Pendant found in Shropshire field is declared to be treasure

Shropshire Coroner John Ellery ruled that the silver horse pendant was treasure at a hearing at Shirehall, Shrewsbury.

Mr Ellery heard that the pendant, which would have been used to decorate a horse harness or apron, was discovered using a metal detector by Alan Davies in Much Wenlock on August 16 last year.

The coroner said that Shropshire Museums have expressed an interest in acquiring the item, which has been studied by experts at the British Museum.

Peter Reavill, finds liaison officer for Shropshire and Herefordshire, said that the item is significant because it helps tell the story of the Roman militarisation of Shropshire.

He said: "This relatively unassuming artefact is indicative of the militarisation of Shropshire in the years following the Roman conquest between AD 80 and 250.

"The pendant is tear-drop shaped and has broken across its lower edge. A separate applied loop is present being riveted to the pendant.

"These pendants are associated with the Roman military and may have adorned a horse harness or a soldier's apron. Similar examples have been found within the barrack block at Caerleon, Wales.

"These parallels have been dated from around the mid second to the first half of the third century.

"Although often identified as harness pendants academics in recent years have also suggested that they were used as decorative amulets on military aprons."

Dr Richard Hobbs, Weston Curator of Roman Britain, Britain, Europe & Prehistory, at The British Museum, described the condition of the pendant, saying: "It is a silver horse-harness pendant, originally probably teardrop-shaped by now broken through the middle so missing its terminal.

"The pendant is composed of sheet silver that narrows to a strip of metal to form the hoop, folded over the back and riveted.

"Although the circular rivet survives, the hoop itself is broken through and missing.

"The surviving pendant is decorated with lines of punched dots that radiate out from the rivet and a central straight line.

"In addition there are triangles of punched dots on each shoulder."

Another stunning find of 2,000-year-old gold coins discovered in the county are set to go on display in Shrewsbury next week.

The seven gold coins, which date back to AD 250, are the first recorded Iron Age coin hoard from Shropshire, and they have been bought by Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.

They go on display in Shropshire for the first time at the Shrewsbury museum on August 1. The hoard was unearthed in 2015 near Claverley by a group of metal detectorists.

The coins had been buried just before or after the Roman invasion on the edge of the lands belonging to the Cornovii tribe.

For whatever their reason, the person who buried the coins never returned to collect them.