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IRON AGE HOARD IN SHORWELL FIELD

By County Press Reporter - Friday, December 3, 2004
IRON AGE HOARD IN SHORWELL FIELD
Dave Walker, 46, from Sandown, who unearthed the Celtic Durotriges coin hoard. Picture by JENNIFER BURTON.
By Martin Neville
A HOARD of gold and silver coins, ingots and pottery dating to the Iron Age has been hailed the largest and most significant find of its kind on the Island.
The remarkable discovery, made on farmland by members of the IW Metal Detecting Club — a club founded less than 12 months ago — was declared treasure by Island coroner John Matthews at a hearing last week.
Eighteen gold staters, 138 silver staters, one thin silver coin — used by Celtic Durotriges who inhabited parts of Devon, Dorset and Somerset more than 2,000 years ago — and seven copper alloy coins of the Roman period, were found during a dig in March this year.
Five shards from a pot thought to have originally held the coins can be dated back to between 300 BC and 50 AD.
Also found were three bowl-shaped silver and copper alloy ingots, two made from silver weighing 11kg (22 lb 6oz) and 5.5kg (11 lb, 11oz) respectively, and one from copper alloy weighing 25kg (53 lb, 2oz), which also date from the same period and are unusual in shape.
The first sign of the find, which has been named the West Wight Hoard, was discovered by club member Dave Walker, 46, from Sandown, who uncovered a handful of coins within a small area of the field in the Shorwell area.
"It was my second outing with the club and I joked about finding a Celtic treasure hoard," said Mr Walker.
"The next thing I know my detector is making all sorts of noises and I've made the find of a lifetime.
"I picked one coin out of the ground, then another, then another. I called over the rest of the group so everyone could be involved and we started finding dozens of coins."
Mr Walker said: "I'm not bothered about any profits. At the end of the day you are handling something that probably hasn't been touched by human hands for thousands of years and that really makes you stop and think."
The ingots, at first thought to be lumps of lead, were uncovered by Stewart Thompson, from Newport.
County archaeologist Frank Basford, who presented a report to the coroner, said it was relatively common for Iron Age coins to be found individually but a discovery of this magnitude was much more significant.
He said the previous largest excavation of Iron Age coins occurred around 125 years ago in Yarmouth.
Mr Matthews said the find showed the Island was much more inhabited during the Iron Age than was originally thought.
The Guildhall Museum in Newport has expressed an interest in acquiring the hoard, the value of which is still to be assessed.
Fifty per cent will go to the farmer on whose land it was found and the rest will be shared among the club members present when it was discovered.