A Roman Hoard in Kent and a LEGISE Success Story
A Newsflash from Landscape Explorers Group in South East (LEGISE).
Phil Brown
Public Relations Officer
A hoard of approximately 300 Roman bronze coins dating to the third century has been discovered by three detectorists in the Maidstone area in Kent. Old school chums Steve and Glenn, and longtime friend Ed were detecting on a private permission in late September when they made the find of a lifetime.
Swale Club MDC Finders L-R: Glenn, Steve, Ed.
The three decided on a divide and conquer strategy and set off to different areas of an otherwise featureless stubble field. After searching the perimeter for a few hours and with little to show, Steve traced a diagonal line back to the middle of the field where he received a good signal. From five inches he found a large Roman bronze coin, shortly after which the other two had caught up to him. Ed then found two Romans, and Steve a further three. Credit goes to Glenn who then went on to find twenty plus loose coins in quick succession that led to the location of the hoard. They had turned their day around.
Each of their XP DEUS detectors were now showing a strong, concentrated ‘not-to-be-ignored’ signal. With the realisation they were on to a hoard, they proceeded to carefully remove a small section of soil which revealed a ceramic pot heaped with green coloured discs. The top was missing, presumably from plough damage which had subsequently disturbed and scattered the coins over a relatively small area.
With a hoard on their hands, they instantly knew to leave the pot in situ, notify the appropriate authorities and secure the site. All three are members of Swale MDC and Kent Searchers MDC, and thankfully, since Swale is also a ‘LEGISE’ club, each member has access to a wealth of helpful resources and expertise. It was this association that enabled a quick chain of events to unfold with a successful outcome.
Glenn and Ed observe as Paul and Andrew assess the hoard
After an initial flurry of emails and attempts to reach people by phone and some nail-biting, Steve got a hold of David Barwell, Chairman of LEGISE. David’s immediate response was to call Dr. Andrew Richardson FSA MCIfA, archaeologist and Director at Isle Heritage CIC who answered straight away. It was now Friday afternoon and as the find spot was close to a road the three finders were fully expecting to take turns overnight to protect the hoard. Thankfully that was unnecessary as Andrew and his colleague Paul-Samual Armour ‘dropped everything’ and headed straight to the site.
Over the next few hours, Archaeologists Andrew and Paul-Samual proceeded to record and excavate the site and as the light faded, block-lifted the pot and its contents.
Interestingly, they believe the deposit was ‘part of an earlier feature’ and hopefully in time, more information will come to light on any significance.
On a subsequent search a few days later Ed and Glenn (since Steve was unavailable) recovered a further twenty coins which will join the main hoard.
The pot slowly emerges.
Andrew’s initial assessment was that the deposit most likely dates to the late 3rd century. This dating was further strengthened by David Holman with his identification of a Claudius II (268-270) coin and another of Salonina (260-268). It will be a while before the full hoard composition is known, but further information will be provided in due course.
The hoard and additional coins have been reported to the Local PAS office and the coroner, in accordance with the Treasure Act (1996). The coins are now in the hands of experts as part of the Treasure process.
Andrew Richardson prepares the hoard for extraction
The events of that Friday provided a fine example of how the detecting and archaeological communities can work well together. In this case, on finding a hoard, responsible detectorists immediately knew to stop and contact the archaeologists, in this case at Isle Heritage. And showing a true benefit to both communities in the middle was LEGISE and David Barwell, in bringing the two sides together with such a positive outcome.
Two of the coins identified: Claudius II (268-270) & Salonina (260-268)
Andrew at work
LEGISE would like to extend a very big thank-you to all involved on the day. To Steve, Glenn and Ed at Swale MDC for their professionalism as responsible detectorists, and equally to Andrew Richardson and Paul-Samual Armour at Isle Heritage for their rapid response in attending the site and recovering the hoard. And to our very own David Barwell, for being behind the curtains and co-ordinating efforts on the day.