The Hexham hoard is a 9th-century

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of eight thousand copper-alloy coins of the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Kingdom of Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

, which were discovered whilst a grave was being dug close to

Hexham Abbey Hexham Abbey is a Grade I listed place of Christian worship dedicated to St Andrew, in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in the North East of England. Originally built in AD 674, the Abbey was built up during the 12th century into its curre ...

in 1832.

Discovery

The hoard was uncovered on 15 October 1832, whilst the grave of a man called William Errington was being dug on the west side of the north transept of

by the sexton and his assistant. The area outside the church where the grave was being dug was known as Campey Hill and at the time had only recently become part of the burial ground. The grave itself was dug unusually deeply, striking the vessel that contained the coins. The sexton, Mr Airey, recognised the potential importance of the find and stopped the entire assemblage being dispersed; however a significant portion of the coin hoard was lost before it could be examined. The coins were held within a bronze bucket, which was broken during its discovery; it was acquired by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, who later reconstructed it. The hoard was initially published and catalogued by the antiquarian John Adamson. Further specimens were recorded when the grave was re-opened in 1841.

Coins

The Hexham Hoard consisted of approximately eight thousand Northumbrian

styca The styca (; . ''stycas'') was a small coin minted in pre-Viking Northumbria, originally in base silver and subsequently in a copper alloy. Production began in the 790s and continued until the 850s, though the coin remained in circulation until the ...

s. These included specimens from the reigns of three kings Eanred, Aethelred II and Redwulf, as well as coins of two archbishops Eanbald and Wigmund. There were additional coins in the hoard, whose attribution to a particular issuer are difficult to clarify and are known as 'irregulars'. The assemblage contains no coins of Osberht or Archbishop

Wulfhere Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...

. Numismatist, C S Lyon, suggested that the hoard was concealed either in the reign of Redwulf or in the second reign of Aethelred II, giving a date of concealment of circa 845; historian Hugh Pagan dates concealment to Aethelred II's second reign. Study of the stycas from Hexham, as well as other Hoards including Kirkoswald, Bolton Percy and several finds from York, was done by

Elizabeth Pirie Elizabeth Jean Elphinstone Pirie (14 September 1932 – 1 March 2005) was a British numismatist specialising in ninth-century Northumbrian coinage, and museum curator, latterly as Keeper of Archaeology at Leeds City Museum from 1960–91. She wr ...

who created the typology for the coinage.

Acquisition

The hoard was divided and parcels of the coins from it were sold to a number of institutions, including:

; the

Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial Antiquarian#Antiquarian societies, antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813. It is a Charitable organization, registered charity under English law. It has had a ...

; the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

(who also had a portion of the bucket for a period of time); Whitby Museum;

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

– where an unopened parcel from the hoard was 're-discovered' in 1977.

References

{{Authority control Medieval European objects in the British Museum History of Northumberland Archaeological sites in Northumberland 9th century in England Treasure troves in England Treasure troves of Medieval Europe Hoards from Anglo-Saxon Britain

Discovery

Coins

Acquisition

See also

References