[/tr] [tr]19|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.91|23.0204[/tr] [tr]20|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.89|23.0205[/tr] [tr]21|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.89|23.0206[/tr] [tr]22|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.80|23.0207[/tr] [tr]23|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.95|23.0208[/tr] [tr]24|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.96|23.0209[/tr] [tr]25|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.97|23.0210[/tr] [tr]26|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.87|23.0211[/tr] [tr]27|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H?|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|6.00|23.0212[/tr] [tr]28|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4H?|55-54 Bc|ABc 16|5.89|23.0213[/tr] [tr]29|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|6.04|23.0214[/tr] [tr]30|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.99|23.0215[/tr] [tr]31|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|6.02|23.0216[/tr] [tr]32|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|6.00|23.0217[/tr] [tr]33|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.99|23.0218[/tr] [tr]34|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.99|23.0219[/tr] [tr]35|Gallo-Belgic E stater|4L|54-53 Bc|ABc 16|5.94|23.0220[/tr] [tr]|Hoard container|||||23.0185[/tr] [tr]|||353|||[/tr] [/tb]
Local context of the hoards
Both discovered to the south of the North Downs escarpment, the findspots of these two coin hoards are only some 1.3 kilometres apart, so not only are they almost contemporary, but they are also physically close. The hoards should not be seen in isolation as other later Iron Age activity is attested nearby. Also, within Lenham parish, but at some distance from either coin hoard, an ornately decorated Iron Age bucket dated to the mid-first century BC, and thus broadly contemporary with both hoards, was discovered in 2019. There are also numerous single Iron Age coin finds in the Lenham area. Iron Age occupation activity in the vicinity of the hoards is recorded at Shepherd’s Farm Quarry, some 370 metres to the south of the findspot of the stater hoard (HER: TQ 95 SW 155). Further occupation has been recorded at a ditched enclosure 0.5 kilometre to the north-west of the potin hoard (Kent HER: TQ 95 SW 147), close to Mount castle Farm, with more discoveries some 450 metres to the east of here.[fn17] All this demonstrates significant activity in the Lenham area during the later Iron Age period, and consideration should be given to the possibility that the same community was responsible for depositing both coin hoards as well as at least some of the other locally discovered material.
David Holman
References
Caesar, Julius, De bello gallico (B.G.), trans. S.A. Handford, London, Penguin, 1951.
Cottam, E., de Jersey, P., Rudd, c. and Sills, J., 2010, Ancient British Coins (ABC), Aylsham, Chris Rudd.
de Jersey, P., 2014, Coin Hoards in Iron Age Britain, British Numismatic Society Special Publication 12, London, Spink & Son Ltd.
Hobbs, R., 1996, British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum, London (BMC).
Holman, D., 2016 ‘A new classification system for the Flat Linear potin coinage’, British Numismatic Journal 86, 1–67.
McNaughton, B. & c., 2004, ‘An Iron Age and Roman site at Lenham Forstal’, Kent Arch. Review 157, 153-156.
Sills, J., 2017, Divided Kingdoms: The Iron Age Gold Coinage of Southern England, Aylsham, chris Rudd.
Endnotes
[fn]1|de Jersey 2014, 241 (hoard no. 146).[/fn]
[fn]2|Celtic Coin Index (CCI); Hobbs 1996; Holman 2016.[/fn]
[fn]4|Kent Archaeological Society Magazine, Issue 116 (Summer 2021), 9-11 (https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/magazine/116/06-lenham-camp ).[/fn]
[fn]5|SAL/02/017/045 (sheet 442).[/fn]
[fn]6|Mills Archive Trust, archive ID 2731 (https://new.millsarchive.org/mills/index/?which=2731).[/fn]
[fn]7|de Jersey 2014, 38.[/fn]
[fn]8|https://maps.nls.uk/view/95750390 and https://maps.nls.uk/view/95750393 (National Library of Scotland website); for the 1781 extract, see n.3 (© Royal collection Trust).[/fn]
[fn]9|https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=FO.[/fn][pg354]
[fn]10|See, for example, https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3729907.[/fn]
[fn]11|Holman 2016, 9-11.[/fn]
[fn]12|de Jersey 2014, 237 (hoard no. 141).[/fn]
[fn]13|Cottam et al 2010, 28.[/fn]
[fn]14|Caesar, B.G., 4.20.[/fn]
[fn]15|Sills 2017, 700-706.[/fn]
[fn]16|de Jersey 2014, 9.[/fn]
[fn]17|McNaughton 2004.[/fn]